Shortstop BBQ
711 N. Placentia Avenue
Fullerton, CA 92831
I admit I am not much into food trucks. They just don't seem convenient to me. The food usually sounds very appealing, but the fact that I did not have a Twitter account until a few weeks ago, (shameless plug, you can follow our blog here, https://twitter.com/#!/eatmywaythruoc), and the fact that, (are you ready to be shocked?), I do not own a smart phone, so it makes it hard for me to keep up with where the food trucks are roaming. Ugh, this makes me sound like I still use eight track tapes, Atari, and a pager! I will try to get more technological in the future, but for now I really wanted some barbecue.
I have heard a lot about the Shortstop BBQ truck. They have a great reputation for serving some great barbecue, so I was excited that they opened a restaurant that will stay in one place. They are run by two brothers, and one of their wives. Drawing on inspiration from their great grandfather, they look to serve some delicious BBQ, with a clean, California appeal.
We were going to a play in Fullerton, so we stopped by their tiny restaurant. We arrived at about six on a Saturday night. There were a lot of people crammed in here. Most were waiting patiently for their food, while the two guys working behind the counter were going at a breakneck pace cranking out orders. After placing our order with one of the guys we watched the game on their nice sized TV, and waited for a table to open up. The menu here is not going to impress you with its large variety, but I was hoping it would impress my taste buds. Let's see how it all turned out for us.
At Shortstop BBQ they do not serve your everyday fries, they serve frites, (which is just a fancy French way of saying fries). The frites here are topped with a variety of offerings. We ordered the Beef n' Bleu Frites. These frites were topped with blue cheese crumbles, tri tip, and BBQ sauce. The fries here are average, but what sets these apart are the toppings. These were delicious, with lots of blue cheese and tender tri tip. A little more BBQ sauce on these would have made this even better. They have other interesting offering for frites as well, including a turkey, cheese, and cranberry chili a top the frites. That one will have to wait for next time though. We still had more food on our trays.
At Shortstop BBQ, they have four sandwiches on the menu, all with a little twist. I am sure if you do not like something, they would omit it for you, but I wanted to try everything as it was on the menu. Above is Katie's sandwich, the BBQ Pulled Pork. Here the the twist was the addition of creamed corn, to go along with pork and BBQ sauce. The corn seemed a little odd to me at first, but the sweetness of it combined with the tender pork really hit the spot. The flavor of the pork was subtle, but still real good. The brioche bun really held up to the insides of the sandwich, which surprised me. Just like with the frites, a little more BBQ sauce on this would have made this even better.
The picture above does not do my Tri-Tip Sandwich justice. The tri tip on this sandwich was paired with their blue cheese slaw and BBQ sauce. The meat was very tender, the slaw was excellent, and like the other sandwich, the bun held everything perfectly. Really enjoyed this sandwich, and I would not hesitate to get this again. A must order when I come back here.
Of course I could not come to barbecue restaurant and not try some ribs. I got this Quarter Rack of Ribs Combo plate, which comes with two sides. The ribs here are not slathered with sauce. They have a dry rub, and the sauce is very light, almost baked into the meat. The result is an easy to eat rib, with very tender meat. The meat came off the bone easily, and almost all in one piece. Very nicely done. As for the side items, the Creamed Corn was not as sweet as the one at Gulliver's, but it was very good. The blue cheese slaw was great, and I could have eaten more of this. They were very generous with the blue cheese in this slaw.
This was a solid spot for barbecue. Shortstop BBQ is a tiny restaurant that is not much for ambiance, but they definitely make up for it with some good dishes. The tiny menu is accompanied by some specials, which are changed every so often. I have heard about a duck sandwich that has been offered from time to time, but it was not offered the night we were here. The only complaint I have about this place when we were here, was the amount of sauce put on everything. I would have liked more, but I am usually one that enjoys more sauce than the average eater. The prices for the dishes here are very reasonable. Most items are under the $10 mark, and that is saying something for a barbecue place. I'm glad that Shortstop BBQ decided to open up a restaurant, so I know where I can find some good barbecue.
Out of five gold gloves, (because one of the great shortstops in baseball history, Ozzie Smith won 13 of them, and he played shortstop), five being best to zero being worst, Shortstop BBQ gets 3.5 gold gloves.
For more information of Shortstop BBQ, click here: http://shortstopbbq.com/
