TEXAS BEST BBQ
★★½
Address: 12123 Riverside Drive, Valley Village.
Information: 818-761-8451, www.texasbestbbqvalleyvillage.com.
Cuisine: Barbecue.
When: Lunch and dinner, every day.
Details: Soft drinks (but full bar next door). No reservations.
Prices: About $18 per person.
Cards: MC, V.
★★½
Address: 12123 Riverside Drive, Valley Village.
Information: 818-761-8451, www.texasbestbbqvalleyvillage.com.
Cuisine: Barbecue.
When: Lunch and dinner, every day.
Details: Soft drinks (but full bar next door). No reservations.
Prices: About $18 per person.
Cards: MC, V.
The thing to notice while you wait for your fine and tasty platter of ’que at Texas Best BBQ is the small rectangular hole behind the counter. It’s a bit like something out of “The X-Files,” a window into an alternative reality.
On the other side of that window, cloaked in darkness dimly illuminated by big screens and neon, is Pat’s Cocktails A Mixology Bar (to give it its full name, though this old-school elbow bender of a bar doesn’t smack of outré modern cocktails near as much as it feels like a good place to go for an Old Fashioned or a Rob Roy).
And yup, you can go to the other side of the window in Pat’s and order some ribs from Texas Best. Which may be how things work when you get to heaven.
Texas Best, which sits diagonally across the street from the Valley Village Gelson’s (another set of alternative realities!), is a classic hole-in-the-wall barbecue shop, the sort of place where you could sit down for a feed (there are a handful of stools and tables), but from simple anecdotal observation, it looks as if many take their chow to-go. Or to eat while knocking back a boilermaker next door.
Friendly atmosphere
The guys working at Texas Best are a cheery bunch of dudes, always glad to swap stories of brisket and pulled pork experiences had near and far, to converse about barbecue made with a dry rub versus those heavily sauced, to chat about the sundry flavors of sundry woods. This is a hotbed of ’que-atude, of those who know that really, there’s nothing better on a day hot or a day cold, when it’s raining, or when it’s bone dry, than some bones to chew on.
This is the land of tri-tip and brisket, smoky, tender and sweet … of pulled pork that’s clearly identifiable as pork, rather than some generic meat that’s been shredded into non-recognizability … of smoked chicken, pork spare ribs, baby backs with meat that really does fall off the bone, and dinosaur-sized beef ribs (weekend only).
The dishes come as sandwiches, plates and platters of several sizes, with a house sauce that’s perhaps a tad more spicy than sweet, but shouldn’t shock those with more sensitive palates, though being able to inhale pretty much anything, I can only assume that to be true.
As a rule, I lean mostly toward brisket. For me, it’s the quintessential barbecue meat, though there are arguments for tri-tip, ribs and so forth.
I think it’s the brisket that makes me such a big fan of Dr. Hogly Wogly’s up on Sepulveda in Panorama City and kept me a big fan of the late, lamented Smoke City Market on Van Nuys. To generalize even more broadly than usual, it strikes me that Texas is the source of barbecue in the Valley, while the South is where the ’que of the city comes from, as in the case of Baby Blues in Venice, or Bludso’s on La Brea.
If there were courses in barbecue history taught at Cal State Northridge, a dissertation could be done on that. But myself, I’d prefer to do a dissertation on side dishes, which often intrigue me as much as the meat itself.
Coleslaw craving
I was totally taken by the coleslaw served at Texas Best, for it’s not mayonnaise-based, but vinegar based, which I think tastes better, and is probably a whole heck of a lot better for you. The Texas-style beans are a wonder as well, so saucy they’re part baked beans and part bean soup, which isn’t a complaint at all.
The potato salad is peppery and addictive. There’s a deeply cheesy mac ’n’ cheese as well, along with corn on the cob, decent corn bread (if a bit dry), and tasty collard greens.
The house salad is probably just fine. But green salad seems a tad fussy for a ’que shop. Though an extra dollop of ranch dressing should take care of that.
There’s a section of the menu headed “This & That,” which really is a collection of this and that. It’s where you’ll find the pulled pork nachos, the smoked wings, the loaded baked potato and the pork sausage Texas Dawg, topped with coleslaw and barbecue sauce, which should make you reconsider the mustard you’ve been putting on your dogs for years.
What there aren’t, are tumble weeds, dudes in 10-gallon hats and Tony Lama Boots, and a hitching post Pashacasino out in front. If that upsets you, head into Pat’s for a shot and a beer. And maybe some tequila, which is Texas enough.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Send him email at mreats@aol.com.
Texas Best BBQ
Rating: 2.5 stars.
Address: 12123 Riverside Drive, Valley Village.
Information: 818-761-8451, www.texasbestbbqvalleyvillage.com.
Cuisine: Barbecue.
When: Lunch and dinner, every day.
Details: Soft drinks (but full bar next door). No reservations.
Prices: About $18 per person.
Cards: MC, V.
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