A Night out at Jimmy's - CLOSED

Jimmy's Famous American Tavern

3325 E. Imperial Highway

Brea, CA 92823

There are a few restaurants that I feel a special kinship with. After doing this restaurant blog for nearly eight years, we've grown up with some of these restaurants. One such restaurant I feel this companionship with is Jimmy's Famous American Tavern. We remember when JFAT only had one location in San Diego in 2010, and they burst on the scene in OC three years later, adding some much-needed life to the Dana Point Harbor dining scene.

It's great watching this mini-chain expand to other areas of Southern California. They now have five locations and a little bird told us that there are more on the way, but they would not let the cat out of the bag about where the next few spots will be. Next month will mark the first anniversary of this Brea location, which is right near where I grew up, Yorba Linda. This is definitely the type of restaurant that North OC desperately needs. A restaurant that is not a mega-chain, one that serves good, honest food in a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere while still providing a sophisticated environment.

The success of JFAT should not surprise anyone, especially when you find out David Wilhelm is a Co-Founder here. He's an OC restaurant icon who brought El Torito Grille, French 75, Sorrento Grille, Kachina, and others to the hungry masses of Orange County. Not one to rest on its past reputation alone, JFAT has continuously been praised by local media outlets for its food, intriguing beverage program, and two-star rating by the Green Restaurant Association, which ranks them in the upper echelon of restaurants doing their part of implementing programs which are better for the environment.

With all of this good stuff going on at JFAT, I jumped at the chance to eat here when we were recently invited to experience this Brea location for the first time. For this visit, I asked my buddy, Erven, to accompany me and try JFAT for the first time. This JFAT is located at the corner of Valencia and Imperial Highway in the newly constructed Village at La Floresta. It is difficult to find this restaurant, as they are hidden in the corner of the shopping center. Just locate the Whole Foods supermarket, walk to your left, and you'll run right into the entrance.

Once inside, if you've ever been to another JFAT location, you will definitely be reintroduced to the JFAT vibe, which is sleek and hip without a hint of pretentiousness. The dining room is bathed in plenty of dark woods, muted lighting, trademark American flags used as decor, and very comfy booths filled with people enjoying their meals and cocktails. The restaurant's center is dominated by a lively and well-stocked bar, which allows for great views of the TVs, which were turned to hockey this evening. Score. There's also a rather large patio, which I imagine gets plenty of use when the weather turns a little warmer. After a lengthy conversation catching up, Erven and I made our selections off the menu, which features many enticing comfort food favorites. Let's see what we decided on.

Our first round of cocktails was similar. Erven selected the Classic Mojito ($13) as his maiden beverage of the evening. This trendy drink is muddled to order with fresh mint and also includes some refreshing lime juice, rum, and maybe a splash of soda water. I liked that this mojito had a touch of sweetness but was not overpowered by sugar, and you still knew you were consuming an adult beverage. I've been all about mules lately, and I like that restaurants are getting creative by branching out of the Moscow mule mold. This Gin Gin Mule ($13) included the same lime juice and mint that Erven had in his mojito but also some ginger beer and Nolet's Gin. I liked the inclusion of gin, which adds more of a bite than the usual vodka in the Moscow version. A very refreshing drink.

Since we already had our drinks, some appetizers were definitely in order. We each picked one, and Erven chose the Buffalo Style Meatballs ($13). These meatballs came five to an order and were drenched in a spicy wing sauce and served with a side of honey-garlic ranch dressing for dipping. We liked these but thought they were a tad overcooked. I had wished they would be more tender, but the delicious buffalo sauce and the ranch helped these out a bit. My pick was the Spicy Ahi Poke ($14). Poke is everywhere these days, and this version at JFAT was very fresh. It included avocado, yuzu, serranos, scallions, papaya, and sesame. The cubed ahi was still the star. The crispy wontons were an excellent vessel for this; if I worked back in the kitchen here, I could see myself eating a ton of these wontons.

Erven was sucking down the drinks this evening, probably so he could tolerate listening to my horrible stories. His second cocktail was this photogenic Blackberry Bourbon Lemonade ($13). This combined Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Southern Comfort, Marion Blackberries, simple syrup, and a splash of lemonade. I really enjoyed the sip I had of this. It was sweet, but the bourbon hung around the background and evened this drink out. Very balanced, and this will be my go-to drink on future visits to Jimmy's Famous American Tavern.

Even though we had entrees coming, we were talked into trying the Grilled Santa Fe Caesar Salad ($12) and a Bowl of New England Clam Chowder ($9). Manager Todd Cords really talked up this different take on a Caesar salad, and after my first bite, I realized he had every right to do so. It was delicious. The romaine is grilled, so it picks up the flavors of the grill and is then topped with corn, salsa fresca, avocado, and one of the better salad dressings I've had recently a green chile caesar dressing. I'm usually not too enthused about having to cut up my salad, but I did not mind with this one. The chowder really grew on Erven as he ate it. It had plenty of potatoes and clams and was very creamy. It could have been a tad more peppery, but still a solid version of this classic comfort soup.

Entree time, and Erven and I decided to split two entrees, the first of which was this French Dip ($19). This dip sandwich starts with some thinly sliced, tender prime rib and then is topped with Swiss cheese, crispy onion strings, a creamy horseradish sauce, and, of course, au jus. I liked this sandwich, although I wished the horseradish had packed more punch. The ciabatta bread was good here, as it did an admirable job soaking up the au jus and keeping the contents of the sandwich together. This sandwich came with sea salt fries on the side, which were pretty solid.

I wanted to get a burger here, but I've been on too much of a burger kick lately, so I got the JFAT Blonde Ale Fish and Chips ($18) instead. It was a good choice. This large plate came with three good-sized pieces of fried fish, which were crunchy on the outside and flaky and buttery soft on the inside. I was shocked at how these lacked the usual greasiness that goes hand in hand with fish and chips. This plate was rounded out with a nicely done coleslaw and some salt and pepper potato chips. A very comforting meal.

We did not need dessert at this point, but we could not resist trying this pumpkin and pecan streusel cake ($7). Our server, Zoey, called this an underrated dessert because it gets overshadowed by their larger and more flashy sundaes. She nailed this description. I'm not a big pumpkin fan, but it was understated here, lurking in the background while the pecan and ice cream played a more prominent role. It was a very good end to our meal at Jimmy's Famous American Tavern.

I'm happy to report that this JFAT location was just as good as the one we have visited numerous times in Dana Point. Sometimes, when a restaurant expands, there are growing pains, but that does not seem to be the case with Jimmy's Famous American Tavern. Even though Brea is 33 miles north of Dana Point, they definitely nailed the same vibe for both restaurants. The food was also consistent in both spots, and we look forward to coming back here and exploring more of their menu when we are up this way, maybe visiting my parents.

As for this visit, we thank everyone at JFAT for their warm and generous hospitality. Our server, Zoey, was excellent and very knowledgeable about the menu here, and she was spot on with coming up with suggestions to make our dining experience even better than it would have been. We would also like to thank Manager Todd Cords, who came over and checked on us regularly and answered all of our questions about this restaurant. You could sense how everyone who works here is very proud of this establishment and enjoys showing it off. Lastly, I would like to thank my dining companion this evening, my friend Erven, whom I've known for 30 years and counting. I had a great time catching up with you, and we need to do this more often. Thanks, buddy.

If you would like to experience Jimmy's Famous American Tavern for yourself, find your nearest location and online menus at their website here: http://j-fat.com/

Hitting up the Morrison Before Leaving Town

The Morrison

3179 Los Feliz Blvd. 

Los Angeles, CA 90039

When we are up this way, we try to see as many people that we know on these ways too short weekends. It gives us a chance to catch up, and also experience a new restaurant that we've wanted to try. After seeing some of Katie's friends and family on Saturday night, it was my turn to see my buddy Ed on Sunday afternoon, right before heading home down the 5 Freeway. It was also the perfect opportunity to try a restaurant I'd heard so much about, The Morrison.

The praise for The Morrison is pretty extensive. They were ranked by Yelp as the number seven best restaurant in the US last year, have won praise as being the most dog-friendly restaurant in LA, and they are very proud to tout their bread pudding, which they say is the best you will find anywhere. More on that later. With all of these mentions in the press, I was very excited to give this place a try. I hurriedly made reservations after our check-out time and waited not so patiently for our friend Ed to join us so I could get some much-needed nourishment into my body.

We got to the Morrison at noon on a recent Sunday. I was relieved to find that they have a parking lot, which is kind of rare to find these days in LA. The NFL playoffs were going on, but there were plenty of tables available, but the tables filled up rather quickly in advance of the upcoming Packer's playoff game. By the time we left, this restaurant was filled with plenty of cheeseheads.

Not only is this a Packer's bar, but they also draw big crowds for soccer games and other sporting events. There's plenty of bar seating here, which seems to be the prime real estate, as it provides the best view of the TVs. There are also plenty of tables, some of which are far too close to each other, and the back wall is lined with some comfy-looking booths. The interior of this gastropub is bathed in a dark wood, a pleasing shade of green, and plenty of natural light coming in through the windows of the french doors facing the busy traffic on Los Feliz.

The menu at the Morrison is very burger heavy, with ten burgers offered, along with some salads, a couple of entrees, sides, and even daily specials, which are available after 5 pm. We were of course here at peak brunch time, so we also had the option of ordering off of the brunch menu. As if that was not enough, they also feature a dog-friendly menu for your four-legged friends. After perusing the menus, this is what we settled on.

Both Ed and Katie opted to try something off of the brunch menu at the Morrison. Pictured above, along with Ed's childish antics is the Loaded Burrito ($11). This burrito was stuffed with bacon, sausage, eggs, avocado, and chipotle, all neatly wrapped in a large flour tortilla. Ed was a little indifferent about this breakfast burrito, calling it "a basic version, but nothing really made it stand out." Very hard to please is this guy that I've known since kindergarten. He made no mention of the potatoes here, and I found it refreshing that the potatoes were not included inside the burrito, which can sometimes overpower the other items.

One of the most photogenic food items we've seen in a long time was this Stackedwich ($11). Placed between two slices of toasted rye bread was a multitude of breakfast goodness. Plenty of cheddar cheese, bacon, avocado, and a glorious fried egg with a good amount of runny yolk made this sandwich really pop. Katie for some reason was not expecting too much with this sandwich, probably because she did not see the same pictures I saw on Yelp before coming here, but she was pretty impressed with this sandwich. She loved the guts of the sandwich, with the creaminess of the avocado, the saltiness of the bacon, and the yolk that tied everything together. She was very excited that they used rye on this, as it gave the sandwich more stability and added an earthy flavor to the meal. She'd definitely get this again.

I was not in the mood for breakfast, so I ordered off of the regular menu, starting with these Cheese Fries with Bacon Jam ($8). This nod towards In-N-Out's animal-style fries was far superior to anything you can get at that overrated hamburger chain. These crisp fries were topped with a house-made thousand island dressing, cheddar cheese, and an addictive bacon and onion jam. My intention was to share these with Ed and Katie, but I found myself hoarding these, as I could not stop eating them. Some of the best fries I have had in a while. I was excited that they stayed crunchy even with the stuff topping them. A must-get when eating at the Morrison.

Not just content with fries, I, of course, needed to pick a burger to go along with them. Out of the ones on the menu, this Morrison Filet Burger ($15) really popped out at me. This one used their signature beef patty blend and then was topped with a seared filet mignon, marrow butter, port Salut cheese, some celery, and a sauce that was not mentioned on the menu, all placed between an English muffin. Quite simply, I did not want this burger to end, and I savored it until my last bite. This is the burger to beat for me in 2017. The patty was meaty, with great juiciness to it, the marrow butter added richness, and I never would have expected to like celery on a burger, but it gave it some great texture, and whatever that sauce was, went well here. I would have liked a different cheese on this, as the port salut was very mild, and slipped off of my burger rather easily. The filet was cooked to a wonderful medium rare and was easy to eat on top of this burger. A few weeks later, I still think of this burger fondly.

If I think back on that burger fondly, you might as well say that I am obsessed with this Butterscotch Bread Pudding ($11). It's easy to see why this has been voted best bread pudding in LA, as it's definitely the best I have had. It starts with the right texture balance for me. Not too soggy, but not too dry. Just like the porridge that Goldilocks ate, this pudding got it just right. I was also a fan of the caramel whiskey sauce that came on the side of this dessert, and I definitely suggest paying the extra two dollars and getting this with the very generous scoop of ice cream. Make sure to save room for this dessert when coming to the Morrison, or better yet, eat this before your dinner, it's really that good.

After the bread pudding, the dessert floodgates opened, courtesy of Owner Marc Kreiner. He brought us out another four desserts to try, none of which were on the dessert menu. The best of the bunch for me was the Chocolate Chip Cookies with a mound of ice cream perched on top. The cookies were served warm and softened the ice cream which aided in the ease of eating this. Ed enjoyed the Fruit Tart, which utilized some fresh fruit on top and a creamy, but not too sweet filling on the bottom. After all of these desserts, I was more ready for a nap than an hour and a half drive down the 5 Freeway.

Even with the onslaught of sugar that we consumed in the last twenty minutes of our visit to the Morrison, I still realized through the sugary haze that we had just experienced a very good restaurant. I loved my burger and fries, and the bread pudding was out of this world. Both Katie and Ed enjoyed their breakfast, and it will be hard passing this exit on the freeway, and not wanting to stop here to try something else off of their menu. The service we experienced from our, new to this restaurant waiter, Roberto, to the food runners, bussers, and the owner, Marc Kreiner, will be hard to beat. We thank all of you for your generous hospitality. You all made it a real pleasure to dine here. It's no wonder why this restaurant scores some big numbers on Yelp. It was just okay catching up with our friend Ed but much better eating at The Morrison.

Out of five horses, (because the Atwater Village section of LA, where this restaurant is located, was once home to some pretty prestigious horse riding clubs in the '20s and '30s), five being best to zero being worst, the Morrison gets 4 horses.

For more information about the Morrison, head to their website here:https://www.morrisonrestaurant.com/

Getting out for Restaurant Week - CLOSED

Pizzeria Mozza

800 West Coast Highway

Newport Beach, CA 92663

Now that the holiday hustle has died down, this is the time when people are still clinging to their New Year's resolutions, trying to replenish their bank accounts, and probably just wanting to stay home to rest after running all over trying to get things done for the holidays. Traditionally, this is also a slow time for restaurants, so they must devise reasons to make people venture out. Newport Beach Restaurant Week is one of the things that will definitely get us out of the house.

Over 400 restaurants and bars exist in Newport Beach and Corona Del Mar. Now in its 11th year, Newport Beach Restaurant Week has over 60 restaurants participating in this two-week event, which runs from January 16th to January 29th. Put on by the Newport Beach Restaurant Association and Dine Newport Beach, restaurants offer special, two or three-course prix fixe menus priced between $10 to $25 for lunch and $20 to $50 for dinner. This is an excellent opportunity to try a restaurant you have wanted but haven't yet. You can skim through the menus by clicking here: http://www.dinenb.com/restaurant-week/, but you should finish reading this review first.

When restaurant weeks roll around, I go to my wishlist, see what restaurants are participating, and plan to go. That's how we ended up at Pizzeria Mozza. I feel ashamed that we had not been to this popular pizza restaurant at the end of the Mainer's Mile on PCH yet. It definitely has some star power behind it. You might have heard of Mario Batali, Nancy Silverton, founder of La Brea Bakery, and Joe Bastianich, James Beard Award winner and partner to Mario Batali in far too many restaurants to list here.

These three opened Mozza on the corner of Highland and Melrose, in the high-traffic Fairfax area of LA, and then a year later took over the restaurant next door to create a more traditional Italian restaurant, Osteria Mozza. Mozza is more focused on pizzas, and they catch on. They opened an outpost in Singapore and opened this Newport eatery in 2011. In those six years, they have been talked about as having some of the best pizza in OC, been praised by numerous food critics, and received glowing reviews on Yelp. I was excited to try this place.

Parking here is valet and for $7, which we heard a few people scoff about. You can chance it and park in the McDonald's parking lot next door, but a sign tells you not to. We arrived about fifteen minutes early for our 7:30 dinner reservation, but they still sat us immediately. I enjoyed this space, as the high ceiling and bright orange and yellow painted walls detracted us from the tables that were too close to each other and the dark dining room. The bar is pushed to one side of the restaurant, while on the other side is another bar, where diners can eat while watching pizzas going in and out of the very active pizza oven, which is the centerpiece of this restaurant. We quickly made our selections from the $30 restaurant week menu. Let's see if Pizzeria Mozza lives up to its hype and if this was a good choice for Newport Beach Restaurant Week.

Salads were offered as the first of the three courses, and as we often do during restaurant weeks, Katie and I coordinated that we each try a different option. She started with the Mozza Caprese. This was an excellent version of this classic Italian salad. It had some of the most creamy burrata we have had, which was topped with a very well-done pesto. The tomato was not as prominent on this as it usually is, which is fine with me because I'm not a big tomato fan. A really lovely start to Katie's meal. With only two options, I chose the Insalata Mista as my salad. This mixed green salad was dressed with a lemon vinaigrette, which was fine but dull. This salad would have been better with some added blue cheese or something else. I finished it, but it was not my favorite salad.

The second course of the Restaurant Week menu offered much more variety, with thirteen pizzas. Katie selected this Bianca pizza, which featured fontina cheese, mozzarella, sage, and sottocenere cheese, which is a cheese that is rubbed with truffle oil during aging. Katie thought this pizza would be too rich, but it was more mellow than she thought. It had a pleasing taste, but she was looking for that big flavor burst. The crust here was done to a wonderful golden brown, and we both wished for some marinara to dunk the crust in.

I usually always get the pizza with the most meat, but at Mozza this evening, I threw myself a curveball when I ordered this Egg, Bacon, Potato, and Onion Pizza. I nicknamed this the breakfast pizza because it has all the ingredients on it, which would make a great breakfast casserole. At first, I was a little disappointed because I chose to start with the side of the pizza, which did not include the hen egg on it. When I got into the second half of this pizza, I really enjoyed it. The runny yolk really brought this to life, even though getting everything included here in one bite was still a challenge. When I did manage to get everything in one perfect bite, this pizza was magical. The potatoes were fork tender, the bacon had a good smokiness, and the crust was good. I'm the type of guy who usually leaves my crust. My only other complaint would be that they could have included a few more onions here, but other than that, this was a great pizza.

The last of our three-course dinner was dessert, and again, there were only two options, so Katie and I got one of each. I was surprised with the portion size of the Chef's Choice of Gelato. We got two huge scoops of vanilla and caramel with an Italian cookie separating them. Both were delicious. The vanilla was my favorite; it was creamy and had a rich flavor. The caramel one was good as well, but it had a tinge of what I perceived to be coffee to it, which threw me off. The Butterscotch Budino was nice and creamy and was not as sweet as we imagined it would be, which was a plus in our book. The little rosemary pine nut cookies that came with this stole the show. After having my little cookie, I imagined that if I worked here, I would eat a ton of these unique-tasting cookies. So good.

Coming to Pizzeria Mozza was a good choice for restaurant week. Not only did I get a chance to cross this place off my list, but when I added up the costs of the meal, we saved between ten to fifteen dollars per person, which is a good amount, especially with how much we eat out. As I've stated before on this blog, I'm more a fan of American-style pizzas with lots of cheese and toppings, but I've started to come around to liking authentic Italian-style pizzas recently. These were some good versions of what many would consider fancy pizzas. You can tell they are using some high-quality ingredients here and making these pizzas correctly. I've heard some good things about their lasagna, but from what our waiter told us, this is only available as a special on weekends. Speaking of our server, he was very nice and friendly but was definitely not what we would call overly attentive, as this three-course dinner stretched past the two-hour mark, with a long wait between courses and waiting for the check to arrive. Still, we will be back to explore more of their pizza menu and hopefully get a chance to try their lasagna. We're stoked that Newport Beach Restaurant Week has rolled around again. Now we just have to decide where to eat next.

Out of five orange Crocs (because those are the trademark footwear that Chef Mario Batali always wears), five being best to zero being worst, Pizzeria Mozza gets 3.5 orange Crocs.

For more information  about Pizzeria Mozza, head to their website here: http://newportbeach.pizzeriamozza.com/the-restaurant/

Definitely Not Bottom of the Barrel Barbecue - CLOSED

Barrel and Ashes

11801 Ventura Blvd. 

Studio City, CA 91604

It's funny where a drunken phone call on New Year's Eve can have you end up. We had just left Katie's parents house when I decided to drunk dial Katie's cousin Bridget. After some long winded conversation about how we haven't been up to LA for awhile, we made some tentative plans to head up that way very soon. With my impending vacation coming up, we decided the approaching weekend would be the perfect time to see Katie's cousin and friends, and also a fantastic time to try an LA restaurant that has been on my list forever, Barrel and Ashes.

This Studio City restaurant came across my radar and ended up on my restaurant wishlist because of the review that acclaimed LA Times Restaurant Critic, Jonathan Gold gave it, and also because I had heard that this was Gordon Ramsay's favorite restaurant when he's around these parts. I'm sure it is, besides his own place, Boxwood Cafe in West Hollywood. Needless to say, I had high hopes for this restaurant, so I quickly made reservations via Open Table, and eagerly awaited our meal here.

After checking into our hotel, and a quick nap for Katie, we made it to Barrel and Ashes right at our 7:15 reservation time. Parking is tricky in this area of town, so we valeted for the modest price of $6. With our reservation, we bypassed the half hour wait and were seated right away. This is a smaller than I imagined restaurant, with I'm guessing fifteen or so tables inside, and maybe another five out in front of the restaurant. The tables were pretty close together, but we were still pretty comfortable here.

The menu at Barrel and Ashes is barbecue-focused, and the items on it are meant to be shared family style. Not a big barbecue lover? There are a few sandwiches and salads on the menu to help you out, but I was of course here for the meat. Heading the kitchen is Chef Tim Hollingsworth, who earned Michelin stars at his former place of employment, a little restaurant you might have heard of, French Laundry, where he worked with the iconic Thomas Keller and was the Chef de Cuisine there for four years. With this pedigree, it got me even more excited to see what was in store for us, so let's dive in.

When I saw that they had Frito Pie ($9) on the menu, I had to give it a try. I have to admit that this was my first time having this Southern staple. I really enjoyed my maiden Frito Pie, which in case you do not know is a bag of Frito's split open, and then topped with chili, cheese, sour cream, green onions, and pickled Fresno chilies. I wished that there was a little more chili included here, as it was kind of hard to get a bite of everything included with this starter. I look forward to many more rendezvous with Frito Pie in the future.

If you read through the Yelp reviews of this restaurant, one thing you pick up on is that the Hoe Cake ($8) is a must order. A hoe cake is another southern staple that I had never had/heard of before this evening. It's a little hard to explain what it is, but I'd describe this one as part cornbread, part french toast, with a savory pancake vibe, which has a touch of sweetness from the maple butter used to finish this off. I could have and probably should have ordered an extra one of these for myself. A little more sweetness included here could have pushed this to even greater heights, but still pretty impressive, and a must get when eating at Barrel and Ashes. Guess those people on Yelp do know a thing or two.

The cocktails need to be highlighted here, as the beverage program was started by Julian Cox, a prolific bartender/beverage director, who left LA last year for a new gig in Chicago. His legacy lives on at Barrel and Ashes, which has numerous drinks posted on chalkboards above the open kitchen. I had the Mai-Ty Joe Rum ($13), which utilized a five rum blend, L'Orgeat, Combier, and is aged in oak for 37 days. Our friend Christy is all about bourbon, so she zeroed in on the Kentucky Mule ($12) right away. This riff on a Moscow mule substituted bourbon for the usual vodka and also incorporated lemon, ginger, honey, and angostura into the mix. I felt both drinks were pretty professional, and they were meant to be enjoyed. The alcohol was present but hung out in the background of each sip. Nicely done.

Both Christy and Katie ordered the same thing, which helps me cut down on writing, which is always appreciated, (probably more by you readers, than myself). What got both of them so excited? The rather boastfully named, Best Damn Chicken Sandwich Y'Ever Had ($11). While neither of them claimed this was the best chicken sandwich they have had, both really enjoyed it. The chicken was moist, not too heavy, and Katie detected a little heat from the breading. The sandwich was finished off with some coleslaw for texture, jalapenos, for even more heat, and pimento cheese, which bound everything together nicely. Katie liked the way that the items on this interacted with each other. Not the best, but pretty damn good.

Barbecued meats are sold by the weight at Barrel and Ashes, as they do not offer any combo plates, which I was a little disappointed with. Combo plates are my usual order at barbecue restaurants so I can get a chance to try a little bit of everything in one trip. Luckily, I had a partner in crime on this evening, our good friend Rosanna. She was willing to split a meal with me and even allowed me to pick the meats we were going to have. I went with the Half Pound of Brisket ($17), Half Rack of Spare Ribs ($19), and a Jalapeno Cheddar Sausage ($7). The brisket was some of the best I have had, in most of the bites. The outer portion had a nice crust to it, which was thicker in parts, and might not be to everyone's liking. It was to my liking. I did have a few bites that were a little on the dry side, but for the most part, this brisket was moist and tender, and one the best briskets flavorwise that I have had. The sausage was also a winner. It's made by Electric City Butcher, which is based out of Santa Ana's 4th Street Market. It was really cool being in LA and having a little taste of OC up here. It really lends legitimacy that the OC food scene has come a long way. Back to the sausage, it had some good cheddar cheese and jalapeno in it, but the prevailing flavor was the sausage itself. Very well made, with a nice snap to its casing. The weak link on this plate were the spare ribs. They were a little devoid of meat, but the meat that was there was tender and pulled away easily from the bone. They were enhanced with flavor by adding the provided barbecue sauce, which was kind of pedestrian but did the trick by adding a little more flavor to these ribs.

Of course, you have to get some sides when eating in a barbecue restaurant, but since we had two appetizers, we only got two to share between the four of us. The Mac and Cheese ($9) was a solid choice. This cheddar based version was nicely done, lighter than I thought it would be, and with the addition of the slightly browned bread crumbs, had a great texture to it. The Tater Tots ($7) do not show up on their online menu so they might be a new addition to the lineup here. They were pretty average, and nothing special, even with the cheese topping them.

Dessert was our last hurrah at Barrel and Ashes, and we indulged by having the Apple Crumble ($9). As far as fruit desserts go, I really enjoyed this crumble. It came with plenty of homemade vanilla ice cream, the crumble was nice and crunchy, and the apples underneath were not bathed in a syrupy mess, but were pretty natural tasting, which was a big plus in my book. The Banana Pudding ($7) was a little more of a letdown for me. The toasted meringue topping this dessert really overpowered the banana pudding and Nilla Wafers underneath, which was a shame because both were pretty good.

Even with a few minor hiccups, Barrel and Ashes really lived up to the hype. The barbecue here is legit, and definitely in the running for one of the best we have had in Southern California. Yes, I would like them to have some combination plates on their menu, but I'll probably just stick to their brisket and sausage on future visits, and I won't be shy about ordering a lot of both of them. Our waiter, Clay was a great server, explained the menu to us perfectly, and gave us some great advice on what to order here. Thanks for everything Clay. I ended up being pretty happy that a drunken phone call in the wee hours of the start of this year led us to Barrel and Ashes.

Out of five architects, (because the house used for exterior shots on the Brady Bunch is located a few blocks from this restaurant, and it was supposedly designed by the patriarch of the Brady clan, Mike, who of course was an architect), five being best to zero being worst, Barrel and Ashes gets 3.5 architects.

For more information about Barrel and Ashes, head to their website here: http://barrelandashes.com/