Heritage Barbecue
31727 Camino Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
I admit I'm a little obsessed. I check Instagram about ten times a day. No, I'm not stalking Instagram models, checking to see how many people have unfollowed me, and no, I'm not keeping tabs on Katie's whereabouts. My usual first stop on this photo-rich social media platform is usually Heritage Barbecue.
I had started hearing raves about Heritage Barbecue about a year ago when they had transitioned from running a catering company to doing pop-ups in a wide assortment of breweries in Long Beach and Orange County on weekends. They grew legions of fans at these pop-ups which included hour-long lines, and the disappointment of having your favorite meats sold out before you could make it to the front of the line. Just based on word of mouth, their Instagram following has ballooned to over 20,000 and climbing.
The husband and wife duo behind Heritage Barbecue is Brenda and Daniel Castillo. Daniel graduated from the culinary program at Orange Coast College. From what I can tell from stalking them on Instagram, the weekends they did not have brewery dates, it seems like they were always in Texas learning more and more about barbecue from their barbecue friends at some of the best barbecue spots in the country. The couple was soon making more money on weekends selling their very in-demand barbecue, so the decision was made to forgo catering and go all-in on the barbecue.
It was announced last year that they would be opening a spot in San Juan Capistrano, right across the street from the mission, in the old Mission Grill spot. As is the case with most restaurant openings, delays are to be expected. What was originally an opening date in the fall of last year, is still in a holding pattern, but we have heard things are getting closer.
I could not wait to try Heritage Barbecue, so in late February, Katie and I trekked up to Bruery Terreux in an industrial area of Anaheim. Being that this was our first time attempting to have Heritage, we showed up at 12 noon and were met with a line. Service was to begin at this time, so we decided to not drive up here in vain, and decided to wait it out.
As the minutes turned into hours, I was starting to wonder if this was all worth it. I did have one beer while waiting in line, which did take a little of the edge off. We also made small talk with the people in line around us. Some who have had this barbecue before, and others who were like us, Heritage Barbecue virgins. By the time we had made it up to the menu board, two and a half hours in, the hunger pains became really strong. A stinging jolt rattled through me every time they announced that they had run out of an item, with the biggest punch to the stomach being when they ran out of brisket.
The brisket, alas would have to wait for another time, with me already planning on arriving at least an hour or two before they were going to be serving food the next time I attempted to have Heritage Barbecue. As we arrived at the ordering station, we had a limited selection we could order. We decided to get everything we could but made the mistake of not ordering the Chili Cheese Sausage, due to my extreme hunger pains by this point. We hastily grabbed our tray of portioned out food, found a place to sit, I quickly took some pictures with my hands shaking from hunger, and we finally dug in. Let's see if Heritage Barbecue was worthy of all the hype and the hours in line.
Here was the tray we waited close to three hours for. I loved the splashes of color on the tray, which resembled a painters palette to my hunger hallucinated eyes. When you are up at the front don't forget to ask for bbq sauce, mustard, white bread, pickled onions, peppers, and pickled cucumbers if they have them. Let's take a closer look at each item.
First up is the Pulled Pork ($12 for a half-pound). Pulled pork is tricky meat for a lot of barbecue spots to master. It's hard to get it right because the pork can come out too moist, or very dry like sandpaper going down the hatch. Heritage hit the sweet spot between these two ranges. The shredded meat was tender and had just the right smokiness to it. I also liked the little shards that took a little more effort to chew through. Really good pulled pork.
Due to the hunger pains, I have mentioned numerous times in this post, and the excitement of actually having the food in front of us, I did not take a detailed picture of the Pork Ribs ($12 for a half-pound) that we also consumed way too quickly. The ribs came lightly brushed with just a small amount of barbecue sauce and a flavorful dry rub coating the outside of them. The meat underneath had just the right amount of smokiness to it, just like the pulled pork. It pulled off the bone with just a little tug, which is what I like in my ribs. Not that it needed it, but I used alternating bites of the pork with the provided bbq sauce and mustard. The bbq sauce was not overly sweetened like a lot of places make the mistake of doing.
Listening to the people around us, some were dissing the Green Chili Mac and Cheese with Chicharon ($4). I thought it was pretty sold. I mean it was not the best I have had, but I liked it. The cheese was not overpowering and clung to the noodle nicely, while the green chili kept things interesting. An added bonus was the crumbled chicharron for texture and the cubed rib tip perched on top, which was heavenly.
Maybe if pressed, I'd have to say the El Rancho Potato Salad ($4) was the weak link on this tray, but I even liked this. It had a great consistency to it, I liked the peppery bits, and even though I'm not a big celery fan, it added a nice crunch. Yes, another pop of flavor would have helped, but this was not too bad.
This long visit to experience Heritage Barbecue just whetted my appetite for when they eventually open in San Juan Capistrano. Just based on their pork offerings that we had on this afternoon, and the fact that they are known for their wildly popular brisket and beef ribs, I'm going to go out on a limb and proclaim that Heritage Barbecue is going to be the best barbecue that OC has to offer. Yes, a lot of people will be turned off by the fact that you have to wait in a long line, that they run out of items that you want, and it's not going to be the most convenient restaurant to eat at. After your first few bites, all of those negatives will melt away, and you will yearn for your next visit. If that's not the case, maybe Lucille's or Dickey's might be more up your alley. That'll be at least one less person in front of me in line.
Out of five school busses, (because I think every kid in every school in OC has visited San Juan Capistrano on a field trip), five being best, to zero being worst, Heritage Barbecue gets 4 school buses.
For more information about Heritage Barbecue, it's probably best to check their Instagram page by clicking here: https://www.instagram.com/heritagebarbecue/?hl=en
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