Curly’s Bb-Q

Sad to see this place closed! We were there about a year ago on vacation from San Diego and decided to give Curly’s BBQ a try. We enjoyed how well the meat was cooked, the textures and the Smokey flavor. Our favorite part was having a good talk with the owner, Curly, while we ate. He was a sweet man!

Probably the best BBQ I’ve had out of the five places I’ve been in the area. I was going to take a picture of the food but could hold off long enough! Try the tri tip and ribs. Hot links are great as well!

If you’ve had real BBQ and you enjoy it, you’ll like Curly’s. Best BBQ I’ve had in the state. Friendly service, fantastic meat, and the potato salad is awesome. Has a really good mustard kick to it. Highly recommend making your way here. Disregard all those saying it doesn’t taste good, they are looking for that storebought sweet crap.

I’m pretty divided about how I feel about this place. First off, the barbecue is pretty decent. The ribs are very tender and savory with this peppery Kansas City rub and they have a very rich but not overwhelming smokey flavor. As far as Curly’s vs. The Little Chicken House in Pacific Grove, I think Curly’s meat is consistently better.
That aside, this place is not the nicest atmosphere. It has this foreboding I’m-not-sure-it’s-a-real-restaurant vibe. I came here with a lady friend after the a concert at the fairgrounds last summer and needless to say she was not happy the moment we talked in the door. The place was a total ghost town, there was barely any meat on the spit and they seemed out of half their items, they had all these weird, quasi-​angry signs about how credit cards transactions will not go through for a few days, and the fellow behind the counter looked like an extra from the Sopranos. I have to be honest, this place just feels sketchy. It seems like it’s been here forever but I’ve never seen customers inside. That’s kinda weird.

Went in here with a buddy for dinner. Really enjoyed meeting Curly. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there.
We both agreed the food was at the low end of adequate. We both had the sampler
Plate. Chicken ribs and tri tip. Can’t honestly recommend based on our experience.

I know everyone else seems to like this place, but I found it to be awful. I hope the BBQ sauce isn’t a family recipe because if it is, they need to go back to the drawing board. It was extremely watery, the potato salad was very mediocre. Tasted straight from Safeway. The meat was not tender. The older gentleman, Curly, was nice enough but needs to lower his prices. If they’re charging more than $ 10 a plate for anything, they are fooling themselves.
Just an update on ¼:
The owner, Curly, sent me a message on Unilocal saying that I’m a moron. That’s a first, I guess Curly isn’t the «cool» and «sweet» person as so many have said their reviews.

Do you have a mental image of what a cool grandpa is like? You and I will probably go at it with our different descriptions forever without coming to a consensus. That is until you meet good ol’Curly!
You see — I’ve never met Curly until recently as it seems that time I usually go, only his son would be working. I do have to say though that I’ve grown really curious who this Sir Curly was. So when I finally met the cool ol’dude, I must confess that it was a breath of fresh air. He is the EXACT image of what I would describe «cool grandpa» to be and I’m sure you would agree.
Curly is definitely the character. He has this grin and a very warm demeanor that can put you at ease. He whistles a lot to accentuate a point and I’d say it is easily his signature expression as well for yes or no. He jokes quite a lot (at least with me) and I just find him absolutely hilarious.
The best part? He is PROUD of his food and doesn’t hide it. I usually order a whole chicken to eat there and when he brought it out, he smirked and asked,
«Are you ready for the best chicken ever?»
HECK yeah I am.
«Do you want a beer?»
HECK yeah I do.
«I like you. Let me give you a discount.»
HECK yeah, for you, I’ll have two then!
So even if you have never met Sir Curly, I’d say the food still speaks for itself. Yeah, I seriously love their chicken.
Unilocal 100: ⁶³⁄₁₀₀

Best BBQ in town never been disappointed, they have great mash potatoes and garlic bread.

I eat a lot of BBQ, this is by far the best I’ve had, veryhigh quality meat and not a ounce of fat on anything… I’m quite picky… It’s a little expensive but oh so worth it

First I’d like to state something very important for BBQ, there are many types of barbecue and not everyone likes them all. Most people grow up with a specific type and so when they have cravings, that’s what they’re looking for to satisfy that craving. Lots of great reviews for Curly’s on here, but every time I passed this place and considered stopping there were not very many customers eating there, which to me is a bad sign. I decided to stop in because I had been craving BBQ for a while and I got the sampler plate (which comes with tri-​tip, chicken and ribs) for my taste the tri-​tip was ok, but the chicken and ribs were delicious. I will definitely be going back got some more. Being from Texas, California doesn’t have many BBQ places that satisfy my taste, but I will definitely be going back to Curly’s!

I’ve had a tri-​tip sandwich and the sampler plate so far and they were comparable to some of the best BBQ I’ve had (from the Midwest).
The whole office was upset at me when I brought Curly’s back because it smelled so good!

Curly’s bbq is AMAZING. My friend and I shared a tri-​tip sandwich and a pulled pork sandwich. Curly was such a nice man and so hospitable. the atmosphere is casual and the restaurant is clean. The hospitality is incredible and so welcoming. The food is fantastic and the place is convenient and CLEAN! yum!

Ordered the tri tip. Granted i recently returned from a trip to Kansas City, i should have known better than to try BBQ in Monterey CA. My sandwhich was soggy, and the tri tip was pretty dry, nothing to get to excited over.

I have been craving BBQ food for a while now, its been a daily thing, as our neighbors BBQ all the time, so the smell keeps wafting in our living room, makes me so hungry! Always think about going to Henry’s or something but its kinda far and I heard expensive too.
Well, we decided to go to Curlys yesterday, and stopped on our way to the beach. I’ve been wanting to go here for some time, as I live pretty close by.
We had the combination plate, I got ribs, coleslaw and garlic bread, my boyfriend got the pulled pork sandwhich and beans. Pretty tasty. The meat of the ribs was really juicy and fell of the bone. The coleslaw was different, not your regular sweet kind, and I could taste some celery, the beans are NOT canned beans, which funny and disgustingly I prefer… but you can tell they use their own recipes for their meals.
Total came to $ 28, $ 11 something per plate, yeah its kinda pricey but I think it was pretty good. I would come here again.

Smells really good, but the three times I’ve eaten here, my meat was dry. That’s chicken and beef both.
Dry BBQ? No bueno.

Everytime I’m running errands in Sand City/​Seaside area I make sure to stop at Curly’s to get my fix of chicken breast and tri-​tip.
When you are in the mood for bbq this is the place to go! I am always left satisfied with the perfectly golden chicken breast and brown crisp skin that just melts in your mouth. But what is good bbq without the sauce, right… Curly’s house bbq sauce is the perfect combination of peppers, spices, and bbq sauce and licking the smokey red sauce from my finger tips is just a small part of the overall great experience.
French fries, chicken breast, tri-​tip sandwiches, coleslaw… the list goes on as to how many delicious items you can order.
It’s a must if you are driving down Fremont and need a great lunch!

YES. This is a winner.
You can’t really find BBQ in Monterey, but thankfully there’s Curly’s. And man is it good. I’ll frequently drop by to pick up some Tri Tip sandwiches for coworkers, and they are ALWAYS GENEROUS WITH THE MEAT.
As Q.E.I. said in her review, you’ll love the mob boss who takes your order, he’s a trip.
Only downside is that he had to take cornbread off the menu because the locals around here never eat it. =(

Now that the Oscars have passed, I want to administer my own «Awards Show» if you will, to recognize the worst in what the Monterey Area has to offer in terms of Barbecue. Let’s call it, the FAILy’s. This year’s FAILy award goes to Curly’s for the impersonation of actual palatable barbecue. No, not even a new sign out front will absolve this place of barbecue sin.
I’ve been here about five times and you would think I would learn the first couple of times that some things never change, I’ve been told that I’m hard-​headed.
I’m typically a fan of vinegar-​based barbecue sauce, there aren’t a ton of places in California that use the dry rub method, but this place just does it all wrong. The meat is dry and has an overly smoky taste. They weren’t kidding when they said «Oak Grilled», it tastes like a damn tree with barbecue sauce on it.
They do, however, have good service, which is their Saving Grace. I’m not knocking oak grilled barbecue, I typically enjoy it, just not here. Miles apart from even Famous Daves, which I consider to be low to mid-​level quality Q. If you’re looking for the real deal, try Blue Rock BBQ in San Jose or Lucille’s in Rocklin.

I was on a mission to make a killer tri tip sandwich but didn’t have the time to bbq jack so I got excited… I finally trotted over to Curly’s… Finally!!! I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.
I told the familiar looking gentleman behind the counter that I wanted to make some tri tip sandos so how should I order? He told me by the pound which was perfect. I kade 3 huge killer sandwiches with fresh rolls from Sales Bi-​rite Market down the street, split the rolls open, some best foods, a little grain mustard, mixed greens and red onions… I kept it pretty simple. The Tri Tip sandos were a big hit.
Ordered some coleslaw because I knew my gentleman friend adored it… with a hit of secret ingredient a peach vinegar, the coleslaw rocked my world. The coleslaw is fine but for ky own taste lacked ability and a hit of sugar. The peach vinegar was the perfect addition.
When I walked in the place smelled amazing! I can’t wait to try more of their goods… especially their ribs, beans, corn on the cob and garlic mashed potatoes.
I’ve heard for years these guys are passionate about bbq and yeah they were right.

First, a note to Unilocal: The word «barbecue» has no «q» in it.
Anyhoo, I likes me some yummy barbeCue, and thought I’d give Curly’s a whirl. Well, I found their food to be 100% acceptable, but not that great. It can’t have been, because I haven’t been back.
I didn’t care for the sauce, and, as I recall, there was something wrong with my side. I also thought the prices were a little high.
I’d still choose Curly’s over any locally-​available fast food, but if that rumored In-​N-​Out Burger opens up elsewhere in Seaside, I might never come back to Curly’s.