Restaurant: Holy Cow
Location: 264 26th Street. Santa Monica, CA 90402. 310-883-6COW
Date: November 24 and December 1, 2014
Cuisine: American BBQ
Rating: Great meats
I’m always excited about anything new this close to my house (15 minutes), and seeing as we have absolutely no good BBQ closer than maybe Culver City, the opening of an up-to-date smoked meat place at the Brentwood Country Mart is great news.
The frontage is right next to The Little Door and across from Sweet Rose.
The interior is fast casual, you order at the counter. While I hate that for dinner places, I’m a big fan for lunch joints like this that one might tend to visit alone.
The menu.
I ordered a three meat combo.
BBQ Brisket. Dense, but tender. Delicious with the sauces too.
Pulled pork. This is where it’s really at. Great stuff, with a soft texture and nice smokey flavor.
Hot links. Spicy porky fatty goodness. Can’t complain.
Tri tip. Tasty and tender. I have mixed opinion about those fatty bits at the end, but hey, that’s just me.
THE HOG. Smoked pulled pork, Carolina sauce, slaw, crispy onion, B&B pickles, brioche bun. Pretty superb sandwich. Like a great slight update to the Carolina classic.
Mac & Cheese. Vermont white & yellow cheddar, munster, gruyere, béchamel. This was okay, but could have been more intensely cheesy.
Fried cornbread. This was the only disappointing dish I ordered. Basically these are hushpuppies. They had a chewy texture but didn’t give me that soft cornbread goodness that I was looking for.
Overall, this was some great BBQ. I’ll have to return and try more stuff, like the baby back ribs! BBQ is all about the meat and the main meats were all fabulous. Very modern presentation and nice selection of sauces and pickles. It all reminds me of The BBQ Joint in Easton MD, which is only a good thing.