Baby Blues B.B.Q

I was going to visit Andrew in Santa Monica and decided to see if Diners, Drive-ins and Dives had featured anything nearby (Judy gave me a couple of Triple D books for Christmas). Baby Blues B.B.Q., located at 444 Lincoln Blvd. in Venice was just down the Santa Monica Freeway and so we decided to try it. We had Lauren with us and decided to take-out the food and eat it at Andrew's place along with some other side items we'd purchased in Chinatown.

We got there right at 11:30 when they opened which was a good thing because they started packing the people in. Then we knew it was good.

Andrew loves okra and asked if we could get some of their fried okra. It includes garlic, stewed tomatoes, olive oil, red wine vinegar and black pepper (the recipe is in my book). I have to agree with Andrew, okra is very good and this stuff was great.

We tried several other sides as well. I enjoyed the creamed spinach. The spinach was still recognizable and had a good flavor.

Lauren loves mac and cheese, so we got a pint of it. They make it with four kinds of cheese and it was very heavy. One of the disadvantages of take-out, especially if you can't eat for an hour or so, is that things start to get cold. What we ate was not eaten under the best of circumstances. I'm sure what we had would have been much better at the restaurant. But even luke-warm, the mac and cheese was great.

Their grilled corn-on-the-cob has chipotle-poblano butter and cotijo cheese sprinkled on top. Andrew and Lauren went crazy over it.

I thought it was good, but would have liked it a little wetter, spicier and saltier. I did particularly enjoy the bites with cheese. It has to be the most unusual corn I've ever tasted. Again, it would have been much better warmer.

I can't even tell from my pictures which were the Memphis Style pork ribs (half-rack)

and baby back ribs. These ribs were the primary losers from sitting around. We just did not get a fair sampling. I didn't particularly love either. Part of the reason was they were not particularly meaty. I can enjoy pork ribs when they are surrounded with lots of flesh, but these were a little spare. 

The barbeque half-chicken was pretty good, not outstanding. Their barbeque sauce was a little too sweet for me and I ended up only trying a little bit on a couple of items, then left it alone. We did not get any of their XXX barbeque sauce with our take-out, but tried some at the restaurant. It includes chopped garlic, pineapple, chipotle pepper, roasted and pureed Scotch bonnet, poblano,  and serrano chiles. They also add a magic syrup and cayenne pepper based sauce. It was very very spicy. I would like to have tried it on some items, particularly the pulled pork.

The pulled pork starts with a pork butt dry rubbed with 19 different herbs and spices. It sits in a cooler for 24 hours, then is smoked for 16 to 18 hours. I would like to try one of their pulled pork sandwiches. It is a Carolina style with a vinegar base.

I actually liked the brisket better than the pulled pork.

We got three jumbo shrimp, at the recommendation of the hostess. They were seasoned well and good - covered with a little cheese.

Then the item that rang the bell for me. Their Texas style beef ribs hit the ball out of the park. They are massive, the biggest beef ribs, by far, I've ever seen. They're like a mini roast. Very, very tender, plenty of fat left in for flavor and juiciness. These are the reason I'll be back. And they are a meal in themselves. The picture is deceiving. The bones are longer than a kitchen plate. They didn't really fit in to their styrofoam take-out box.

Below, a plate with some spinach, mac and cheese, chicken thigh, pulled pork, brisket, and yes, beef from the beef rib.

Andrew and Lauren enjoying our food sample. We only put a dent into what we bought. Andrew said he could handle the left-overs, all except the left over beef rib which I took home with me. It was a very fun day of food experimentation.