Doing a Flyby at Jame Enoteca

 Jame Enoteca

241 Main Street 

El Segundo, CA 90245

We recently were headed to LAX to catch a flight when I got an alert on my phone that our flight had been delayed for an hour and a half. Most of the time, this would have infuriated me, but I was starving, and this saved me from having some garbage fast food at the airport. We were pretty close to the airport, so I did a quick Yelp search of nearby restaurants and picked Jame Enoteca based on their Yelp reviews. 

Jame Enoteca is the proud owner of a four-and-a-half star rating, with over 500 reviews. Established in 2018, Jame Enoteca is helmed by Jackson Kalb, who also runs Ospi in nearby Venice, and it was just announced that he and his wife are also opening an Italian seafood restaurant in Brentwood, which should open later this spring or summer. As if all that was not enough, he's also going to be a contestant on the latest season of Top Chef. In summary, he's a very busy fellow. 

Maybe because it was a Thursday night, we got seated right away when we arrived at this cozy restaurant situated in a nondescript strip mall, just off of Main Street in El Segundo. We were seated on the patio in front of the restaurant. so I never did actually get a good look inside the restaurant while we were here, but from the pictures I've seen online, it looks pretty tiny, with tables squeezed together very closely. To remedy the covid times that we are all experiencing right now, they have erected a makeshift patio in the parking lot. 

On their website, they call their cuisine Californian-Italian fare while using local, market-driven ingredients to create their dishes. The lunch menu at Jame Enoteca features starters, salads, sandwiches, and eight hand-rolled pasta offerings, while the dinner menu forgoes the sandwiches in favor of four larger plates and adds more in the way of starters and pasta options. Appetizers hover around the $16 price point, while pasta dishes will set you back right around $20, and mains go for $30 or more. Let's see if this was a much better alternative to the airport eating we would have done if our plane had not been delayed. 

We've gotten Crispy Brussels Sprouts ($16) at plenty of restaurants, but I'm not sure we've ever gotten as many as we got on this evening at Jame Enoteca. This platter contained more than our fair share of these little cabbages. They were indeed very crispy as the menu promised, but they lacked a substantial amount of the schiafonni dressing, which would have helped bring these sprouts to life a bit more. Not bad, but with so many and not enough dressing, I became bored after eating my fifteenth sprout.  

Entrees were up next, and Katie will start us off with her selection this evening, the Tagliatelle Al Ragu ($19). I also had my eye on this one, but I deferred to her. See, I can be a decent husband some of the time. The brief menu description calls this a Hollywood-style bolognese, and the reason for this might surprise you, as it did me. They add avocados to their bolognese, which gives it some added creaminess. You'd never know it by tasting it, but the result is one of the most comforting dishes we have had in a while. The ribbon pasta was fresh and was a great vehicle for this untraditional, but meaty ragu. After my bite of this, it's no wonder why this dish gets so much love online. 

Since Katie took my number one pick, I decided to go with the Paccheri Rigati ($19 plus $5 for two meatballs). This pick was another winner. The large tubed pasta was nicely paired with spicy pork sausage, a lick-your-plate clean tomato-based sauce, and finished off with some fine pecorino. It popped with a bit of a kick from the sausage, but even if you are a wimp when it comes to heat, I think you could handle this one. The meatballs were kind of a letdown. They were very dense and needed to be seasoned a bit more. They were not awful, but I'd probably try the sausage the next time I was here. 

Jame Enoteca has been called one of the best places to eat pasta in all of Los Angeles, and after this visit, I'd have to say it's right up there. If we lived closer, we would definitely have this spot in our heavy rotation of restaurants. I'd love to eat my way through the rest of their menu. The service was very cordial, and the food came out real quick. The price point was pretty modest, while the portion sizes are not going to overstuff you, but you definitely won't need to stop on the way home to get something else either. Jame Enoteca was an excellent alternative to the airport food we would have had to endure if our flight wasn't delayed. Probably one of the only times we will be thankful for a flight delay. 

Out of five Hot Wheels cars, (because Mattel is based in El Segundo, and the best selling toy of all-time is their Hot Wheels brand), five being best to zero being worst, Jame Enoteca gets 3.5 Hot Wheel cars. 

For more information about Jame Enoteca, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.eatjame.com/

Hopping Along to LAX

Hopdoddy Burger Bar

830 North Sepulveda Blvd.

El Segundo, CA 90245

Yes, you guessed it, another trip up this way to take Chuck and Stephanie to LAX. For ardent readers of this blog, you already know they are flying off to North Carolina to see their grand kids for one of their 8 annual trips to the East Coast. With all of these trips up the 405 Freeway, we'd have run out of places to try, but just like OC, the South Bay always seems to have a new place opening up. This time, we sent Chuck and Steph off with a meal from Hopdoddy Burger Bar.

Hopdoddy is a burger chain from Austin, Texas, that just recently pushed into California. This chain established its first restaurant in 2010 and now has locations in Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and soon to be four spots in California. They have three already open and operating in the Golden State (Playa Vista, Newport Beach, and this one, El Segundo) and a coming soon sign hanging over Tustin. This South Bay location opened last August and has had some positive press, so the four of us were excited to try it.

I could sense Chuck's apprehension about us getting them to the airport on time when we pulled into this pretty busy shopping center on the corner of Sepulveda and Rosecrans. The shopping complex is called The Point, and its anchor stores are all pretty hip and include restaurants like True Food Kitchen, North Italia, and Mendocino Farms. Chuck's high anxiety about leaving here on time was not warranted because we almost walked up to the counter at Hopdoddy.

As you are waiting in line to order your food here, you are assigned a table by a hostess. I like this system, as it prevents people from staking out a table before they even order, which is one of my pet peeves. I felt this system helped the flow of customers, but this is one of the biggest complaints about this restaurant online.

The menu here is, of course, burger-driven, but there are three salad options for the two of you who are not into burgers. There are 15 burgers to choose from here, one of which includes a special burger, which is rotated frequently. Burgers run the gamete from beef, bison, lamb, chicken, turkey, tuna, and a black bean corn patty for non-meat eaters. There are also a few sides and a wider variety of shakes available. This menu brings to mind the one we experienced at Shake Shack in Vegas. Let's see if we'll like this place as much as we enjoyed that New York-based restaurant chain.

We started with these Green Chili Queso Fries ($6.75). The fries here are made with Kennebec potatoes, and tasted pretty fresh. They were fried well, with the absence of any grease. I would have liked them bigger because we had to dip them into the green chili queso dip. This dip had a slight punch, and I liked it. It resembled more of a soup than a dip, but maybe that's because I could have seen myself eating this with a spoon. It was that good.

We tried the Truffle Fries ($6.95) at Hopdoddy as if we did not have enough fries. These were not as good as the ones above. Yes, the fries were the same, but the truffle flavor failed to shine for us. Also, without grease, the Parmesan and green onion slid off these fries relatively easily and collected on the bottom of the basket. Stick with the green chili queso fries.

It was burger time, and up first was Katie's selection, the Magic Shroom ($9.75). This burger starts with an Angus beef patty and is then topped with goat cheese, mushrooms, tomato, mayo, basil pesto, white onion, and red-leaf lettuce. Katie really enjoyed how all these toppings played well with each other. The burger was juicy, and you can definitely tell that they grind their beef daily here. It's a very fresh-tasting burger and one that she'd get again.

Whenever we eat with Stephanie, she always scans the menu for the items with some heat behind them. That's probably why she got the ominously named El Diablo Burger ($9,25). Again, the Angus beef patty is in play here and is outfitted with pepper jack cheese, habanero and, serrano chilies, caramelized onions, salsa roja, and chipotle mayo. As is the case with most items she tries, she claims that it could have been hotter, but she did appreciate the heat that was there. Stephanie did make quick work of this burger, but that's probably because old man Chuck was prodding her under the table to hurry up, as they only had two hours until their flight.

Speaking of old man Chuck, he wanted a burger that reminded him of his boyhood, and since they didn't have dinosaurs on the menu here, he settled on this basic Classic Burger ($8). This basic model, with added cheddar cheese, also came with tomato, lettuce, and sassy sauce, and their house spread was made up of mayo, mustard, and horseradish. Not as strong as I was expecting, I rather enjoyed this sauce. Chuck was impressed with his burger, calling it one of the best he's had in awhile.

I had difficulty deciding what burger to have here, but ultimately went with the Terlingua Burger ($9.50). This burger had a meaty chili, cheddar cheese, Frito's, and sassy sauce. I did a little digging and found out why they call this burger the Terlingua. There's a chili cook-off every year in Terlingua, Texas, on the first Saturday of November. Still determining if this chili would win there, but this was a superb burger. The chili had a mild flavor, the Fritos added some crunch, and the Tillamook cheddar is always one of my favorites on a burger. The buns here are freshly made every day and do an excellent job of standing up to the insides of this burger. I would have liked more sauce on this, but that would be my only complaint with this burger.

The burgers at Hopdoddy are not going to wow you with their size. We all left here satisfied, but not overly stuffed. The burgers are a little bigger than the ones at Umami, but what they lack in girth, they more than makeup for with flavor. We all really enjoyed these, and would come back here in a heartbeat. I look forward to checking out our Hopdoddy at Fashion Island soon. I thought the prices were manageable here, but if you are hesitant to pay ten dollars for a burger, this might not be your spot. Service was good on this visit. The guy who brought our food to the table checked on us frequently and even got Chuck a refill on his drink, saving his arthritic hip a few steps. If we ever run out of spots to hit up when driving these two to the airport, we would definitely visit here again.

Out of five bats (because Hopdoddy started in Austin, Texas, in 2010, and one of that city's biggest attractions is watching over one million of these flying mammals fly out from under a bridge in search of that night's dinner), five being best to zero being worst, Hopdoddy Burger Bar gets 3.5 bats.

For more information about Hopdoddy Burger Bar, go to their website here: http://www.hopdoddy.com/ 

A Slice of New York in El Segundo - CLOSED

Grimaldi's

2121 Rosecrans Ave. Ste. 1399

El Segundo, CA 90266

I was skeptical walking in here. A few years ago, I had a great pizza at the Grimaldi's underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Whether it's the water, the weather, or the crazy toppings we put on our pizzas, the West Coast has always been treated as a stepchild regarding great pizza in the US. Chicago has its fantastic deep dish, New York is celebrated for its thin crust, and we have pineapple on pizza, which is blasphemous to other areas of the country. Yes, Southern California is not known for its pizzas, but I hoped Grimaldi's opening here would bring us some pizza cred.

I was skeptical because I was worried this would not be as good as the pizza we had in New York. Grimaldi's has been around for over a hundred years. They cook their pizzas in a coal-fired brick oven, giving them a crispness and flavor you can't get from other pizza ovens. Along with the oven lore, they also have a secret dough and pizza sauce recipe, and they have tried to replicate the New York water over the years and feel they have a good handle on it now. The pizza oven is 25 tons and burns at 1200 degrees. We were excited to see if this pizza could live up to what we experienced in Brooklyn.

Our reason for being up in this neck of the woods was that we were taking Chuck and Stephanie to LAX for their red-eye flight back to North Carolina. We arrived at Grimaldi's at just after eight on a Saturday night. There was plenty of parking in the structure at the back of this location. When leaving the structure, make your way towards Rosecrans, where Grimaldi's is situated. The Brooklyn location is notorious for its long lines throughout the day, but that was not the case in El Segundo. We were seated right away.

This is a much more spacious space than the East Coast location. The tables are spread out a lot more. There's a sleek kind of vibe here, with lots of dark woods, exposed brick, and their signature red and white tablecloths. The menu here is straightforward. Starters include six different kinds of salads; the rest of the menu is left for pizzas and calzones. No pasta dishes or other entrees are offered at Grimaldi's. This is strictly a pizza place, so you should move along if you're not in the mood for pizza. Luckily, we were all ready for pizza, so we ordered and eagerly awaited our food.

I'm always partial to Caesar Salads ($11), so I roped our party of four into giving the one at Grimaldi's a try. This is the large version of this salad, which barely fed the four of us. This Caesar had all the usual suspects included; shaved Parmesan, romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing, and croutons. The freshness of the romaine was definitely evident in these pictures. The vibrant green was very pleasing, and plenty of Parmesan and croutons were included in this. This salad failed due to the minimal use of dressing. It was barely noticeable throughout the salad. Yes, we could have asked for more, but I would like the food to come out as the kitchen envisions it. The lack of dressing on this made this salad average, which was disappointing.

Katie's pizza made its way to the table first. She had a personal-size pizza. There are no specialty pizzas here; you choose the size you want and what kind of sauce you desire, and then pick your toppings, which range in price from $2 to $5. She went with a Personal White with Garlic pizza and added Spicy Chicken Sausage and Artichoke Hearts ($19). Katie was pretty blown away with this pizza, which she said was on par with our one in Brooklyn. This personal pizza was the perfect size for her, and she was even generous enough to share two slices with the three of us while we were waiting for our pizza to come out. I liked the spicy sausage, which added a kick, and the garlic in the front and center of this pizza. Big-time flavors.

A long time passed between when Katie's pizza came out and when ours hit the table. It was nearly twenty minutes, but the manager was right on top of things. He apologized for the wait, explaining that our pizza was burnt accidentally and he would take it off the bill. This was very generous of him, and I liked that he admitted their snafu. However, this large pizza ($23 with toppings) was worth waiting for. We selected jalapenos, pepperoni, and sausage to top our pie. This is usually my go-to order when trying a new pizza place. The toppings were evenly spread across the pizza. This pizza was not overly cheesy, but you could still tell it was there. The crust stayed crisp, and the edges were not excessively bready, which I liked. My one complaint is that there was too little sauce used on this, but that's just my preference. When we were done, I also noticed a lack of grease on the pizza pan. I attribute this to the high-quality toppings and cheese they use here. This is not an overly heavy pizza, which made Stephanie and Chuck happy since they would sit on a plane for the next four hours.

Since our pizza was being taken off the bill, we decided to splurge on dessert. At Grimaldi's, there are three desserts to choose from, or you could get the Dessert Trio ($10) and sample all three. This trio comprised tiramisu, your choice of one of their house-made cheesecakes, and their signature cannoli. I liked the cheesecake the best, which is odd because I'm not usually a fan. This one was not too chalky, though, and was more creamy. There was also no shortage of Oreo crumbs on this. The cannoli was good, but splitting between four people took a lot of work to get a sound bite. A good crunch to it, and the filling inside was solid. The tiramisu was decent but too bland. I liked that they did offer this option so you could try all of their desserts because sometimes it's too hard to pick just one.

Okay, first and foremost, many of you are thinking about Grimaldi's being too expensive. $19 for a personal-size pizza is too much, and I agree with that. In this case, though, you do get what you pay for. If you are a true pizza fan, you will want to experience what Grimaldi's has offered for over a hundred years, no matter the price. The pizzas here are worth it every once in a while, especially when you consider that a large pizza at Round Table or Lamppost costs over the $20 mark, and although they are good, they can not compete with what is offered at Grimaldi's. This was a much more comfortable setting than the cramped Brooklyn location we visited. Besides the unfortunate burning of our pizza, service was definitely not an issue on this night. Our waitress was over to our table every so often to maintain drink levels and meet our needs. Even when Chuck and Stephanie returned to town, they remarked how much they enjoyed this pizza. Having Grimaldi's in Southern California will gain us some pizza cred until someone orders pineapple on their pizza.

Out of five Barbie dolls (because the city of El Segundo is the corporate home to Mattel, makers of the famous blond doll), five being best to zero being worst, Grimaldi's gets 3.5 Barbie dolls.

For more information on Grimaldi's, go to their website here: http://www.grimaldispizzeria.com/

Leaving On a Jet Plane, Via El Segundo

Richmond Bar and Grill

145 Richmond Street

El Segundo, CA 90245

A lot of people ask why we take our good friends Chuck and Stephanie to the airport so often. The simple answer is that they get a lot of vacation time, and head off to South Carolina to see their grandson. For most people, taking someone to the airport is one of the worst things you can ask them to do. It's right up there with asking someone to help you move, or asking a good buddy for money. Both, very unpleasant experiences.

For Katie and I, taking Chuck and Stephanie to the airport is never a chore. With all of our busy lives going on, it is one chance that the four of us get to talk. Joking about Chuck's advanced age is enough to take us from south OC, all the way up to Long Beach alone. Our payment for all this, besides the great conversation, is that Chuck takes us somewhere for dinner. I always get to choose, and Chuck has to pay. It works out pretty nicely for all of us, except Chuck's wallet. On trips where we have to drop them off at LAX, we usually hit up a place that's just south of the airport. That's what we did on this night when we made it to Richmond Bar and Grill.

For those of you unfamiliar with El Segundo, it is a beach city, that is located just south of LAX. The city is known for its aerospace industry and its petroleum-related business's. The few times we have been here, it can be characterized as a sleepy, little beach town. The downtown area has a long ago, kind of Mayberry type vibe going on here. Lots of independent businesses and restaurants. As with many beach cities, we had a hard time finding parking here, but we almost always get lucky and find a spot that is not too far from our desired restaurant.

Richmond Bar and Grill is located one block west of Main Street. This is not a big restaurant. They have eight tables and bar seating. They have been here since 1976, which just happens to be the same year that Chuck turned 80. Sorry Chuck, couldn't resist. Anyways, this was a very local crowd the night we were here. The USC game was on TV and brought about some spirited cheers from the Trojan fans in attendance. Even with the local crowd entrenched here, the patrons and servers seemed warm towards us outsiders from OC. The menu is typical bar food; burgers, wings, hot dogs, and sandwiches. We were given ample time to put our order in, and this is what we ended up with.

I was really hungry and very eager to spend some of Chuck's money, so I ordered two items, the first of which was this Bad Dog ($7.95) This is a hot dog smothered in five-alarm chili, cheese, and onions. I promise there is a hot dog under all that chili somewhere. I was pretty pleased with this chili dog. The chili had a nice spice to it, there was plenty of onions, and the hot dog was definitely all beef from what I could tell. This is definitely a knife and fork hot dog, which usually goes against my principles, but I did not want to make a mess of myself in front of Stephanie. Predictably, the bun did get a little soggy under all of the weight dumped on top of it. For a side item, you get Richmond's Famous Chips. These are chips, that are cut and fried right here on the premises. To be honest, I give them credit for making these here, but I was not a big fan of these. Some were fried crisp, but others were kind of soggy, or not fried enough. They were seasoned with salt, but I would have rather of had fries.

Katie kind of threw me for a loop here, when she ordered this Tuna Melt ($8.25). This tuna melt was made with albacore tuna, jack cheese, and tomato. Katie did not know what to expect with this, but she was pleasantly surprised. The cheese did not overpower, it was not greasy, and the tuna was definitely the star of this sandwich.

The rest of the entrees we got on this night were burgers. Let's start with Chuck's selection, the Pastrami Burger ($8.75). The burgers here are not massive. They are a third of a pound, so it was no problem for any of us to put these away. Included on Chuck's burger was of course pastrami, lettuce, tomato, and jack cheese. Man, they sure do love their jack cheese here. Chuck felt this burger was pretty average. He's a butcher by trade, so it takes a lot for him to be impressed when it comes to meat. He felt the pastrami used here was pretty lean but did not offer much else to say about it other than that. He did get fries, instead of the chips, which was a good call. They are of course cut and made here, and were fried a lot better than the chips. These are the way to go here.

Chuck's much better half, Stephanie likes things spicy, (that always makes me wonder why she likes Chuck so much, but I digress). The Fiesta Burger ($8.95) appeared to be right up her alley. This burger had jalapeno pepper jack cheese, avocado, and grilled Ortega chilies on it. This burger left Stephanie wanting more heat. The chilies were not spicy, and the jalapeno jack cheese did not provide any punch. She felt the rest of the burger was kind of just average, (like her husband).

I was not going to be satisfied with just a chili dog, so you better believe that I had something else as well. The Blue Cheese Bacon Burger ($8.75) would be that other thing. This burger included crisp bacon, lettuce, tomato, and crumbled blue cheese. Like everyone else, this burger left me wanting more from it. The patty was juicy enough, but I needed some mayo or maybe a blue cheese dressing on this to make it moister. There was definitely enough lettuce on this for me to make a salad out of it. I liked the fries, better than the chips, although some could have been a little crisper.

Thoughts on Richmond Bar and Grill? It was not awful, but none of us left here clamoring to come back anytime soon. Most of the food was pretty average, with the chili dog being a highlight for me. I was pretty impressed with the service, as local bars can get a little clicky, but that was not the case at Richmond Bar and Grill. We felt like we were regulars during our stay. I also thought the prices were on the fair side. A burger and fries for under $10 in a restaurant are about what you are going to pay for a value meal at a fast-food place. Of course, since Moneybags Chuck was paying, money was definitely no object. We look forward to their next trip, not just because Chuck will be out of town, but also because we look forward to taking them to the airport and getting to try a new place for dinner.

Out of five buckets of pine tar, (because El Segundo was home to George Brett, who had a famous home run taken off the board due to the use of pine tar, in a game against the Yankees, and came flying out of the dugout to protest), five being best to zero being worst, Richmond Bar and Grill gets 2.5 buckets of pine tar.

For more information about Richmond Bar and Grill, go to their website here: https://www.richmondbarandgrill.com/

Battaling LA Traffic to Get to Britt's BBQ

Britt's BBQ

408 Main Street

El Segundo, CA 90245

Believe it or not, this is a milestone post in our blogs three-plus years of existence. Of course, it will not be a post about a place in our beloved OC, but will instead be a review of a restaurant in El Segundo. We were on our way to taking Chuck and his lovely wife, Stephanie to LAX for yet another trip to South Carolina. In return for our dropping them off, Chuck graciously offered to buy us dinner near the airport, as long as I could find a suitable place to eat. I did a little research and came up with what would be our 400th post, Britt's Bar-B-Que.

I was a little worried when we were driving up this way though because I was looking on the wrong side of the street for this place, but we eventually found it. Because it was a dark and misty night, this beach town was pretty sleepy. I could imagine that when the weather is nicer, it could be a lot harder to find parking on this main drag of El Segundo. The inside of the restaurant matched the lack of people from outside. There was only one other table of two eating at Britt's when we arrived. Throughout the course of our visit though, there would be numerous people coming and going to get to go orders.

Britt's is not a big restaurant by any means. They have eight tables, with some seating outside when the weather is a little more conducive to sitting out there. Britt's is owned by the Kovar and Cail families. The restaurant is named for the deceased daughter of  Tracy Cail, one of the co-owners. It had always been Brittany and Tracy's dream to open a business together, but a 2008 traffic accident prevented that from happening. Britt's is a living tribute to Brittany and a place that both families hope she would be proud of. I love when there are little stories behind family-run restaurants. I also love when the food is good too, so let's see how Britt's Bar-B-Que stacks up.

The four of us were pretty hungry from our hour drive up the 405, so we got the Potato Rounds ($3.95) to start us off. These sliced potatoes were a cross between a potato chip and a french fry. They were freshly fried and good without being too greasy. They were heavily salted, but that just added some needed flavor to the potato. Nothing earth-shaking, but it quelled our hunger until our food arrived.

This is one of the newer sandwiches over at Britt's. I did not get the exact name of it, but from what I remember it was called a Jalapeno Chicken Melt ($9.95). This was Stephanie's choice for dinner. I like dining with Steph because she always gets something that has a lot of spiciness to it. Maybe it is because of her other half, Chuck lost his spiciness long ago, during the Roosevelt administration. It was natural that she would be getting a sandwich with jalapenos in it. This sandwich featured pulled chicken, macaroni, and cheese, and diced up jalapenos, all on Texas toast. Stephanie must not have read the description of this sandwich too closely, because she was thrown by the fact that this had macaroni and cheese in the middle of the sandwich. She is watching her carbs, so she kind of ate around this sandwich. She felt the chicken was moist and tender, and the jalapenos added just enough spice. I did not try this sandwich, but the Texas toast looked really good, and I would have been happy ordering this sandwich.

Katie also went the sandwich route at Britt's. She had the Tri-Tip Sliders ($11.95). She was really impressed with the quality of the meat here, calling it, "melt in your mouth tender." She also thought that they were generous with the amount of meat that they put on the sliders. The barbecue sauce was given on the side and offered a good amount of flavor when applied to the sliders. Katie would definitely get this again.

Chuck was also enticed by the special menu board above the registers at Britt's. He selected the Short Ribs ($12.95) for his entree. Again, they were very generous with the amount of meat they put on the plate. As short rib can sometimes be, Chuck felt these were a little bony and fatty, but he did enjoy his dinner. Again Chuck did not allow me to sample his plate, (he's very territorial over his food at restaurants). This plate came with two side items, which Chuck went with the Cole Slaw and the Chili Mac. The Cole slaw was pretty average, while I liked the fact that they offered the chili mac. It is something that you do not see on a lot of menus. This one was pretty good, but I would have liked it to have been served warmer.

It was my turn to order next, so I took this opportunity to get the Beef Ribs ($13.95). I am transitioning from ordering baby back ribs to beef ribs when I go to barbecue restaurants. I like that beef ribs have way more meat than the tiny baby back pork ribs. These ribs were definitely full of meat. They were very tender, with a liberal amount of sauce on them. Even with all of the sauce, the meat shined through. Great flavor, while remaining tender. These kept me occupied for a long while.

Here's a closer look at the Chili Mac and the BBQ Beans, which came with my order. I liked both of these sides, but the beans were the better choice here. They were not overly sweet like some places tend to make their beans. They had a good spice to them, and they came out warmer than the chili mac.

From what I can gather reading the online reviews of this restaurant, they give these Cream Filled Donuts to everyone as a thank you for coming in. This was a very nice touch, as well as delicious. The donuts were dusted with powdered sugar on the outside and filled with custard inside. We learned that these are made by an outside bakery. They reminded me of Hostess O's, the raspberry filled powdered sugar donuts that I had as a kid, minus the raspberry of course. A nice end to the meal.

I believe that Brittany would have been proud of what her family and loved ones have created here. I think it would be safe to say that she would be proud to have her name attached to this restaurant. The food was pretty good, the prices are more than fair, and this is the kind of family run business that you can just not help but to root for. The food is not drive an hour out of your way for, but if you are in the area, and are craving barbecue, then this could be the place for you. This was a great send-off restaurant for Chuck and Stephanie, as they went off to see their family across the country.

Out of five airplanes, (because the top four employers in El Segundo are all aviation business's employing at least 3000 workers or more), five being best, to zero being worst, Britt's BBQ gets 3 airplanes.

For information about Britt's BBQ, click here: https://www.bbqelsegundoca.com/home/