So I was driving down Sepulveda last weekend, radio and A/C blasting, attacking those awful errands that must be completed on the weekend. As I passed National, I saw it. I had to do a double take just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. It appeared that 2 brand new restaurants popped up out of nowhere – Crossroads BBQ and Bubba Diego’s mexican food exactly where one of my all-time favorite restaurants used to be: Hamburger Hamlet, which, took a hard hit due to the economy or the location depending on who you talk to.
We finally had a chance to go there tonight, which I was extremely excited to get my BBQ on. Like a good boy, I made my reservation through Open Table, you know, to get my points, which reminds me, I have weellll over 10k points, but that’s a whole other story.
On the outside,Crossroads BBQ has a very simple, contemporary look, with very straight lines. Inside, there are some really cool light fixtures and equally cool, quirky art pieces on the brick wall. The layout is way better than what Hamburger Hamlet had. They definitely made good use of the space…so well in fact, they were able to get 2 restaurants out of the space.
The menu had some great choices. All your typical BBQ choices along with the sides. What really stood out to me was the cool bourbon and absinthe menu. There were some really cool libations.
For this meal, I went with a Tennessee Mule to start, which was their spin on a Moscow Mule, but with bourbon instead of gin. Fantastic. I also ordered a 1/2 rack of baby back ribs, with some mac & cheese, and some collard greens on the side.
While you wait for your food, they bring you some homemade potato chips, which were extremely thick cut, and had great flavor, along with a nice bowl of their sweet house made BBQ sauce. Those 2 things were definitely meant to be together. Wonderful.
The ribs were magnificent. Perfectly cooked, and had this unbelievable smoky flavor and brushed with their house made BBQ sauce. You can tell that these ribs were cooked with love, and SLOOOWWW and LOOOWWW.
The mac & cheese was really good too. Al dente macaroni, very gooey, cheesy sauce (with quality cheese), and obviously finished in the oven with what seems to be a little bit of bread crumbs and a bit more cheese on top. The greens were good, but not the best I’ve had.
My wife went for the brisket, which they are known for, along with their bacon grits and the mac & cheese as well. They gave her a very healthy serving of the brisket along with 2 types of their house made BBQ sauces – spicy & sweet. The meat was extremely tender, and had fantastic flavor.
The service was good. The hostess, our server, and the bus boy were extremely friendly. They made us feel completely welcome, and took the time to chat with us outside of the typical “restaurant” talk. It felt very family oriented.
I’m still thinking about those ribs…they were fantastic. I can’t wait to go back.
Crossroads BBQ
2927 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
West Los Angeles, CA 90064
Hours of operation:
Mon – Wed: 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Thurs – Sat: 11:30 am – 11:30 pm
Sun: 11:30 am – 10:00 pm
Crossroads BBQ Official Facebook fan page
