Sunset Magazine is a great resource for travelers, locals, and companies from the Rockies west. Getting written up is probably good for your business, because one of the great things about Sunset is it covers things which people enjoy doing – gardening, traveling, cooking, and eating. This month’s issue (June 2009) has a small section called “The West’s Best BBQ,” which begins on p. 42. Being suckers for such, we bit (so to speak) and, yesterday, took a short trip to South Pasadena, to visit the recommended Gus’s Barbecue, on p. 48.
About Gus’s Barbecue, Sunset writes,
If such SoCal perennials as Philips Bar-B-Que in Leimert Park are hall of famers, then think of this as the rookie of the year. Brothers Chris and John Bicos took a beloved though tired restaurant that dated back to 1946, updated its interior, and reinvigorated the barbecue menu with superior versions of classics like beer-braised Texas brisket. You gotta try Memphis-style baby backs – fall-off-the-bone tender – and such worthy sidekicks as the Cast Iron Cornbread and Red Skin Potato Salad.
The trip to South Pasadena was easy, without any of the traffic backups which make driving through L.A. so annoying. We called ahead to make sure they were open – yup, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturdays. The neighborhood where Gus’s is located is pleasant. We parked off Mission, just around the corner. Looking up the alley behind Gus’s showed that this definitely was an older neighborhood because of the brick construction on some of the buildings. Trees down Mission were leafy and green, with the jacarandas adding a lovely color note. Across the street from Gus’s is a pharmacy with a soda fountain, which, according to a plaque, was voted “best” – looks like it could be!
If you are looking for Gus’s, you will be able to spot it quite easily along Fair Oaks – its sign is bright red and speaks for itself. (I wonder, is it lit up at night?) Inside, the wait staff were cordial, and our charming young waitress, Melanie, was perfect. We decided to have exactly what was recommended by the Sunset reviewer, and we were not disappointed.
We ordered a rack of Memphis-style baby ribs, to share, along with two sides. We got the red skin potato salad, and the Louisiana Red Beans & Rice. We should have doubled up on the sides – the potato salad was really good – but we fell in love with the Red Beans & Rice! The Cast Iron Cornbread was a separate side, and is brought to your table in an iron skillet along with jalapeno jelly (good!) and honey butter – get extra butter and jelly, as you could go through it pretty fast! The cornbread is crusty, yellow, coarse and sweet, and crumbles when you butter it – absolutely dee-lish.
The ribs were great! A rack was enough for the two of us. You could pull the meat off the bone with a fork, and the flavor of the barbecue was subtle. Two extra sauces were on the table, one with a label of “hot” – which it really is not – and another darker one, with a nice vinegary taste to complement the meat. Unfortunately, all of this was gone too soon.
If you are in So. Pasadena, Gus’s is worth finding. Check it out!
Ink, Yarn & Beer 