That’s exactly what I was thinking. I wish thanksgiving were about hunting for my own food, skinning it, barbequing and then celebrating with the men I hunted with. Don’t worry the women there too… they’re were just pampering us (I know… It’s a wish remember?). Instead we dress up a turkey, sit around a table with a bunch of people we can barley tolerate, and complain about the people who aren’t there suffering with us. Just shut up and EAT.
I had no idea that there would be so much pressure around the holiday’s blogging about food, especially with the biggest foodie holiday being Thanksgiving. I had not prep time and no idea what to write about. I didn’t have holiday tips or tricks. My job is to eat the food and that’s it. So I invited my good friend Steve Cooper out to have lunch with me and shoot the shit over some BBQ. Steve lives in Burbank, CA not exactly a place known for great BBQ let alone great food. To me Burbank is known for places like Bob’s Big Boy and the Coral Café.
The only place known for its BBQ is The Handy Market. It is a deli and they only BBQ on Saturday. So I went strait to Yelp and typed in great BBQ in Burbank. A few places came up and The Hollywood Way was one of them. The pictures of the food were not doing this place any favors. I had lived in Burbank for about year and never heard of it so I was a little skeptical. I texted Steve our options and with out a doubt he chose The Hollywood Way.
We decided to meet on Tuesday around 3 pm right after he was done recording his radio show. I pulled up an the parking lot is attached to car wash. I got out and started taking pictures. It was kind of a mess out side. I am not gonna lie a little dumpy looking but since I am aiming for a good review will call it “divey”.
As I am standing there waiting I see this guys pull up in his Lance Armstrong bike and helmet and walks right in. Only in the valley do people exercise and then and then drink in the same hour… Drinking and well anything go together. At this point I am hoping he made the right decision.
Steve pulls up in his… lets just call it a red car. His head shiny as ever and it looks like he is ready to eat some good food. We walk in and it’s a little empty but that’s to be expected. I see the beautiful waitress come and greet us as we walk in. I look right at Steve and I am thinking, "Did he pick this place because of the view or because they actually have good barbeque. Oh well I am sure I’ll find out."
We sit down and get our typewriter style menus. We got to chatting and right away the waitress comes up and I ask her the usual what are you known for on your menu. She said the, “ Pulled pork and the Tri Tip!”
They have those items pretty much any way you want them tacos, quesadillas, and sandwiches. I ask her what am I going to get the most meat out of and she recommended the center stage, which is just a big slab of meat. She also said their sandwiches are pretty good size. As she is building up this food I can see Steve’s eyes getting bigger and bigger. "If you’d like I would recommend the Memphis Burger", she says, “It’s a Cheeseburger with BBQ pulled pork on top of the beef with grilled onions!”
It was like my brain hit a wall. What did she say? Pulled pork on top of a cheeseburger! How the fuck was this place barley empty? This idea was so genius I had a hard time hearing anything she said after that. I was still trying to wrap my mind around this phenomenon. Steve looks at me and says, “I’ll have whatever you order!” He's pretty much overwhelmed at this point.
I can see it in his eyes. The meat humbled him. So I ordered the Tri Tip sandwich and the Memphis Burger. Of course at a BBQ joint you have got to get an appetizer and that has to be a meat as well. You can only complement meat with meat... It't the MEAT ME way! So I order the Rib appetizer. At this point I can’t wait...
Steve has an online radio shot called Cooper Talk at http://www.925kyhy.com on Wednesday’s at 4 pm you should check it out. Steve has a lot of celebrity guests and he’s one of the funniest guys I know.
We spend a little time catching up and in minutes the ribs are here. You can really tell right out of the gate that they really take the time to smoke these ribs and do it right. The taste was spent on with what great ribs should taste like. The hickory flavor can be strong but these were just the right amount. We dipped the ribs in the sauce and it was pretty much quite time after that. We both had a nice umm… umm… umm… conversation back an fourth until the main course showed up.
Our waitress shows up and the first words out of Cooper’s mouth are “Fuck Thanksgiving that’s a good lookin’ burger!” This burger was amazing. The burger got the same look Steve gave the waitress when she walked by a few minutes earlier. To me that was all the confirmation I needed that he was happy with what I ordered. The sandwich and the burger were just amazing and totally worth dying for. We decide to share halves of each sandwich and if Steve wasn’t such a nice guy I probably would have eaten his halves when he wasn’t looking.
Aside from the fact that he hilarious (I almost chocked) he’s a good spotter. I couldn’t count the amount of times this guy said, “Your dripping!”
How often have you been out and come home with an entire meal on your shit? I don’t think I have a completely clean shirt in my closet. My girlfriend gave up on me long time ago. So thanks to Steve she have to ask me about my day rather that just look at my shirt.
Not only had this place earned my respect it was affordable too. Steve was so put in his place he was ready for a nap and a colonic! Why was he screaming for a colonic? Who knows some people just can’t handle their MEAT.
You can find out more information about The Hollywood Way’s website @:
http://thehollywoodwaybbq.com/
You can check out some of Steve Comedy! http://www.925kyhy.com
I'm thankful for Steve,
Sean Rice aka MEAT ME!
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