My co-worker David told me about this place – Bull’s Smokin BBQ – and how they give bones out to the doggies. Dog friendly places are not too hard to fish out here in San Diego where outdoor dining is quite abundant, but it’s nice to see another place that also caters to the puppies!
In case you weren’t sure, there’s a big old sign in the front that tells you without a doubt that this joint is dog friendly!
There’s a lot of kitschy signage around the restaurant as well – from the front door with it’s swinging saloon doors and proclamation that “suits n’ ties ain’t allowed” in here.
There’s signage inside the restaurant, too, but we opted to sit out on the patio since it was such a nice evening out. Since this was an impromptu visit, we didn’t have any puppies with us! I’m sure Maya would have loved it.
We did spy a few puppies on the patio though. Here’s one guy, probably eyeballing someone’s food and wondering when he’s gonna get his own rib.
At Bull’s Smokin’ BBQ they have two kinds of BBQ sauce – their original flavor and a sweet sauce. Of the two, I much preferred the sweeter sauce. But really this is the case 10 out of 10 times – I don’t like tangy, vinegary sauces. Those kind of sauces make me scrunch up my face in funny ways.
Here’s Jake and T sampling the sauces. Jake didn’t really care for either sauce all that much. He said there was a certain spice in it that turned him off on the sauce (but we couldn’t decipher exactly what that spice was). I didn’t think it was that bad, but it wasn’t one of my favorite bbq sauces, either.
We started off with the onion rings which came with like, a mini tub of fry sauce (I’m just guessing it was fry sauce – it sure tasted like it). The onion rings had a nice, golden color to them and were sweet and slightly crunchy. Not quite as good as Phil’s BBQ Onion Rings (man, I love those things) but a pretty good runner up, as far as onion rings go. Not really greasy either and the fry sauce complimented them quite well.
We shared the Bull’s Round-Up ($21.95) which came with two sides, 1 cornbread, 4 pieces of hot links, 2 pork ribs and 1 beef rib.
For our sides, we got sweet corn and macaroni and cheese.
The macaroni and cheese has crushed up cheez-it’s on top! These seem to be added on after the cooking is done though, but it still added a nice extra texture to the macaroni and cheese. The mac was quite creamy and rich. I enjoyed the overall flavor of it plus that crunch from the cheesy crackers.
The corn was actually quite sweet – almost like it was cooked with a little extra sugar in the mix. The corn tasted fresh and had a nice crunch – unlike that crazy weird canned corn you get at some places.
The cornbread here is also very good! It’s moist and sweet. It didn’t look like much to me, but I’m happy to say looks can be deceiving because this little cornbread muffin was yummy.
The meaty, meaty beef ribs are meaty on both sides of the bone. There’s a nice outer char from the time spent hanging out in the smoker. The ribs do not come with sauce on them – you gotta add your own sauce, if you want such a thing to grace the presence of your meat. Of the pork and beef, I did prefer the beef ribs. These are also the bones that your dog will be treated to if your dog is lucky enough to come with you (not with the meat on the bone though, naturally).
Pork! I gotta say, it’s been a little bit of time since we visited and I don’t really remember much about the pork. Blogger fail. I guess they were just unmemorable.
The hot links though I do remember liking a whole lot. Jake and I both really liked the sauce a lot on the sausage links. The links had a nice bite as well and were nice and juicy without being “OMG” hot. Perfect for me and my palette.
This little guy came by to say hi to us, too. Look at that crazy long tongue!
I’d like to come back and try a few of their other items – and probably get the mac and cheese, cornbread, and those links again! I’ll be sure to bring Maya along next time, as well, so she can join in on the fun out in the patio.
In the evening, they have a large projector screen which plays DVDs/music for some entertainment while munching on your dinner. The service here is excellent. We initally sat at a small table and when something bigger opened up we were offered that one, plus seat cushions to make the seating more cozy for our bottoms. Very friendly servers and a kick ass atmosphere all around!
Bull’s Smokin’ BBQ
1127 W Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
(619) 276-2855
Hi Mary, I visited once and I thought it was delicious (especially the beef ribs!) but a bit too expensive compared with other BBQ places. I liked the sides a lot, esp the mac n cheese with cheez-its on top 🙂
Hi Jinxi – Yes, it is a bit expensive. We ordered that combo special so we could try a little bit of everything, but it wasn’t a lot of food for three people. I think I’d go for the sandwiches or something next time we visit.
Hi Mary, a coworker of mine also said they enjoyed this place and I’ve been meaning to check them out way too long, thanks for the reminder! I’m generally with the sweeter sauces too, but I think if we ate bbq on a regular basis like some people do in certain parts of the country we’d start to prefer the more tangy. I feel it’s similar to the popularity of tonkotsu ramen here because it’s more or less a once in a while meal for most. Anyway sorry for the rambling. Everything looks good!
Hi Dennis – Rambling is always welcome around here, since my posts get rambly sometimes. Hope you get to check it out soon! I can see your point, maybe sweet stuff would be overwhelming after awhile… but considering we don’t actually eat it that often, I’ll stick with my sweet sauces, thank you 🙂