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Dining with Dills - The Beach Pit BBQ

Friday, May 19, 2006

April 21, 2006 -- I love BBQ - pork ribs, beef ribs, baby back ribs, brisket, chicken, pulled pork and BBQ beans. If you share my love for BBQ, here's my latest discovery.

It's The Beach Pit BBQ in Costa Mesa where Southern-style BBQ is featured. A very casual place, as is often the case when you can find the real "Q" served.

How casual? Well as you enter the gate you'll be met by Stanley, the unofficial official host. Scratch his ears and you'll have a friend for life.

Make sure to bring the kids, there's a play area set up for the young ones to have a good time here. The only problem is they might be having such a good time that they won't want to sit down and eat. But they will work up an appetite after a few minutes and really dig in.

You can dine at the front outdoor patio with a number of picnic benches under big umbrellas. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather will cooperate. On sunny and balmy evenings you can dine al fresco.

There's also a patio in the back of the restaurant that's cozy and quiet. This is where I prefer to sit.

If the weather gods don't cooperate, there's a small inside dining room with five tables, but the outdoor areas are the best spots.

Now how about the BBQ, Southern-style. It all happens in the rotisserie smoker. The ribs, the brisket, the chicken and the sausage are slowly smoked with pecan and hickory wood and spices. And that means smoked and not boiled, broiled, grilled or baked. The meat has the flavor of the woods and spices used, that's the Southern way.

What to order? What have I sampled? By all means the pulled pork, and yes, the pork is pulled by hand. You can have it as a sandwich or a plate. You also have a choice of big portions or even bigger portions.

Too many BBQ places serve brisket that are dry and overcooked. Not here, here it's just right.

Or you can try smoked sausage with two sides, it's good but for me not one of the stars featured here.

You can also order the Alabama Slamma with a choice of three meats. You can try it with pulled pork, ribs, and sausage. A good bet at $16.95.

Come Wednesday for smoked prime rib - order it medium. Again, only on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, kids eat free. Ask about the details.

Be sure to order the sweet potato fries either as one of your side dishes or an extra order.

Also consider the wedge of iceberg lettuce with a bleu cheese dressing with fresh tomatoes and crumbled bleu cheese. It goes well with the BBQ dishes.

If you want wine with your BBQ, come on Thursday, bring your own wine and pay no corkage. Also on Thursday, order any wine from their list and save 25 percent.

The Beach Pit BBQ is very family friendly. Kids are more than welcome and they do enjoy digging into the ribs and the rest of the food. Mom and dad will also be happy campers here. The restaurant provides good Southern BBQ in a happy place to dine.

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