Darkavich's Daily Ramblings

Name: Bull’s BBQ
Address: 1127 West Morena Blvd., San Diego, CA 92110
http://www.bullssmokinbbq.com/

Date of Visit: June 2nd 2012 (yes, I know it’s been over a year)

This BBQ place is located in an area of town that is a bit tough to find parking if you don’t know the area. I recommend that you park on the side streets and walk to the location as there are many one-way streets here.

BBQ Style: Texas

Food Ordered:

• Pork Ribs
• Pulled Pork
• Beef Brisket
• Bull’s Beans
• Mac and Cheese
• Cole Slaw

This being my first official review I had high hopes of a great BBQ place. The atmosphere of the place is nice and they have an outdoor patio where you can watch football on their projector screen. This location is very dog friendly and they provide bones from the previous days left overs. During our time there, we saw at least a dozen dogs with their owners come in and be given bones.

Service was good, but we were the second customers of the day.

Food Review: 

• Pork Ribs – The bite into the rib meat was good, not overcooked and rich with flavor. The disappointment came when I bit through the meat and hit silver-skin. It caught and tore off the bone. This is a pet peeve of mine. Ribs should be properly trimmed and prepared before cooking. Leaving the silver-skin on leads to one of two things; being chewy or pulling off like skin. Both of these are not appetizing. This shows to me a lack of care in preparing the food, or a tendency to overcooking the meat so that you have to keep the skin on the meat to keep it from failing off the bone. (No visible smoke ring)
• Brisket – The look, smell and taste of the brisket was not to my liking. The meat looked very overcooked and had an odd odor. When I picked up the piece of brisket it didn’t bend at all, it was very stiff. When I bit into it, it tasted like leather and it failed the pull test. I was unable to get it to separate. (No visible smoke ring).
• Pulled Pork – This was the only saving grace of the meal. The pulled pork was full of flavor and had just the right amount of smoke. But it was not without its problems. Three of the four pulled pork dishes were fine, but the last sandwich was loaded with fat. No excuse to allow a sandwich to come out with 50% fat.
• The sides were nothing special and I would avoid the mac and cheese. It’s supposed to be a favorite of many others, but it tasted like it was made with non-fat milk and non-fat cheese. It had very little flavor and a bit gritty.

I was disappointed with my food, but I can see how this location is very attractive to the locals and their willingness to allow the four-legged patrons on the patio. Overall, the food was OK but I would avoid the Brisket. The owner was not available this day to discuss the history of the place and to get additional details.

Darkavich’s BBQ rating: I give it a 5 out of 10.