Tag Archives: barbeque

Willy’s Smokehouse – A New Favorite Emerges

by Brian

Hey, everybody!  Sorry for the lack of recent updates.  Mikey and I have been slackin’ on our pimpin’ over the past few days, livin’ it up and enjoying the good life.  But don’t you worry; we’ve also been eating some good stuff and will be writing all about it this week.

Coming up, we’ve got some fine Italian food, a new episode of The Catch, a pizza that might be our highest scoring ever and some authentic Mexican cuisine.  But for tonight’s post, I’ve got the latest and greatest BBQ in our area.

Willy’s Smokehouse – Just off the 101 at Chesebro, in Agoura Hills.

For those of you who don’t know, we’ve been doing quite a bit of BBQ lately.  We’ve had good experiences and bad, but I think Willy’s has emerged as my latest favorite.

Willy’s is a small place, right beside the freeway, and if you’re not looking for it you’ll drive right past.  That would be a huge mistake though, because the barbeque is as down-home and delicious as you’ll find anywhere in L.A.

I originally heard about this place through a friend who works there.  Usually I take these kinds of recommendations with a grain of salt because, as an employee, he or she has a vested interest in the restaurant doing well.  So I looked it up on a few of the rating sites and verified the legitimacy of Willy’s.  It checked out, so I decided to check it out.

Patio

My friend and I rolled up at around 7:30pm on a Tuesday night.  It wasn’t too crowded, which made me think that either a lot of people still don’t know about it, or they just can’t find it, call off the search and settle for the Wood Ranch down the street.  Fine by me.  It was a nice night, so we snagged a booth outside on the patio and started looking over the menu.  Continue reading

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Filed under Agoura Hills, Ventura County

The Ventura BBQ Wars Continue – JD’s Louisiana BBQ

by Brian

As most of you know, I had an absolutely horrendous BBQ experience a short while back at CJ’s in Oxnard.  Honestly, it had more to do with the service than the quality of the food.  But still, who wants to give their hard earned cash to a bunch of jerks, right?  Right.

Well another Ventura county BBQ-er managed to get wind of that post and comment on the site.  Here’s a slightly edited version of what he wrote:

Hello Brian…

I checked out your review of CJ’s BBQ and I think that you are a guy that tells the truth…  I want you to check out JD’s Louisiana BBQ and let me know what you think…. I will guarantee you that you will be treated well and fed the best BBQ in this town!!!! You don’t even have to tell me when you come… All I want is a honest and fair review…  JD’S LOUISIANA BBQ CO.

Now, since I love BBQ and also the crushing of my enemies, I thought, what better way to get even with CJ’s than to review every barbeque restaurant in the area?  Thus Ventura BBQ Wars was born.  Of course, Mikey and I are sworn to remain fair, impartial and dedicated to bringing you the god’s honest BBQ truth.  Here we go…

JD’s Louisiana BBQ – On the corner of Patterson Rd. and Wooley Rd. in Oxnard

outsidejds

I’m just gonna come out and say it.  The only thing CJ’s has on JD’s is a larger selection.  But I think there’s something to be said for doing less and doing it better.  I mean seriously, since I got my iPhone, I’ve learned that I can twitter (@EatMeCalifornia), check the Dodgers score, adopt a Rwandan orphan and buy Mikey’s fossilized chest hair on Ebay, all from the comfort of my local starbucks.  It’s almost too much to bear.  Sometimes, simple is better. Continue reading

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Filed under Oxnard, Ventura County

My Crappy BBQ Experience at CJ’s

by Brian

As most of you know, the majority of my reviews on EatMeCalifornia are positive ones.  After all, we want to promote local businesses that have great food, great service and all the things that make a meal memorable.  CJ’s had none of that.  In fact, when scouring my experience for positive things to say, I only found two.  First, CJ’s serves barbeque.  Second, their spicy barbeque sauce is really good.  Unfortunately, they don’t serve anything that I’d like to put the aforementioned sauce on.

I didn’t take a picture of the front of this place, mostly because I don’t want you guys to go there.  Here’s why… Continue reading

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Filed under Oxnard, Ventura County