Cocktail Confessions

Well, anyone up for another foodie review?  Good.  This past weekend I had the pleasure of getting out of the house with my buddy Jon, and we decided to head just slightly out of our geographical comfort zone and head up to the city of Orange.  There’s a lot of interesting restaurants of all ethnic varieties scattered throughout Orange and some really interesting digs in Old Town Orange.

Well, I had a hankering for some BBQ this summer evening, so I suggested to Jon that we open the sunroof up on my Ford Edge, crank up the tunes, drive up HWY 241 and head into Orange the back way and mosey into old Johnny Rebs’.  I’ve been to Johnny Reb’s a handful of times now and it is an interesting place to say the least, and I’d suggest it to anyone who wants a little something different in the barbeque experience.

There are 4 Johnny Rebs’ locations in CA and you can visit their main page and click on the ‘locations’ link to see them all in case you ever make it out to the Golden State.  Personally, I think the one located in Orange is the nicest looking of the bunch.  It has a very unique street facade, that while looking slightly out of place in a somewhat modern city, brings a down south charm to the neighborhood.  It often reminds me of a themed ride you may find at Knott’s Berry Farm or some other Californian ghost town like Bodie.

Red Trolley Ale served here.

Rebs’ was established in 1984 and tries to bring in the influences of Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, and North Carolina to the forefront in it’s aesthetic style, food choice, and hospitality.  According to their own website, it was Zagat rated as the Best BBQ Restaurants in Southern California (2004), although its not clear which location.  To be blunt and honest though, a lot of BBQ joint have sprung up in the last few years and I daresay I think I’ve had some better BBQ in 2010 such as Bad to the Bone in San Juan Capistrano, CA amongst a few others as well.

Speaking of hospitality though, Johnny Rebs’ does excel.  Everyone there is extremely nice and helpful and I find the staff generally chatty and pleasant, often coming around the table more than a few times to check on your meal, your satisfaction, or if you need anything else.

Johnny Reb's, Orange

The place itself is a site to behold, both inside and out.  As I mentioned earlier, it has a really nice ‘rustic’ vibe, both inside and out, and the setting and decor itself transports your mind back in time.  I think older folks and kids alike will enjoy the ‘log-cabin’ feeling on the inside, the swamp inspired waiting area outside, and of course the covered patio room located on one side of the building.  It was packed this particular night with a waiting list outside.  They also cater to parties as well and we witnessed the ritual “pig-kissing” and dancing for some old coot’s birthday that the whole place gets involved in as well.

There’s a small bar located centrally within the restaurant, which allows standing or seating for a good 6-8 people and they serve various beers on tap, some common and some uncommon ones as well.  This day, Jon and I both had a large schooner of Red Trolley Ale and it just seemed perfect for the setting.  While the beers are nice and cold and the staff friendly, I was discouraged to hear that the lemonade was actually from concentrate.  WTF?  Concentrated lemonade at a BBQ joint?  That just seems sacrilege and wrong and not an area a fine BBQ joint should be cutting corners on.

There’s tons of peanuts on the floor as well.  It’s one of those places you can get your own roasted peanuts, shell ‘em, and then toss them on the floor.  It’s fun and adds to the charm as well.  But the one bone I have to pick here is that the peanuts aren’t always fresh.  Sorry, but I’ve seen them toss new peanuts on top of the older ones in the barrels there, meaning the older ones never get rotated enough and thus just get older.  Not just this time, but other times my party has commented that we’ve always gotten more than a few stale peanuts, and there just really isn’t an excuse for that either.

For openers, Rebs’ has a really nice lineup of down south appetizers.  I’m not going to list them all here, but you can’t go wrong with their cornmeal dipped fried green tomatoes, hush puppies, sweet potato french fries, fried okra, or my personal favorite: fried dill pickles.  Yup, everyone looks at me sideways at least twice when I order them, but I think I have converted quite a few.  These dill pickles are sliced like a quarter, then breaded in cornmeal, deep fried, and served with a side of ranch dressing.  Yum!  Oh, and I may as well mention here they make their own biscuits and cornbread as well.

Between us, we split an order of the fried dill pickles and an order of sausage.  The pickles were as ever good as I recall, and ths sausage was moist and peppery.  Although when I think BBQ sausage, I think we were expecting more of a traditional hand made sausage, and this was more like a kielbasa link served with BBQ sauce.

Okay, so now onto the main fare: Like most BBQ joints you won’t be surprised to find both beef and pork ribs, fried or BBQ chicken, tri-tip and brisket in various forms, and catfish.  They also have pork chops & gravy, Cajun sausage, and blackened prime rib or sirloin steak.  Now since we are going to a BBQ joint, we are going for the ribs.  But give the menu a good looking over, there are plenty of bbq inspired sandwiches, a few salads and fish dishes as well.  Prices are average to slightly below average from what you’d expect in a BBQ joint.  Expect a dinner meal for two with drinks and appetizers to run about $65, and of course it’d be less for the smaller dishes or lunch.  They also serve a pretty exciting country breakfast as well.

I had a 1/2 rack of St. Louis ribs along with a side of mac-n-cheese, Cajun rice, and biscuit.  Jon had a 2 meat sampler of sausage and ribs along with mashed potatoes, biscuit, and something else I can’t recall right now, maybe baked beans.  The one thing you need to know about the sides is that you can request a second helping of any of your ordered sides, at no additional cost when your server comes back on by to check on you.  For me, I had a second helping of mac-n-cheese, although it wasn’t the best mac I’ve ever had.  Many places make gourmet mac with a combination of 2-3 cheeses, or a creamier texture by adding Velveeta.  Personally, Rebs’ came up a bit short in my book as their mac-n-cheese only uses one type, cheddar, and it was a little one-note and dry.  Same for my Cajun rice….it was a bit dry and bland and not what I was expecting or hoped for.  I did enjoy my ribs however, eating every last one and was happy with the amount of meat and taste I got for St’ Louis style (I usually get baby back pork).

Jon didn’t finish his whole meal, opting to take a portion home, but he seemed to enjoy it none-the-less.

At this point we were pretty full from our meal, opting not to have any desert, but here’s the quick rundown on the sweets: drop biscuit peach or chocolate cobbler, southern pecan pie, key lime pie, fried Mississippi mud pie, apple pie and vanilla ice cream.  I did note one special addition I hadn’t seen on the menu: a banana and nilla wafer pudding parfait I imagine was served in a mason jar that I would have liked to have tried but skipped out on it.

This place was tougher than I thought it was going to be to score.  There are some pretty definitive pro’s, yet a few things that after thinking about it a bit more make me want to hold back.  Overall: 3.

Ambiance: 4 – The nostalgic decor, peanuts in the floor, rustic look, and picnic style seating make for a fun and cozy atmosphere for most.  Bathroom could use a little extra love.

Hospitality: 4 – Very friendly and attentive staff who seem to be cheerful and chatty with the customers.  Something you’d expect from the South.

Food: 3 – Decent prices.  Great appetizers and desserts really open and close the show nice.  Main fare was ‘okay’, missing a bit of that smokey element one looks for in BBQ.  Some of the sides were one note and sub standard in some cases, but at least you can get an extra helping if need be.

Freshness: 2.5 – Rice was dry, mac-n-cheese a bit dry, lemonade from concentrate (?), stale peanuts, and ribs missing that ‘it’ factor kinda bummed me out.

Value: 3 – Extensive menu, extra sides, prices are good for the portion size you get