I had to make a quick trip up to LAX last month and I figured if I was going all the way up to Los Angeles in rush hour traffic, there better at least be some tasty food at the end of the tunnel. A bit of searching led me to two different ideas for places… but we ended up going to Britt’s BBQ in El Segundo since it is right next to the airport. We had an hour to kill before dropping off my folks at LAX since the ride up the 405 wasn’t as soul crushing as I imagined it to be and we got up there in good time.
I was in a rib kind of mode and that’s what I decided I wanted. The “Smoked Fried Chicken” though sounded so unique – I had actually read about it another blogger’s site (JustJenn) but the ribs were just calling to me that day. Above is a quick peek at their menu, which is placed at every table setting in the restaurant. There is a walk-up counter, but we actually had someone come to our table and serve us.
This is the counter, which has a few more things that’s not listed on the paper menu.
[1/2 rack St. Louis Ribs – $13.95]
I chose to get the St. Louis Ribs – I prefer spareribs over baby back ribs, myself. These ribs were quite tender and had a good smoke to them. The BBQ sauce was slightly sweet and slathered onto the ribs. I enjoyed enjoying them. They were not “fall off the bone” ribs, but the meat did come off the bone and I ended up with clean ribs. Juicy and tender, I liked these a lot.
[my sides – potato salad and macaroni and cheese]
The potato salad was pretty good – creamy and a bit on the mustard-y side. The mac and cheese wasn’t bad either, but I like it a little cheesier.
[side of cornbread – $1.95]
The cornbread was nothing to write home about. It was very dry and kind of disappointing.
I always want to order cornbread everywhere we go. Why is that?!
[potato rounds – fresh sliced potatoes, fried and seasoned with garlic salt – $3.95]
We saw another customer with an order of these and got them to share. The potatoes were soft with a little bit of crunch on the outer edge. Since they are thicker cut, they definitely have a more “potato” taste – like sliced potatoes and not like potato chips. A bit on the salty side. Jake and my dad liked these – I didn’t like them as much.
[hot link]
Jake managed to get one hot link as a side for us – but I don’t know how much they charged for that since it’s not on the menu to get something a la cart like that. The hot link itself had a good overall flavor and a good amount of spice without being OMG MY MOUTH IS BURNING hot. The outside of the hot link was way overcharred for my tastes though. Like super-char. Maybe it could be a super hero with it’s super-char.
[pastrami sandwich on rye bread – $11.95]
Dad’s “Pastrami” sandwich had two strikes against it in my Dad’s eyes – first, they were out of pretzel buns which was what he really wanted and he felt that this meat was really more of a corned beef and NOT pastrami. He thought it was fine for corned beef, but since it wasn’t what he actually wanted, he saw it as a FAIL. I didn’t try it. It didn’t look like pastrami to me, either.
[beef short ribs – 1/2 order – $10.95]
Mom thought she was ordering something else when she got these… so she didn’t like it, either. I didn’t try these either, but I thought they looked pretty good.
[pork melt – on texas toast grilled with cheese on the outside and mac & cheese, pulled pork, grilled onions and chipotle sauce – $10.95]
Jake got this crazy Pork Melt sandwich that has macaroni and cheese and pulled pork inside. The outside of the bread had cheese grilled into the bread, making for a super crunchy, extra cheesy outside. The pulled pork was really good and in this format, I liked the macaroni and cheese better in the sandwich than as a side. It was pretty insane and pretty delicious. Jake thought this was one of the best sandwiches, ever. I mean, helloooo – cheese and pulled pork! Yeah, he totally won that day. But I still really liked my ribs!
[complimentary cream filled donut holes]
The other part that really enticed me into going here was the complimentary cream filled donut holes.
You’re gonna give me free donuts when I’m done eating? Yeah, sure, okay. Sign me up for that!
These had a nice vanilla cream custard in the middle of the donut holes and were pretty good. Too bad we only got one each. The guy next to us, who was by himself, got four all to himself!
I’m pretty sure they liked him more than us though. Weep.
Jake wants to go here again when we have to go back up to LAX, but I want to try something new! Maybe if I had ordered an amazing cheese crusted sandwich I’d want to visit again, too.
Britt’s BBQ
408 Main St.
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 640-0408
I’m St Louis ribs look really dark – is it burnt a bit or was that from the smoker? I’m not a fan of smoked meats for some reason – it always tastes like an ‘ashtray’ to me for some reason. I feel the same way about cornbread – I just *have* to order it when I get bbq too (and I’m not a fan of cornbread really – which makes it weird). But there’s always that hope that I’m going to bite into a tiny lil cornbread and be magically WOWED one day. I’ve had to drive to LAX many times so this is a great suggestion for a place to go to avoid traffic on the way home or on the way up.
Hi Faye – It wasn’t burnt tasting, more like the top being caramelized. Maybe the smoked meats you have tried used a wood flavor you didn’t like? The wood can really make a different in the taste and flavor of the meat! I liked cornbread, but more often then not it turns out to be really dry and tasteless, which makes me sad. I have had really good cornbread at Crispy Fried Chicken in City Heights (though it’s not always consistent, but it’s usually good – sweet, moist and buttery).
Wow that pork melt sandwich looks so good. So much winning between two slices of cheese-crusted bread! I saw this place last time I was in the LAX area, I think… but didn’t go in. Next time I make mac n cheese though, I am going to save some for a sandwich! 🙂
Hi Jinxi – Yeah, Jake’s sandwich was really good. I don’t usually think of putting mac and cheese in a sandwich… but uh, maybe I should!
Hi Mary, I often hear bbq ribs are considered overcooked if they falls off the bone. What you described actually sounds about right. Anyway everything looks good, I’d love to visit Britts one of these days. 🙂
Hi Dennis – Oh! That’s good to know, I hadn’t heard that before. I tend to not really like “fall off the bone” ribs. They seem… mushier. Hope you get to visit sometime!