Grandpa Fred's BBQ

I had been hearing many things about a little joint out in the West Valley called Grandpa Fred's BBQ. I got some emails and many comments posted to this blog, so I felt it was my duty to give this place a proper review. A few months ago I tried to stop in and have lunch. I knew the general area where it was located, but I could not find this restaurant. A BBQ restaurant on Victory Blvd. shouldn't be difficult to find, right? No luck.

I was determined not to make the same mistake twice, so I went online and found their website. After all, the first part of any good BBQ review is research. I mapped out the address using Google and found that it was right there, in the same area where I had previously looked. Strange. It turns out this restaurant is a little difficult to spot from Victory Blvd. — it's actually much easier to find if you turn south on Variel Ave. and make a quick left into the parking lot. It's an industrial park-looking building complex, not what you'd expect when looking for a restaurant.

Another item I found from my research is that their menu does not include pork. And they're quite proud of that fact. The Grandpa Fred's website had an image with a pig and a big red circle-slash with the words "No Pork" over it. I respect a restaurant with a point of view — it gives them a bit of character. As far as BBQ is concerned, they offer beef ribs, links, and chicken. There are quite a few other items available, such as rib eyes, filet mignon, fish, and a few varieties of gumbo (Friday only).

We went for dinner on Saturday, which, unknown to us, just happened to be their karaoke night. Can you say fun? Not really — it was a little dead and I hadn't had enough drinks to take advantage of the situation. The decor of the restaurant was a little bit funky, and not the good funky either. This was just not a comfortable place for me. I was definitely not going to karaoke that night.

I ordered the beef ribs with a side of collard greens and mac and cheese. I must admit, the beef ribs were pretty damn tasty. I didn't really pick up on the smoke flavor that I look for in BBQ, but they were tasty. The sauce was sweet and it complemented the beef ribs quite well. The mac and cheese was a little cold and not too delicious. That was unfortunate because I was really looking forward to some home-style mac and cheese. The greens were pretty good — the only thing missing was a piece of cornbread to sop up some of the juice.

My wife was a little more disappointed in her order than I was with mine. She ordered the hot link sandwich. When it came to the table it looked way better than it actually was. The link itself wasn't bad, but it was placed inside of a stale piece of bread. Unfortunately her dilemma didn't end there. Her sides included a soggy piece of flavorless corn and some cold mashed potatoes. Yeah, I'm still trying to make that one up to her.

At the end of the evening there was one thing missing, and it wasn't dessert (yes, it was, but we didn't feel like ordering it). They had no wet-naps available. How do you run a BBQ restaurant without handing out wet-naps? I don't know. I really don't like to condemn a restaurant with just one visit — we might have caught them on a bad night.

**Grandpa Fred's BBQ**
21040 Victory Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
818-592-4269