Barn Burner Texas Barbeque

My wife and I were out in Pasadena a few weeks ago when we noticed a new addition to the Fair Oaks Avenue landscape. A large bright red barn with the words "Barn Burner Texas Barbeque" sat there in front of us. I was actually trying to get over to Zeke's in La Canada but when the wife asked me if I wanted to give it a try, I couldn't say no.

As we turned into the parking lot we noticed all of the antiques and vintage paraphernalia spread over the landscape. There were also some old-school drive-in hang-on-your-window-style speakers fastened to poles in the parking lot. I'm not sure if they're actually functional. They have outdoor seating as well as indoor. The antique and vintage look from the exterior carries into the interior.

The restaurant interior is pretty spacious, similar to a large dance hall. There's plenty of seating, especially for large parties. We sat down and ordered our drinks — iced tea and lemonade — and were given a basket of peanuts. The drinks were served in a very large mason jar, perfect for washing down the huge amount of peanuts we were consuming. The floor was littered with spent peanut shells, so we figured that was the thing to do. There we were, shucking peanuts and sipping our drinks while we planned our order strategy. That usually consists of getting the largest sampling of the restaurant's BBQ without ordering the entire menu.

They tried to create a simple menu but it was still a little overwhelming. The combinations are sold in half-pound-of-meat increments with a choice of two sides and a roll. The combos start at half a pound ($9.25) and go up to two pounds ($27.95). Simple enough, unless your order includes tri tip, in which case you'd have a surcharge of $3.00 per half pound. Or if you add baby back ribs, the surcharge is $4.00 per half pound. Things can add up pretty quick when you read the fine print. There are also a couple of chicken combos sold by the quarter, not the pound, with a surcharge of a buck fifty for all white meat.

We ordered the "Get it Straight George" ($19.95), the one-and-a-half-pound combo. This would give us a sampling of three meats and two sides — plenty of food for two people. For the meats we went with baby back ribs (+$4.00), tri tip (+$3.00) and brisket (no surcharge, but now with a running total of $26.95). For the sides, beans and coleslaw.

Our order came and we weren't impressed with the presentation — the meat was thrown into paper-lined plastic trays. Our waitress had gotten our meats confused and called the brisket tri tip and the tri tip brisket. The meat also came with pre-applied BBQ sauce, which I had asked her not to do. It wasn't that much sauce, but I didn't care for it. Overall the meats all had good smoke flavor from the mesquite wood, but it seemed like they didn't season the meat on the outside at all.

The tri tip was not as good as I would have expected. Dry and a little tough — the BBQ sauce didn't even help it out. The baby back ribs were overcooked and disappointing. The brisket was the big surprise: tender and full of beef flavor, and no surcharge. I just wish they had seasoned it better. The coleslaw was pretty tasty along with the beans. The sides ended up being the real hit at the table.

After all that BBQ we didn't finish, we ordered dessert for a change of pace — peach cobbler, of course. That might have been the biggest disappointment of the afternoon. It looked really good on the outside, but once inside we discovered far too much pectin and not nearly enough peaches. Barn Burner just opened for business this summer and is still an infant as far as BBQ restaurants are concerned. They still have plenty of time to work some of these kinks out. Hopefully they'll do it sooner than later.

**Barn Burner Texas Barbeque**
1000 South Fair Oaks Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 403-RIBS