johnny rebs

johnny rebs
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

#25 on my 101 in 1001 list (21/143)
steph & i came here for lunch during dineLA to try out their bbq. it's a cute little restaurant that although strongly branded with the look of a southern bbq joint wasn't over the top. the friendly staff made the place feel down home. i'm sad to say that i was a bit disappointed in their bbq after seeing all the positive reviews. it's not bad, but overall, i thought the meat lacked the smokey flavor of good bbq. i noticed that there wasn't the smell of sweet smoke emanating from the building when we walked up. i don't know what the circumstances were of the fire that burned this place down a few years ago and if that has anything to do with how they cook their meats now, but i didn't smell or taste bbq. the sauce, sweet, bright and orange was tasty and helped some, but that was most of what i could taste of the meats. however, the quality and freshness of the food was good.

for appetizer, i had the fried green tomatoes, which were lightly breaded. the slightly tart vinegar in the green tomatoes balanced nicely with the salty bits of bacon. steph ordered the onion rings, which were made with large, fat rings of yellow onions and were crisply fried. i thought they were excellent, and some of the better ones i've had--no oiliness and the right amount of crunch.

we both had the combo. mine included brisket & hot links with sides of sweet potato fries & collard greens. the brisket was rather bland, although it looked like a quality cut of meat. the hot links were tasty, not too spicy with a uniform dark pinkish red color. the sweet potato fries tasted good but were limp, lacking the crunch of good french fries. the collard greens looked fresh. often, i find places overcook collard greens, and they get the dull, lifeless green color, but these were good. i was surprised there wasn't more flavor from the meat that was cooked with it. if you like healthy collard greens, these seem to be it.

i thought steph's combo of pulled pork & pork ribs was a little better than mine. her pulled pork was tender, but like the brisket lacking the smokiness. the pork ribs were probably the best of the meats we had. it was tender, and the natural pork flavor from the fat was good with the bbq sauce.

for dessert, we both had the peach cobbler a la mode, and we both enjoyed our desserts. i wasn't blown away by the bbq, but i thought the dineLA prix fixe lunch was a good value. i may come back to try their chicken fried steak.