Beachwood BBQ - Seal Beach, California
I have heard great things about this next place, Beachwood BBQ. The location I chose to visit is the Seal Beach location. Beachwood BBQ has another location in Long Beach. The Long Beach location is equipped with a brewery. The Seal Beach location has the same beers on tap but cannot sell growlers. I used visiting this location to check out the town. I have only been to Seal Beach one other time and felt that this outing for barbecue would be a good excuse to explore. Beachowood BBQ is nestled along side other store fronts within walking distance of the beach. The community is adorable, but I came to try the food.The menu is complete with fried green tomatoes, pulled pork, ham, and lest we forget, tri-tip. The bar stocks over 20 local beers on tap. The atmosphere is low-key with jabbering locals and trivia games on hand. I snugged up to the bar, scanned the menu, and ordered fried green tomatoes with lemonade right off the bat. The fried green tomatoes had a fry batter similar to mozzarella sticks. The combination was good just unexpected. No horseradish sauce was available but ranch was. I ordered the ham with beans, slaw, and corn bread. Hubby ordered what sounded like and amazing sandwich full of pig with a side of smoke asparagus. The sandwich included pulled pork, ham, and bacon. The pig sandwich is a special and is not available daily.
Our meals came quickly and looked amazing. Even though the barbecue was advertised as Carolina style, I would have to oppose. Beachwood BBQ has come up with something very different. If I were to invent California style barbecue, this would be it. The ham was thick not thin sliced and a bit salty with a sweet-smoky vinegar based sauce. The beans have a good balance of savor and sweet with actual smoked meat inside. The coleslaw comes in more than one variety on the menu. The creamy coleslaw I ordered was dotted with chunks of pineapple. I would have never thought of adding pineapple to coleslaw, but it was a delectable surprise. Another yummy surprise was my Yankee style cornbread with cranberries. Overall, the meal was fabulous, even if it was not a recognizable barbecue category. Husband's meal was of the same caliber.
The pork, ham, and bacon was served on a pretzel bun with the same sweet-smoky vinegar based sauce as the ham I ordered. You just cannot go wrong with the combination. I was sinfully good. The asparagus was prepared perfectly with a good balance of firmness and smoke flavor. I gleefully enjoyed the two bites I stole from him. I am looking forward to sneaking back to Seal Beach in December for the Christmas parade and barbecue.
My suggested improvements would include: no need to advertise as Carolina-style. Coin California-style BBQ. Update the sauce to fit the the newly coined label.
Ambiance: 5.0
Food taste/quality: 4.5
Overall review: 4.75
The above rating is based on overall appeal of the ambiance, food quality, and food taste on a scale of 0-5.0. 5.0 is the best rating possible