Tulsa Rib Company - Catering

Opening up this blog has allowed many to make suggestions to me regarding where to find the food I crave.   One that came to my attention recently is Tulsa Rib Company.  Being burned in the past by hype, I was not exceedingly excited to try this place regardless of the influence of co-works and Yelp review available online. 

I received an opportunity to try this place via a catered event.  The set-up staff was pleasant and seemed to have everything in order.  I walked outside to check out their methods and was dismayed to find raw chicken on a grill instead of in a smoker.  I found myself deciding not to allow this to hinder my opinion of the ribs, but I was wavering nonetheless. 

Still feeling slighted by knowing I am having grilled chicken and not smoked chicken I load up a plate of coleslaw, barbeque baked beans, potato salad, dinner roll, beef ribs, and a chicken quarter.  The potato salad was mustard based without being too acidic, though I am not certain Tulsa Rib Company made it themselves.  The potato salad tasted like any you could buy from a wholesale club.  The coleslaw and barbeque baked beans reminded me of the potato salad.  Neither was unpleasant, but I felt I could find the same dish just about anywhere.  I did not notice any meat in the beans, which always disappoints me.  Speaking of meat, I was not at all impressed.  The chicken was certainly grilled.  The ribs tasted like they came out of a crockpot.  BOO!  The sauce, again, tasted store bought. 

Tulsa Rib Company is another high hype low delivery Southern California barbeque place.  Although the meat was moist and tender, it was not barbeque.  The meat was merely prepared using a barbeque.

I have no review of the restaurant itself as I did not go to the restaurant.  The review is based on my catered food experience.  

The following recommendations would make a difference:

Smoke the meat

Add smoked meat to the beans

Make your own sides with a signature flair

Ambiance:  n/a

Food taste/quality:  1.5

Overall review:  1.5

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

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