In the almost six years I’ve been living in Los Angeles, I hadn’t eaten any barbecue from the entire state of California. Growing up, good barbecue was reserved for special moments in Chicago, and we always had our favorite places for ribs, pulled pork, barbecue chicken, and all the delicious sides that are really my favorite part of the meal. I’ve had Bludso’s Bar & Que on my radar for a bit, knowing it as a place in Los Angeles where I could get some good barbecue one day. I took it as a sign to finally try Bludso’s after seeing it pop up on Instagram in the last few days between the buy Black initiative, where people are encouraging consumers to purchase from Black-owned businesses, and from all of the families getting Bludso’s for Father’s Day. We ordered it for lunch this week, which turned into also eating leftovers for dinner. Pulled pork…delicious, baked beans…delicious, macaroni and cheese…delicious, cornbread…insanely delicious, banana pudding….delicious, so I would say it was successful.
Now, I can recommend a great place for barbecue in LA. The owner, Kevin Bludso, was born and raised in Compton, and originally opened his first restaurant there. Eventually the location was moved to La Brea, just a street over from Melrose.