SQUE BBQ

So sad. Great food and service. I encouraged the owner several times to open on a regular basis, but no.

Had food here again for the second time
It was BOMB! The closer to legit BBQ I can get being that I’m from Louisiana. Plus they give a Military Discount! Thanks for your Support! Also the owner is really nice!

Firstly, I will start by saying the food at SQUE was phenomenal. PHENOMENAL!!! And you know what else? It was good! The BBQ Beans, the rib tips, the brisket!!! All so good! My issue with this place is about there inability to service via online ordering and delivery. The online ordering process is the most ridiculous evolution I have ever experienced. There is 2 or 3 different listings that result via Google search. All 3 resolve to different websites. The availability of the the appetizers and entrees, and the sizes of each, differed depending on which site you were viewing. On 2 different occasions they could not deliver my order because they could not get on the same page with the 3^rd party delivery company. To top it all off, the time I ordered a «Dinner for 2» meal with sweet tea, they only brought me 1 regular sized cup of sweet tea. When I asked the driver about the other drink, considering it was a dinner for 2, he simplt shrugged his shoulders and «I dunno.»
From what I understand their service at the actual restaurant is great, so I guess this is a place to only bother with if you are in the area. Delivery is a yabba-dabba-Don’t!

We’re from out of town, but I like BBQ so I use Unilocal to try a few places looking for a good one. This place is just so so.
The ribs were dry, the potato salad had way too much pickle relish and the corn bread was soggy (wrapped up in plastic wrap).
The chicken was pretty good, but with a bit too much smoke — I still want to be able to taste the chicken.
The young lady working the counter also takes the phone carry out orders and the seem to do a lot of those, so it was difficult to get full answers to the couple of questions I had. She wasn’t rude, just had to do two things at once.
Add to that it is not in the best part of town (the group of gang bangers drinking beer in the corner with the 619 tats adds a note of local color I can do without) and relatively high prices compared to other BBQ places in North Park and Hillcrest means we won’t be coming back.
Not bad, but not worth a second trip. No way to give it 2.5 stars so I will give them the extra half star for trying.

Is it pronounced «squee»? «Skew»? «Skway?» I really don’t know, but my girlfriend pronounces it «skew,» and she’s always right of course.
My main complaint about Squeedle-​Dee is that you pay (close to-​) downtown prices for fairly small portions. BBQ is all about MEAT!, and there just wasn’t that much MEAT! on my pulled pork sandwich. What MEAT! there was tasted decent if not too memorable, while the bun – seemingly pulled from a plastic bag of supermarket-​brand hamburger buns.
The best parts of the meal were the legitimately excellent variety of BBQ sauces and the excellent homemade fries. Additional props to the very friendly owner.
Summary: Mixed but not Sque’d results.

Not bad, not bad at all! The range of reviews made SQUE BBQ seem like a hit-​or-​miss kinda deal so I wasn’t sure what we were going to get. But when we went it was decently tasty! We split a lunch meal between the 2 of us (thanks to the cashier for the recommendation!). Splitting the lunch is good portion of food for a small meal, plus you get free refills on the sweet tea so it’s enough for 2.
Lunch meal:
— 1 meat. We chose pork spare ribs, and it came with 2 big ones. Mine was juicy and tender, except for one end being a little tough, but overall good stuff. Asked for sauce on the side, which just means using the BBQ sauce at the tables. The twist sauce is a good medium between the mild and spicy, but I also liked the little extra fire from the spicy sauce :9
— 1 side. We got mac & cheese. It wasn’t fancy or amazing, just your average mac & cheese, which does just fine by me.
— Lemonade/​sweet tea. We got sweet tea and it was REALLY GOOD! I haven’t had a lot of southern sweet tea so I don’t know how it compares, but I thought it was great blend of sweetness + tea flavor. And they give free refills, yes please!
We also got an extra side of small fries, and dang those were delicious. Thick-​ish cut and fried really crispy, with tasty cajun-​ish seasoning. YES.
All that came out to $ 12, whaaat!
We came here on a LivingSocial deal, $ 12 for $ 25 of food. I don’t know if we’re the only ones who were under the impression that SQUE was a nice joint closer to Gaslamp (going purely off the LivingSocial pics), but it’s actually a tiny neighborhood BBQ place on a street corner, so don’t be surprised. There’s also a little lot right next to the restaurant for parking. The staff were sweet and welcoming to us as well. :) All in all, a friendly place with decent food.

Went at lunch and didn’t have to wait very long. Enjoyed meeting the cheerful proprietor. The rib tips left a lot to be desired. It was like picking through a pile of bones for a few shards of meat. I should have ordered regular ribs. Collard greens and cornbread were tasty.
This is also the first Mogl restaurant where I didn’t receive immediate notification of cash back when the card was run. Not sure if I received credit or not.

I’ll start this review out by saying I waited 50 minutes for a Pork BBQ sandwich and a side of coleslaw. I think that justifies a 1 star in itself. I could have sat down and eaten an appetizer, a meal, and paid for my check in some restaurants.
The food itself was OKAY. I would never ever wait that long ever again for what I ate. It wasn’t worth it.

Venturing away from the Gaslamp and East Village, we made our way beyond the 94 freeway thanks to the Unilocal app. I ordered the rib tip sandwich and added a side of BBQ beans for an extra $ 1.50. The girl working behind the counter wasn’t all that friendly, perhaps it was an «off» night for her. Within 5 minutes our food came out, and I couldn’t help be disappointed by how small the portions were.
The sandwich was considerably smaller than the size of my small hand. It looked like a kid’s sandwich. Anyway, the rib tips were tasty. They were smoked to perfection and very moist. A minor inconvenience was having to strip away the meat from the cartilage prior to consumption of the sandwich. (Three out of the five rib tips had this issue.)
My main issue with this sandwich was actually not the size, but how low quality the bun was. The bun was dry and reminded me of something you can buy at the $ 0.99 store on discount, At $ 8 it’s hard for me to grasp the value of this sandwich. With only 5 rib tips in the sandwich, that comes out to $ 1.60 each. Quite pricey! The side of BBQ beans were good, but nothing to brag about.
As we were eating, the owner came out from the back and was so friendly. His friendliness was a stark comparison to the girl who took our order.
All in all, I wouldn’t mind giving SQUE BBQ another shot. Next time I’ll just stay away from the sandwiches, which don’t seem to be a good value.

What a pleasant surprise. Came here because Living Social was having a deal. We had the Beef Brisket and Ribs along with some fish.
The brisket was tender and moist. We had the mild sauce on the side and dipped it. The bbq sauce is tangy with just the right amount of heat. The sparerib was also tender and tasty even without the sauce. The fish is breaded with corn meal and perfectly cooked. My only complaint were the greasy fries. As for sides, the mac & cheese was good as well as the baked beans.
Service is excellent as you order at the counter and the folks there are so nice. Definitely worth a return trip.

After reading some of the prior reviews, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I originally tried visiting on Sunday, but was disappointed to see that they were closed. Their website needs to be updated to reflect their current hours. Instead, I came in on a Monday for lunch and had a great experience.
After speaking with Martin, the friendly and helpful owner, I decided on a mix of the pulled pork and brisket, with sides of beans, yams, and mac and cheese. The brisket was chopped and had some fatty pieces, but not overly so. The pulled pork was my favorite of the 2. It was juicy, tender, and melted in my mouth. I asked for the twist sauce on the side, so I was able to control how much sauce was needed. It had a bit of a kick, but was not overly spicy at all. They have a variety of other hot sauces for those that need an additional spicy kick.
As for the sides, the yams, were the clear winner in my book. Creamy and with just the right amount of brown sugar. The beans were on the sweet side, but not bad. The mac and cheese wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was pretty good. I also enjoyed the warm. moist cornbread. They were out of honey, but I didn’t really need it. It was so much food, that I had the leftovers the next day for lunch.
The parking was a breeze, prices reasonable, and service was top notch. That, along with the good cue will bring me back again. Just know that they are closed Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

WARNING: call before going
So my ‘love bug’ and I came here in hopes of trying their pulled pork and beef brisket.
But guess what?! They were out of both today. Haha. Just my luck! With a broken heart, we opted for a wet, twisted chicken sandwich with French fries and wet, twisted roast beef sandwich with Mac n cheese with corn bread with orange soda haha. Oh and did I mention with a broken heart? Lol.
The twist sauce helped mend my heart. Both sandwiches, especially the roast beef helped further repair my heart completely. And then I tried the sides and my heart broke again. Dry corn bread, Kraft-​like Mac and cheese, and not-​fresh fries.
Mind you, their walls are made up of screens so the wind was blowing my hair wild as the sweet, young staff kept checking up on us. My hair must’ve distracted them from seeing my heart in many pieces on the floor. Yes, I’m dramatic. But. Wouldn’t you be? (Flips my hair, then storms off). Lol.

They are just soooooooooo nice. :)
We discovered this place because we had purchased a groupon to go here. Coupon aside, we got the 3 meat meal and it was a generous portion for two. The meal was listed on the menu to cost $ 32 before tax!
We got the twist bbq sauce which is a combo of two of their sauces. It was amazing! The meat was tender and tasty. We got the sides: yams, green beans, potato salad and corn bread. I personally loved the potato salad and liked the yams (it was very sweet and kind of dessert like for a side but I liked it). The green beans and corn bread were just ok.
We got the tri tip, pulled pork and pork ribs for the 3 meats and I loved them all!!! Super meaty and tender. A very satisfying meal indeed! And the staffs were super nice :)

The whole point of being alive is to evolve into the complete person you were intended to be.
Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine
First time here, while parking we met the owner and his son watching over the wonderful smelling barbeque. They were both so friendly, made me feel welcome!
Once inside I ordered the chicken strips, fried zucchini, peach cobbler and sweet tea. The chicken strips have a delicate golden fried batter that is not too thick and cooked to perfection. Very tender chicken and the spices were memorable and flavorful. Never had fried zucchini cut really thin vertically, now it’s my new favorite! Mine was not overdone, batter very thin, crispy and stayed attached. Usually I dunk my fried selections in ranch sauce, however this time I savored the flavor and used my ranch sauce sparingly. Probably should have ordered the non sweet tea as the sweet tea choice turned out to be too sweet for me. All I had to do was ask the nice lady at the counter to make it half water and half sweet tea, then it was just fine! Loved the spices and flavor of the peaches in the cobbler.
Definitely will be back to try out more barbeque!

The good thing about being a certified BBQ Judge? Once you try competition level Q, it’s hard for any restau to come close. It’s just that good. The bad thing about being a certified BBQ Judge? Yeah, same thing just mentioned.
It’s good because it will BLOW YOUR FREAKIN’ MIND how tasty and delicious it is at the comp level… and it just sort of ruins you for visiting local establishments.
We judge in 4 categories (chicken, ribs, pulled pork and brisket) on appearance, taste and tenderness. Score 1 (bad) to 9 (excellent)
Now, don’t get me wrong, there is some pretty damn good Q out there in some of our local eateries… Cali Comfort and Coops (both in east county) come to mind, but Sonny’s has some work to do.
I arrived today with my Living Social deal of $ 25 worth of food for the $ 13 I paid. I wanted to try my go to musts… ribs and brisket. The ribs… they just weren’t seasoned well… at all. In competition, the sauce is very lightly applied and then baked onto the rib so it candies. Not all entries do this, but my fave ones do. Now I understand if you got some dry rub going, but Sonny’s didn’t seem to have this. Nor did it have any hint of sauce either. I don’t like it poured on there and I do love sauce, but I’m going to dip it if I like it. I want to taste the smoke (it was minimal here, could have been a bit more) and the seasonings.
I am a saucy girl and theirs was ok. They have a mild, spicy and twist, which is a combo of the two. I thought it as a bit too spicy for me, as I don’t want it to overpower what I’m tasting with all the food. I opted for the mild on the side and just dipped it.
Brisket was better seasoned, but was overcooked. And that is how it is at every restaurant I order it in (except for Coops). When you have to cook a lot of it for your clientele and it sits around a long time… it just turns to mush. I assume that’s why they chop it up here for sammies. I got two slices of it with the 2 meat combo. And about 3 – 4 ribs. Appearance? Ribs… not looking so good, a little too grey looking for me. Brisket looked ok, tasted better than the ribs.
But the tenderness level of the ribs was very good, I’d give it an 8. You NEVER want fall off the bone, that is overcooked and will be given a lower score. It should pull away easily from the bone with a bit left on there.
But you know what they really excelled at here? In the sides that I ordered. I read almost all the reviews for Sonny’s and decided which sides sounded like they were getting demolished by reviewers and which ones got the thumbs up. Everyone seems to want to order mac ‘n cheese. Well get over it, it seems to not be good almost everywhere. Want great mac ‘n cheese? Bo Beaus or Mother’s…both in OB.
The great sides here were the baked beans and the yams… YOWZA! And then the fried zucchini. I have never seen it sliced SO thin and that breading… OMG. I had to ask the chef if they do that breading on the fried chicken and he answered yes. THAT is what is going to bring me back to this place! I can’t WAIT to come back and try their fried chicken with a big order of those zucchini circles! I guess if you like ranch dressing, they would taste good dipped in that, but I’m not a fan. I ate them with some salt on them and couldn’t stop till they were all gone!
The collard greens actually had a great taste to them, but I just wished it had bacon or pieces of ham in it. The best I’ve ever had did that. I think that was at Bonnie Jean’s Soul Food Kitchen here in SD.
I also ordered their sweet potato pie. Hmmmmm, not sure I’m loving that. It’s almost a bit too creamy, like they put it in a blender or food processor? It should have a bit more texture to it.
All in all, I’m thinking Sonny’s is not going to change the way they do their Q. One of my Unilocal friends, Omar S. orders from here all the time. He says consistency is a problem and that means you never know when you’re gonna hit them on a good day or a not so good day. But I am SO coming back for their fried chicken, zucchini, yams and beans.

Knowing the history of this particular location, I wish only the best for Sonny’s and I have complete confidence that they’ll be just fine.
With that being said…
— RIP Urban Chicken
— RIP Sherman’s Shack
Finally got a chance to give this place a shot last week when grabbing a bite for a late lunch meeting. The parking problem has been solved by opening the empty lot, which now serves as half parking lot and half outdoor kitchen. I didn’t pry but it appears that this is where the magic (smoking) happens.
When you enter the place feels just like it always has with the previous tenants. Cozy, warm, welcoming and dotted with only a few tables. The menu is on the wall and you’re prompted to order at the counter when ready. This is where we put our trust in the hands of the staff, friends. «So, what do you like? I mean, what are your favorites?» The response was not surprising when both the pulled pork and brisket were suggested. Alright, we’ll take them both!
The pulled pork sandwich was ordered and served with the spicy sauce applied while the «happy hour» brisket sandwich was served dry with the regular sauce on the side. Trying a little bit of both sandwiches, I’d have to lean on the side of the pulled pork fully dressed. The bun was simple and did not distract from the magic show that the meat and sauce were performing in my mouth. The brisket on the other hand should have also been ordered with the sauce already applied and I think it would have made for a more enjoyable experience. I mean, it was good but not as the chef intended. Next time I’ll order it sauced up and I’m sure it will yield much better results.
Both of our sides came per the recommendation of the employees and resulted in one hit and one miss. The mac and cheese was, well, mac and cheese. Living in a world of fabulous macs, this one was simply mac and cheese. The yams on the other hand proved to be a very pleasant surprise. They were piping hot and packed just enough sweetness to border dessert while not feeling the guilt of an extra course — dig it.
Seeing that Sonny’s is close to home, I’m sure that there are many, many trips in my future, especially for those happy hour sized sandys… great deal.

Went here on a Tuesday evening by myself. I have lived in SD for 10 years and have had most of the BBQ the city has to offer. I am originally from the Midwest and miss that «mom and pop» style of BBQ spots. Well this place I was pleasantly surprised.
Right off the bat, I was greeted and told them it was my first time and he walked me through my order. I had the brisket and beef ribs with a side of collards and potato salad. I was impressed. The sides were great and the meat speaks for itself. Tender and you can taste the smoke in every bite! Then he gave a pork rib for free because he knew that I asked about them. All in all I recommend this place to anyone that loves BBQ and also loves that small town feel.
And the customer service was great!

I crave dusty small-​town, storefront, Southern BBQ, served by people who greet and feed you as though you’re the person they’ve been waiting for, cooking for, hoping to see again. It makes you happy every time.
SQUE is good people, but the BBQ isn’t there yet.
Since August 2014, SQUE has produced wood-​smoked, dry-​rubbed pork and beef BBQ ribs, pork shoulder, beef brisket and other delicacies. Several recent visits have yielded varied results:
— Pulled pork that was dry and flavorless on my first visit but fresh, moist and succulent on retry
— Pork ribs that were fatty and charred, then a full rack that had been smoked long and slow, melting the fat and leaving only «meat candy», perfectly dense rib meat that clung to the bone until I bit it away. (Please don’t get me started on that «falling off the bone» nonsense.)
— A friend recently had beef back ribs delivered that were burnt hard, resembling «wood», then thoroughly enjoyed the same item in the shop just a couple of days ago.
SQUE is working out the kinks, and because I’ve seen steady improvement, and desperate as I am for hometown BBQ (not boiled, pressure-​cooked, or baked-​then-​grilled, a la Phil’s), I’m willing to give them time. In the meantime, you can «manage» your way into a great meal at SQUE; here’s how:
1. Pork, not beef. Pork ribs, then pulled pork, and if you’re still hungry, eat some chicken.
2. Dry-​rubbed, not sauced.
3. Hot sauce, not BBQ sauce. If you must use sauce, get it on the side and dip. And add hot sauce to it.
4. Call ahead to find out what they’re smoking that day and when the meats are coming out of the smoker. Ask for a rack or other portion to be held for you. No cut, no sauce. Just meat.
5. Hot links, once SQUE finds a better supplier (Martin’s working on this now).
6. Collards are better at BVM B.B.Q. Grill Pizzeria, but that’s too far away, so eat green beans.
7. Twice-​cooked French Fries made with Kennebec potatoes.
8. Sweet tea.
9. Some things don’t travel well. Avoid delivery. Drive over and pick up dinner yourself.
10. Dominus vobiscum.
Finally, to poke the bear a bit: SQUE might eventually be San Diego’s best source for hometown BBQ since Duntae Bright closed Barnes’ BBQ last winter. To those with differing opinions, kindly note that I said, «might.»
******************************
Phil’s BBQ:
BVM B.B.Q. Grill Pizzeria:

We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? So this is what we’ve chosen to do with our life.
Steve Jobs
My eyes went wide seeing her beautiful golden brown skin. The little freckles only enhanced her beauty. She glowed like the sun. Her scent… That secret scent that men long for and drives them mad with desire. I was too shy to approach her at first but eventually desire overcame my shyness. She acquiesced to my clumsy advances and my lips closed upon her and the heat of her skin ignited my passions. I tasted her. Her juices filled my mouth. Her secret spices… I have never tasted anything so good. Best fried zucchini ever!
Fried chicken wings. Awesome crunchy and delicious southern style batter! Juicy wings with excellent flavor. Similar to the now closed place called Batter Up. Best southern style fried chicken wings in town!
Rack of beef ribs smoked with red oak for over 4 hours. Very good smoky flavor. Tender, juicy meat which was falling off the bone. I like them without sauce as I usually don’t like sauce. I did sample the spicy sauce and liked the spiciness but didn’t care for the vinegary base flavor. Excellent quality beef and preparation.
Fried shrimp normally I don’t like panko style batter but this dish was really good.
Fresh cut fries. Excellent fresh potato flavor. Looks like an In N Out fry but I like the flavor of these better. Easily ranks in the top 5 in town.
Excellent customer service from the owner and the staff! The owner shook my hand like an old friend, talked to me, and checked to see how I was doing. :-)

Good BBQ is hard to come by, one thing I commend Sonny’s on is that they smoke their meats, the way «real» BBQ us meant to be prepared, not roasted in the oven or over a grill. In fact, they use red oak for flavor and white oak for heat.
I stopped in for lunch and ordered the chopped brisket BBQ sandwich wet which came with a choice of a side. For $ 8.99 I choose the macaroni and cheese (
). The brisket sandwich sandwich was good, simple, but good. I like that it had some fatty pieces intermixed with the very tender smokey beef (
). I asked for a medium heat on the BBQ sauce. The sauce was very good with smoky overtones and a slight sweet after taste. I liked the brisket very much, but I felt the sandwich was a little on the small side for $ 9 plus, but that just me. The again, I really like to eat…
The macaroni and cheese was very good. It was very traditional with its cheesy good goodness and soft elbow noodles (
). A little added texture on top, via either crumbs or Cheez-​Its would go a long way.
Service was very welcoming, and this real BBQ location is no doubt a great addition to San Diego’s culinary line of real BBQ joints. In the future, in addition to the beef, pork, and chicken, they plan to add smoked salmon, trout, and perhaps even turkey legs in the near future to the menu.
Smoked meats! Great stuff…