Ike’s BBQ and Steakhouse

This was a fun little stop! We heard about it opening and headed over with the family for dinner. The papusas were excellent as was the chips & salsa. Very friendly as well. The tamales were Salvadorian tamales, and we weren’t big fans of those — but that’s just because we prefer Mexican tamales. The prices were ridiculously cheap as well! I’m not sure how long that will last, I’m assuming they’ll need to raise prices eventually as they were quite underpriced. Overall I thought it was really yummy food & we’ll definitely be headed back!

The food here was so good!!! I recommend it to everyone. My favorite was the pupusas de queso y loroco and yucca con chicharron. My friend got a chimichanga and it was huge!!! The food was very inexpensive for the quality of it. The service was fast and friendly and I was even able to catch the world cup games on their two large tv’s. I definitely recommend it to people who like trying authentic central american new dishes. I give it two thumbs up.

Read about this place recently on a social website so I thought I’d check it out. Being Salvadorian, I’m very familiar with pupusas and Central American cuisine. The chips and salsa were good. I got a horchata to drink and it was pretty good. The menu was limited on pupusa choices, only 4 different kinds available. I ordered 1 just queso (cheese) and 1 chicharron (shredded pork). They were decent. The curtido (shredded cabbage relish) was just ok. I also ordered a tamale to go. They offered 4 different kinds; chicken, pork, boiled corn and fried corn. I went with the chicken. It was a bit small but good. Service was quick and friendly.

IKE’s is now closed. I was surprised, but not completely. They served huge, gut-​busting portions. The service was only OK. It took a long time to get the food. The sides were a bit bland. And the BBQ ribs I ordered were medium rare. Ribs are one cut that must be cooked all the way through to at least medium well to have that falling-​off-​the-​bone effect. They took them back and cooked them some more with apologies. We never made it back to check it out a second time.
Perhaps their learning curve wasn’t steep enough to be sustainable. The restaurant business isn’t just about Grandpa Ike’s great recipe, but about great service that makes people keep wanting to come back. The potential was there and I feel sorry for the family. But, hey, they gave their dream a shot.

I only gave them four stars. This is a tough call because the ribs themselves were fantastic — the ribs were five star. Unfortunately, the side dishes brought the ranking down. The coleslaw was completely without flavor. The cook on the green beans was perfect, but they could use a lot more bacon and onion flavor. Lompoc is a town that really needs a great barbecue place and this could be a great barbecue place with just a few tweaks and more attention to detail. The décor is very clean but bland. On the up side, The service was attentive.

We dropped by because our ‘other place’ was closed, and had a great meal! The bbq ribs are superior, the catfish with the homemade tartar sauce was AMAZING. I will certainly be back.
The décor is a bit plain, but hey — it’s a bbq joint. The food takes a while to prepare, but good food takes time. The service was good and the server was very charming. The owner is very personable and very passionate about food.
Seriously worth being a ‘regular visit’ place.

Horrible food and service. Our food took almost an hour to get. We ordered food to go and when we finally got it home it was horrible. I am a true BBQ lover, I smoke my own meats and BBQ on a regular. Anytime a new BBQ place opens I always go check it out. This place shocked the hell out of me. The mac and cheese is supposed to be home made. It was like eating mush. My wife got the fried chicken and it did not even look like it. The top was hanging off and it was the worst plate ever put together. My pulled pork sandwich was the second worst one I have ever had. (Baby Blues BBQ in Venice is the first worst). Then to top it off, how ghetto to have your to go bags to be from the 99 cent store. This place is a zero in our book. Makes you miss the old rednecks bbq that was there before

We ordered the extra meaty ribs w/​beans, mac & cheese, and coleslaw with lemonade to drink. Service was quick and friendly (we were the only ones in the place) and received large portions. The ribs were loaded with meat but chewy, and twice I bit into slivers of bone apparently cut off when the ribs were separated. The mac & cheese was not very cheesy and the coleslaw was bland and unseasoned. The beans were alright when mixed with the dollop of BBQ sauce (good sauce) in the middle.
We were surprised when we got the bill to see the lemonade was $ 3.00 a glass. $ 6.00 for two glasses of lemonade seems a bit pricey. The waitress (owners wife) said there was a 10% discount for active duty military, but not retirees, but would apply a senior discount. She «forgot» to do that however on our bill for over $ 36.00 until reminded.
A two star rating is generous for marginal, over priced food. We will not return.

I have tried the fried chicken wings, pulled pork sandwich, ½ BBQ chicken, beans, fries, baby back ribs, jambalaya, Mac n cheese, collard greens & it was all great! Especially the BBQ sauce! (That sauce should be bottled & sold it is sooo good).

We ate here for lunch today and really enjoyed it! I’m a Louisiana girl and have a hard time finding good Cajun spices and people who know how to ‘correctly’ blacken fish outside of LA! The catfish Mark made was incredible! So good, we ask for another filet and got to try the fried version too, which was also fantastic!
Our son tried the pork ribs and we all thought they were very good and will most definitely return for the great BBQ and the friendly service we enjoyed from both our waitress and the owner, Mark!!! Great find in Lompoc!

Came here for dinner on a Wednesday night around 7pm.
Location of the restaurant was easy to find but empty around town.
The food was okay. Had the buffet and the food was cold. Order fries and jambalaya as a side. Fries was salty and over cooked. Jambalaya had alot of meat and ingredient just a bit too salty.

My first review of Ike’s was 4 stars. The owner made a good impression on me when he spoke about his Grandfather Ike’s awesome BBQ, and his own commitment to excellent food and service. And the food was very good that night. So it kills me to have to write a bad review for this place. But I’m afraid they’ve earned it.
I started with the green salad. As I started eating it, I noticed the whole salad was soaked with water (croutons included). I pushed the remaining greens aside, and found that the whole salad was sitting in water. Lots of water. How could the kitchen miss that much water? Anyway, my green beans were mush, my BBQ beans came with a big squirt of BBQ sauce on top; which I did not ask for. Funny, because my friends order of BBQ beans came without the sauce. Then, my BBQ chicken sandwich came on a plate with some kind of sooty black stuff wiped on the sandwich roll, and two very legible and very black (coal black) finger prints on the dish. Finally, I spent most of my time picking the chips of burnt grill debris out of my chicken sandwich. I actually wound up with a little pile of them on my plate! Every other bite I took… CRUNCH!!!
The owner needs to be here when the restaurant is open. His staff is running amuck without his oversight. The only thing they managed to do right was take my water salad off the bill.

My husband & I recently had dinner at Ike’s and enjoyed it very much. We both ordered the pulled pork sandwich & it came with 2 sides. It was a LOT of food! The sandwich was big, lot’s of meat and very tasty bbq sauce. My husband liked it just how it came – I will probably ask for a little more of the slaw and a little less meat on mine the next time. The sides were really good too. Love the mac & cheese. It has a nice mixture of different cheeses and the taste of great homemade mac & cheese. The corn bread was also good. There was some kind of spice in it that made it different from what you get from cornbread that comes from a box.
We also enjoyed speaking with the owner. He is a very personable guy and really trying to make a go of this restaurant using his grandfather Ike’s recipes. We will definitely be back to try some other things on the menu – but it might be hard not to order the same thing we had – it was delicious.

I tried this BBQ restaurant 2 times and both times was a Fail. 1^st time ordered their best steak, owner came out and said it was Rib Eye and came with 2 sides. I order rare, so it;s kinda hard to mess up the order. When the meal arrived the steak was medium at best, no grill marks, and a super thin piece of meat that lacked seasoning. Disappointed to say the least. I gave the owner my feedback and it seemed he was a little put out with the honesty.
2^nd time was a week later, and because thie is a BBQ place, I ordered the BBQ Brisket Sandwich. They really have a good BBQ sauce, but the meat was inedible. Not only was it super tough, but cut way too thick for Brisket. The huge pieces of fat should have neen trimmed to go on a sandwich, but it just made the entire experience a Fail once again. The owner’s daughter came to see how the sandwich was, and once again I was honest. I suggested she and her father visit Rancho Nipomo BBQ in Santa Maria/​Nipomo to see how it should be done. The owner then came and asked how it was, so after I told him the same thing, I asked him how he cooked his Brisket. He said 250 degrees for 10 hours, so I suggested he try 225 for 12 hours, and trim the fat off, then cut the meat against the grain super thin, on #1 setting or lower. He just walked off, so that told me all I needed to know. Both my wife and I agree that there’s no need to revisit.

Awesome food! Everything was made fresh when we ordered it and it all had a great flavor. I wish the Mac and cheese would have been warmer, but it still had a good taste. I would definitely recommend this place. The staff is very friendly and the food and service was fantastic. If I lived in the area I would make this a regular place to dine.

We’ve eaten here several times now (good BBQ around Lompoc is hard to find) and while I’d like to give it more than just three stars I can’t. The BBQ is awesome. I have the ribs every time – I’m a rib junkie, while my mom and friends have tried the chicken, and pulled pork. All excellent. I love their version of jalapeño poppers – they’re jalapenos wrapped in bacon, stuffed with cream cheese and grilled. Delicious.
So why the three stars? Their sides. They’re very bland and tasteless; after the greatness that’s the BBQ meat to have such mediocre sides is a huge disappointment.
I wish is that they’d offer the meat on it’s own without having to get – or not get and pay for – the sides. We’ll definitely return though!

As a guy who was born and raised in Kansas City, MO (the mecca of BBQ), I find it difficult to enjoy barbecue from places outside of the KC/​StL region. Like most other bbq joints around the central coast, Ike’s has acceptable bbq for the price.
There’s three key things that make delectable bbq:
1) High quality meat
2) The ability to properly cook/​smoke said meat
3) A unique bbq sauce that compliments the meat and drives people wild!
Ike’s has a great sauce… that’s about all I can vouch for. However, I do plan to return to this joint for a quick lunch on occasion!

I feel really bad for this review. I saw the others and it must just be my husband and my not so 5 star experience.
He ordered the Pulled pork sandwich, fries, coleslaw, and cornbread. He said the sandwich didnt have much flavor– just mediocre bbq sauce. the slaw was dry, the fries were beyond soggy and limp with too much oil that were not fried enough, but he did like the cornbread– very sweet and soft
i ordered the stuff burger stuffed with bacon and cheese– this was delicious– the macaroni and cheese was also yummy.
however, my fries were even more soggy than his, the garlic bread had no taste and was just like a piece of bread was thrown on the grill.
i just felt bad after i left Ike’s, the owner walked around and was beyond friendly and helpful. I want his business to be great, small town business owners are what we need!
i am hoping it was just a one time thing with the cook or our not so great food. We will probably try it again, but it will be a while away…
I do miss Redneck BBQ that was there before– their sliders were AMAZING!

Awesome in every way, friendly people great service and the BBQ IS THE REAL DEAL …
I live in Santa Maria so it’s a 25 miles drive to get here, well worth the drive. Santa Maria is known as the Great BBQ town, and Lompoc is next door, problem is all the locals think that Grilling a Tri Tip for 45 minutes over red oak is BBQ. Sorry but that is grilling, and some do a pretty good job but it is NOT BBQ …
Ike’s has REAL BBQ, southern style slow smoked BBQ … The Brisket melts in your mouth (check out my photo above)
The ribs are very good, I tasted a bit of the Hot Links and they have some Kick to them … The side are like Grandma makes … Green Bean w/​bacon, Jambalaya, Mac n Cheese … and the Cole slaw is very good, none of that box stuff here …
The biggest flaw I see is they do not charge enough … they need to stay in business for a long long time … We NEED REAL Q like this on the Central Coast …
I would rate this 10 out of 5 stars if I could … I will return many times …
UPDATE — 31 Aug 2013
Thought I would add that last night we ate at Ike’s and they have added Collard Greens to the menu … They are awesome … slow cooked for 5 hours the greens are tender and the best flavor …
I could make a meal out of these greens …
GOOD JOB Gang …

We went the day they opened and the food was good, I ordered the pulled pork sandwich it came with (2) sides $ 10.99, I ordered the green beans w/​bacon and mac & cheese. We also ordered a couple of other side dishes just to try them out. The hot links with bbq sauce were great and pretty hot (2) $ 4.50! The jalapeño poppers were really good stuffed with pepper jack cheese and wrapped in bacon (7) $ 8.50. The jambalaya needs some help but it was the first day it was open so I’m sure things will get worked out. All in all this place was good and worth a try by all who love bbq.