Old Crow Smokehouse
1535 West Katella Ave.
Orange, CA 92867
I could not believe our luck. While we were looking for a restaurant to eat at before heading to a party in Orange, I had to do a double-take. There had to be some sort of mistake. I have heard raves about Old Crow Smokehouse, but I knew they were anchored at Pacific City in Huntington Beach. Surely, Yelp had gotten it wrong. They had an Old Crow Smokehouse listed in Orange. I have to step up my new restaurant openings game.
So Old Crow is in Orange. They took over the old Who Song and Larry's spot in the Stadium Promenade Shopping Center. Old Crow has gotten glowing reviews from OC Register Restaurant Critic Brad Johnson, who included this place as one of his top 75 OC restaurants this year. He also gave them a glowing review in May.
This Orange outpost opened in late October. We had never been to Who Song and Larry's, but I had been to this location when it was Acapulco's a few years back. It's unrecognizable now from those days. More wide open, dark woods and a definite country vibe dominate the space. We were seated near the bar at high-top tables, which are not my favorite seating arrangements, but we made it work.
I had made reservations on Open Table for 7:30 on a recent Saturday night, and we got seated right on time. I'm sure this Old Crow gets a little hectic when there's something going on at the nearby Honda Center. There are plenty of TVs throughout the bar area, and they were tuned to various sporting events during our stay. Live country music takes over after 9 on Friday and Saturday nights.
On to the food, though. This is a Chicago-style barbecue, like Lillie's Q in Brea, which we hope is ready to open again soon after their hiatus while their parking structure is being built. Anyways, back to Old Crow. The characteristics of Chicago-style barbecue are heavy smoking, low and slow, and an emphasis on ribs and rib tips. We were very excited to get to everything, so without further ado, here's our take on Old Crow Smokehouse.
After our server really talked it up, we started things off by getting a slice each of their Classic Cornbread ($2) and the Bacon, Cheese, and Jalapeno Cornbread ($3). We were not too impressed. I like sweeter cornbread, and this one was not very sweet, almost bordering on being boring. I also could not tell the difference between the regular and the bacon jalapeno variety. They ended up tasting the same to me.
Entree time, and Katie selected the Old Crow Smoked Sliders ($12) as her meal this evening. She had asked for brisket, pulled pork, and a chicken slider, and that's how our check read, but she got three of the pulled chicken sliders. No worries, you expect the kitchen of a new restaurant to have some kinks to work out. These chicken sliders were just OK, in Katie's opinion. The chicken was OK but did not stand out. She also felt they could have included a little more chicken per slider. The pickled red onion and the barbecue sauce on the table helped keep her interested. She tried the crunchy coleslaw for her side item, which I enjoyed. While the menu touted this as having a horseradish-slaw dressing, I did not detect any hint of horseradish here. However, I still enjoyed this subdued coleslaw, which had just the right amount of dressing to cabbage ratio.
As is my custom when dining at a barbecue restaurant for the first time, I lean towards getting a combo meal, and at Old Crow, that would be this Pick Three ($25). I went with the brisket, sausage, and the quarter slab of pork baby back ribs for my three types of meat. The ribs were head and shoulders above the other two meat selections. In fact, these were some of the best ribs I have had. They were tender, had plenty of meat on each bone, and had a fantastic bark crusted on their outer portion, with just the right amount of smoke included here. The other meats were OK but could not compare to the ribs. I had some delicious bites of the brisket, but other forkfuls were on the dry side. The sausage was the weak link here, pun intended. It was a sturdy sausage but needed a little moisture to make it easier to eat. Decent flavor, but I expected more of a flavor pop. The sides were average. The menu promised that the country mashed potatoes would include rosemary, garlic, and a BBQ rub, but these taters fell flat. I liked the consistency of the spuds, but they did not taste like anything other than potato. No garlic nor rosemary was present. The mac and cheese was equally disappointing, as it came out lukewarm and needed an extra spark to keep me interested after my first two bites. Kind of lackluster. I'd try the fries and the baked beans on my next visit.
I almost forgot to post this extra side we ordered, the Savory Sweet Potatoes with Blue Cheese ($5). Points for originality, but I lost interest after the shock of having blue cheese with sweet potato wore off.
Dessert was our last hurrah at Old Crow, and we went out with a bang with these Apple Fritters ($6). It was not what I expected when I saw apple fritters on the menu. At Old Crow, they take apples, coat them with a tempura batter, fry them, and dredge them with cinnamon and sugar to form a lighter crumb donut. It comes served with some caramel sauce and a maple brown sugar gelato. There was a slight disconnect with this. It could have been served better, but all the components were awkward. I liked it enough, but I will try another dessert next time.
As with many of the barbecue restaurants in OC, Old Crow Smokehouse has some good and some not-so-good parts. I found the meats above average, especially the ribs, but the sides and the dessert were average or below. I'm trying the burnt ends and the tri-tip on our next visit. I just wish they were offered as part of a combo meal. The sides were disappointing and need some help here. We have heard some rumblings about slow service, but we did not experience anything close to that on this rather busy Saturday night. Our server, Peggy, was excellent, and she anticipated our every need during our stay. The prices here were right on par with what you'd pay at, let's say, Lucille's, but the meats here are way better. We are glad Old Crow is open so close to the Honda Center, and we will be back before a game.
Out of five bottles of bourbon (because one of the earliest Kentucky bourbons is Old Crow Reserve, which started production in 1853), five being best to zero being worst, Old Crow Smokehouse gets 3 bottles of bourbon.
For more information about Old Crow Smokehouse, head over to their website here: http://oldcrowsmokehouse.com/orange/
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