The Barbecue Pit

First… Phil’s sucks. Here’s how this works. 1^st time order beef sandwich plate with beans and fries. Pour sauce on beef and enjoy. Next time if you liked that order large rib plate combo. Combo means pork and beef ribs same sides, dinner roll. Hope you don’t get stuck with end pieces cuz they don’t like you. Don’t order chicken, cornbread or salad. Do order soup, pies. Do try the horseradish and don’t be a little girl, try a big spoonful. The Bbq sauce is a personal favorite.

This place is at the lower end of BBQ food places to eat. I had a date that I brought there on New Year’s eve day. the corn bread was stale (for both of our plates). The salad was inappropriately placed in a plastic container. the BBQ chicken that was ordered was full of fat.
Interestingly, the actual BBQ sauce was good. However, the ambiance in the restaurant was poor enough to take away from any good that this place had. The marquee overhead for the food when ordering is old and needs to look better than the old ‘yellow’ look that it has. When you order simply water with your meal you have to go to a metal water faucet (like what you’d drink out of at a school) to get it. I’ve never seen anything as low class as this at a restaurant.
It’s as if this place was ‘handed down’ in the family line and the sons/​daughters/​family did not have the motivation to fix anything up. It’s no wonder that there were hardly any people there in such a large restaurant.

This is the go-​to dinner spot for my boyfriend’s family for quick, easy, and casual occasions. I believe probably for sake of convenience and tradition. Similar to a cafeteria, you walk up to the counter, place your order, then pay. I mean with a large party of sometimes 20ish people, this layout is super convenient and last person pays for everyone.
The food is nothing extraordinary or special. I think it can be a bit hit or miss, but overall not bad. I usually opt for the chicken sandwich plate ($ 9.99). The plates come with choice of two side– salad, coleslaw, potato salad, macaroni salad, fries, beans, and I forget what else. Some plates come with choice of dinner roll or corn bread. For the price, it’s filling and a good value.
As mentioned, it can be hit or miss. The chicken is usually pretty standard, although it can be overcooked and too dry at times which has me asking for extra barbecue sauce please! Their barbecue sauce is nothing spectacular. just average to me. I’ve got wimpy-​as-​heck-​spice-​intolerant taste buds, so it has a little bit of a kick to me, but it’s honestly not even spicy. I just have no tolerance. It’s definitely more on that spice side than sweet though like other places.
The sides are also mediocre. not bad, but again nothing spectacular. The fries are bit on the thicker cut side, and I swear the macaroni salad and potato salad taste super similar. Must be the same base or something.
The place is well kept, although feels a bit outdated, and the staff is friendly. especially considering they have to deal with our large group most times haha. It’s not something I’d go out of the way for, but it’s worth a shot if you’re in the area and looking for inexpensive barbecue to fulfill a craving.

We were searching for a yummy BBQ place and this is the spot! We ordered take out and even the quick conversation over the phone I could tell how friendly and welcoming James was. We ordered hot link sandwiches with beans and potato salad. The food was so delicious and the sauce was original. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because I think the corn bread could have been a bit better. Overall, I think we found our new spot to feel guilty after eating! Highly recommended.

The ribs are good and retain a good amount of moisture, not quite fall off the bone good. They are something to go back for. However, their meat is a bit dry standing under those heat lamps all day. I don’t know if they just don’t flip enough tables or what. My biggest problem with this BBQ Pit is their Sauce. Their sauce definitely needs a lot of work. Has a weird vinegar taste and their try to overpower it with something sweet but it doesn’t work. Maybe burning their sauce while refining it?

food is really good, not cheap but worth the price.
I ordered a chicken sandwich with potato salad and it was delicious. The chicken was all white meat and so fresh.
My only complaint was when I was looking for a seat, there were 7 or 8 tables that were dirty and needed to be bused. And it took them half an hour to clean them up. There was a really big party and maybe that’s why.

We usually go to the Barbecue Pit in El Cajon, but we were closer to this location. Different location… still great food. The staff was really friendly, so we had this conversation about the food and the owners. The business has been around for a very long time. The ribs are not EVER boiled. They go directly into the pit to cook. The homemade macaroni salad, slaw and beans are homemade and awesome! The earlier post about no celery in macaroni salad is laughable! I’ve never had celery in macaroni salad and there are extremely very few recipes that call for celery in macaroni salad. I love that there are no TVs, no distractions, just one on one with the company or party that you are with. This place never used to be open on Sunday’s, but it became increasingly busy enough to justify being open. No additives or preservatives or frozen foods. A must go to place!

I’m not a huge barbecue fan but even I can appreciate this restaurant. I like that they carve the meat right at the front for your sandwiches, which aren’t massive and messy like other barbecue joints. They serve the sauce on the side so you can add to your liking. I would describe the barbecue sauce as tangy and a little sweet; my grandma went so far as to say «spicy» but I thought it was perfect. The décor feels like you’ve entered a hunting lodge, complete with stag head, steer horns and buffalo paintings on the wall. I find the framed history plaques displayed near the counter endearing and any barbecue restaurant that’s been around since the forties has my vote of confidence. I had the navy bean and ham soup on my last visit and it was delicious: perfectly seasoned, beans tender, ham generous. I want some right now as I’m remembering it. This place is definitely worth a try so don’t let the cafeteria feel scare you away.

The worst barbecue I’ve ever tasted! They were out of the pulled pork sandwich so we settled for a beef sandwich which the beef was very dry and very tasteless. We also ordered a slab of pork ribs which seemed to be boiled first and then grilled. Again, absolutely no flavor at all. Their beans are disgusting as well as the cole slaw. Their bathroom didn’t lock so another walked in on me while sitting on the John. This place sucks and if there was a choice to give negative stars that’s what I would give it. There were only a couple of people there as well do that tells you that they are bad. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE! Even the fries were bland with no flavor. I hate this place!!!
I have now went home and through up all the food!

Baked beans are too good and the beef ribs are heaven. Great barbecue sauce and great service. Best service actually out of all the bbq places I’ve been to. Very underrated and better than Phil’s BBQ in my opinion.

This is as good as it gets for down home family owned BBQ. Well, for Southern California anyway! Very friendly and helpful staff, even the locals in line are willing to offer tips. I had a combo (beef/​ham) sandwich plate and a cup of homemade split pea soup. The sides of cole slaw and macaroni salad were a delicious meal by themselves. Add the soup and it becomes a matter of priorities to somehow fit in that spectacular sandwich!!! Now to you fine dining snobs, suck it. This is fantastic home style food fit for the King of the castle! Melt in your mouth meats and tasty sides that will leave you skipping your next meal your so full!

Food was ok. Meat was dry. Only came here once and probably won’t come back): but the folks there were really nice and sweet!

We have been going to the BBQ Pit for over 40 years. It’s the best BBQ in San Diego. We drive past Phil’s a wonder why there is a line. Good thing all those folks are at Phil’s because that means no crowd at the BBQ Pit.
Sure some days the bbq beef is better than others but it’s still yummy. The pricing is good and the atmosphere and décor has not changed in over 40 years. Low overhead keeps the prices down.
Do yourself a favor and check it out. Start with a beef plate and two sides. You won’t be disappointed.

First of all, I’m sad for the people who think Phil’s is good BBQ and I’m guessing they have never stepped foot in the south. Their sauce is generic and meat from frozen, heck, don’t forget that good olé MSG! Put it together and I guess that IS some good BBQ!
That said, barbecue pit is probably the best and most closest to Texas BBQ. I tried it for the first time during the afternoon and their ribs were soo good! I was lucky because they were just coming out of the smoker too. My husband and I got a few sides and shared them. but man, all together that meal was awesome.

Super cool spot. You feel like you stepped back in to the late 70’s once you go inside. They have one of the biggest BBQ menus I’ve seen. Very cool specials during the week and combo plates.
This place is average BBQ. You come here for the atmosphere and to fill you BBQ craving. You’ll get a solid meal and be happy, but this isn’t high level knock your socks off BBQ. The sauce is very sweet and they’re a little stingy with it. Wish there was more spice in it. The hot links are very good but over powered with the giant bun they serve it in. I like the fixings bar, but they could expand on it more.
WARNING: Their sweet tea is just sweetened tea, NOT southern sweet tea.

My parents rave about this place. My dad has been coming here his entire life and still thinks BBQ pit beats other BBQ places. It is so old school which is cool.
I ordered the pork BBQ ribs with baked beans and Mac salad. It was all really delicious. The prices were pretty reasonable as well. Support your local mom and pop shops and come to this national city classic.

My work hired them to cater our Summer Gathering for over 200 employees. They arrived early to set up and brought plenty of food. They were friendly and made sure the lines moved fast. My favorite meat was their Chicken. It was so tender and juicy. I’m still craving it, weeks after the event. My husband raved about the Ham but I didn’t try it. Their potato salad was pretty good too! I will definitely use them again for catering, but before then. I want to visit and try other yummy options!

My husband and I were craving some mean barbecue, but we really didn’t feel like driving all the way to Point Loma for it.
At least, not this time.
We decided to give the Barbecue Pit a try for the first time ever.
What a mistake that was.
It’s been about 6 days since we had it and we are BARELY recovering from the catastrophe this place did to our tummies.
It starts with a simple phone call answered by the dullest person alive.
I place my order for 3 pork rib dinners. Well, they’re all out. At 5pm? Okay… well, we order the beef rib dinners instead. Macaroni salad, baked beans and fries for the sides. All to go.
We arrive at the place, and we knew right away it was a mistake. How is a barbecue place going to be empty on a Sunday at 5:30pm?!
We were scared to approach the counter, but we did. Our orders weren’t even ready. They scrambled around to find it, and «Oh here it is, we’ll get it ready for you right now.»
It took 5 minutes, TOPS to get it all together. The bags didn’t weigh anything at all.
I asked her if this was everything and she said, «Yep! Three beef dinners.»
We get home and my husband and I almost started crying.
«What the heck is THIS???» He exclaimed.
Oh my lord. It looked like dry slices of meat. Like something you would throw at your dog during Thanksgiving because Aunt Martha didn’t know how to cook a roast.
If only we could say the flavor was even that good.
The beans tasted canned. The beef was so dry and bland. The macaroni salad was warm! No celery. Just macaroni and lots of blah blah. Even the corn bread was terrible! It was stale and flavorless. How do you screw up corn bread!!!
It’s a shame to say that the best part of the meal was the french fries. And even they sucked!
I couldn’t…I just couldn’t. I had to call them and tell them we were disappointed. I even let them know I came all the way from IB.
Of course, they offer to exchange it for us. I’m NOT driving all the way back up there… And she said, «well I charged you for what you got so it’s not like you were overcharged or anything.»
UGH. That’s not the point. This isn’t what we wanted.
I felt zero empathy coming from her. It’s like she’s used to these type of complaints.
I feel sorry for the employees. It is apparent that they are so done with this job. From the phone call in the beginning, to the phone call in the end.
I don’t give this place much more time. I can predict it will be closing down very soon. And I can assure you we will never return again.
We will never betray Phil’s again.

I was pleasantly surprised with my pork rib dinner to go. I was a bit skeptical walking in, namely because I didn’t smell any barbeque, but that pleasant aroma hits ya as soon as you walk in through the door.
Interior décor may be a lot out-​dated, but frankly it reminded me of being back home in my small town in Iowa.
The proof was in the ribs. Great coloring on the inside, and tender to the point where they almost fell off the bone. Almost.
Five to six ribs, and two large sides, cost just a little over $ 14. I’ll certainly be back again.

The barbecue meat was decent; Phil’s Beef Ribs were more tender — but the Pits sauce is much better…
Buuut… The real reason I love this place is for their French Fries and Pie. Their fries are crispy yet soft inside; I could eat these all day. Seriously. And the pie… Its some of the best Ive ever had. My mouth waters when I think about it…