Santa Maria Barbecue Company

What to do today for the 7in7? I have a late start on lunch, 12:30, and I have to be back for a 1:30 meeting. Who schedules a 1:30 meeting during the week of the 7in7? That's another story. Going off of a tip from a co-worker, we decide to put Santa Maria Barbecue Company to the BBQ Junkie test.

Time was serious factor today so we decided to order our BBQ to go. As with any restaurant that is named "Santa Maria Barbecue Company," you have to go with the BBQ tri tip. I'm not 100% sure about ordering the BBQ tri tip to go. Medium turns to medium-well, hot turns to cold. Tri tip will just not travel well unless you go with a sandwich. But wait! What is this I see on the menu? An item that is difficult to find at any Los Angeles restaurant, BBQ or otherwise. An item that occasionally makes an appearance at family gatherings and street fairs. The BBQ tri tip Burrito. Yes!

Things are seriously looking good. I order four BBQ tri tip burritos (for some fellow associates) and one veggie burrito (for my carpool partner). It came out to a total of $35 with no drinks. I was given the choice of mild salsa, hot salsa and BBQ sauce. Naturally, you have to get the hot salsa on the side for the tri tip. But why not ask for some BBQ sauce too, just to see how it measures up?

Got the burritos back to the office by 1:15 and by this time I am so hungry that I forget to take any pictures of the food. No worries, I enjoyed the food so much that I will be back to this BBQ restaurant soon. The burrito is pretty phenomenal and good enough to transcend the BBQ genre and rank highly in the Mexican. I can't say enough about it. The hot salsa was actually hot, as promised. This is something that just doesn't happen. I'm in heaven. So I try the BBQ sauce. It is a little heavy with the worcestershire sauce flavoring, but it works well with the tri tip. I switch between the salsa and the sauce for the remainder of the burrito.

To give this restaurant a fair shake, I have to return and try their chicken, ribs and tri tip on a plate. BTW, my vegetarian carpool partner enjoyed his burrito very much; although he did say that next time he will ask for mushrooms instead of the grilled veggies.

Santa Maria Barbecue Company
9739 Culver Blvd.
310-842-8169