Lunch With the New Boss at Beale’s Bbq

 Beale's Texas BBQ

16400 Pacific Coast Highway #117

Huntington Beach, CA 92649

For most of my 34-year career, I've been fortunate enough to have some pretty good bosses. Unfortunately, there have been a couple of clunkers, and one that I still feel could be the spawn of satan, but I consider a great many of the rest to still be friends to this day. Of course, I'm not sure they feel the same, but I like to think that we are still friends. 

Late last year I got a new manager, and right from the start we had a great rapport. We are around the same age, have the same attitude toward our industry, and share a few of the same interests, minus his affinity for cultivating orchids, his weird obsession with Mocha Mix, and making sausage for friends. Yes, some real diverse hobbies there. I did not let those deter me from driving up to Huntington Beach to meet him for lunch at Beale's Texas BBQ. 

Beale's is situated at Peter's Landing shopping center, which is also home to  Mother's Market, Golden Road Brewing, and other retail shops. Brett Beale is a Santa Ana native, who was a backyard barbecuing enthusiast, smoking meat and making sides for his friends, before opening his first restaurant in Fontana back in 2015. That location has since shuttered, but he came back to OC to open this Huntington Beach spot in May of 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. 

For a time Beale's was just open on weekends, but they have since expanded their hours to half-past 11 until 8pm seven days a week. The menu is pretty much what you'd expect from a barbecue restaurant in these parts. Tri-tip, St. Louis ribs, brisket, pulled pork, hot links, rib tips, and chicken are offered here, along with smoked salmon for those that want to try something a little different. These proteins are offered as plates, sandwiches, and in family meals, which serve anywhere between 4 to 12. Beale's also has seven sides to choose from, along with two dessert options, one of which, the banana pudding, was called out by OC Register restaurant critic, Brad Johnson as the best thing he ate that week. High praise and I was pretty pumped to try Beale's BBQ, even though I'd be with my boss Chris. 

We might as well start things off with what people care about most at a barbecue spot, the meats. Whenever it's available, I like to get a three-meat plate so I can sample as much of the menu as I can at a bbq place. At Beale's, that meant I'd be having the Triple Choice ($29) which allowed me to have my pick of three proteins and two sides. I selected the Brisket, St. Louis Ribs, and the Tri-Tip. Just for good measure, I also got a Hot Link ($4) ala carte. 

The best of the meats was the brisket. This brisket was not overly smoked like others tend to be, but was tender, and had a little ribbon of fat running along the edge of it, which provided a really nice flavor to the meat. The hotlink was another bright spot, as it snuck up on you, with its subtle heat. The texture was nice and meaty, which was very pleasing. The ribs were fine, but not too much meat on them, but they had a really good bark on each one. The tri-tip was the weak link out of the meats that I tried. It was not as tender as the others, kind of dry in places, and even though it possessed a pink smoke ring, had little flavor until I used the provided barbecue sauce. I should have tried the pulled pork or rib tips instead. 

For my two sides, I went with the Mac and Cheese and Potato Salad. When the mac and cheese came out to me, I thought there was no way that I'd like it. It appeared to be devoid of cheese, but looks can be deceiving. The tender noodles were hiding little pockets of cheese that were pretty much in each forkful. Not very overpowering, but with a very pleasing taste, this was one of the better mac and cheese versions that I've had in a long while. Even though I'm not really a big fan of potato salad with big chunks of potato in it, this one was definitely on point flavorwise. I would be tempted to get extra of both of these sides the next time I ate at Beale's. 

I have had the Banana Pudding ($6) once before when someone had brought it to me. It was good then, and just as good on this visit. Big pieces of Nilla Wafers were mixed with a nicely made banana pudding base. I'd like this to be a little cooler than room temperature, but definitely worth getting. The peach cobbler at Beale's gets a lot of love, so if you're a fan of peaches, you might want to give this one a try. 

In August of last year, I posted my top ten barbecue restaurants in OC, after this trip to Beale's BBQ I will have to rewrite that list. Beale's is now probably number six or seven on that list, which means it's worth a visit, especially since OC is suddenly home to some very good barbecue restaurants. With the exception of the tri-tip, which is not really one of my favorite types of meats to get at a barbecue spot, everything else was really good and came out super quick. This was also a good first meal with my new boss, who even overcame the faux pas of not introducing me to his good friend Tom, who happened to be eating here when we visited. I've only brought it up 256 times since, so at least I can hold that over his head until the next time I screw up at work. 

Out of five wagons, (because another famous Beale, Edward Beale surveyed and built a wagon road in 1857 that eventually became Route 66), five being best to zero being worst, Beale's Texas BBQ gets 3.5 wagons. 

For more information about Beale's Texas BBQ, head to their website by clicking here: https://bealestexasbbq.com/