Bear West BBQ & Soul Food — Restaurant in Citrus Heights

Updated review at bottom!! Been here a cpl time's. Overall very good spot!! Is everything perfect? Nothing ever can be cause we all have different tastes, but they do enough right that this will be my BbQ spot from now on!! Love all their meat. Super tender, fall off the bone and flavorful with no weird gasoline taste. The chicken, omg, just like your fave uncle makes!! And the ribs mmm mmm, Just nice smoky flavor. Their sauce is absolutely on point for my particular palate. I have had the greens and the cabbage. I love greens but definitely go for the cabbage when here!! Really good!! The Mac and cheese is way too liquid for my tastes, but it was still edible and had some Teaser bits of crispy cheese goodness on the outskirts and worked ok with the rest of the food. If you like more of a solid baked cheese mac, you'll probably be disappointed but it will still give you a bit of the mac flavor you're looking for to go with your meat. The potato salad is ok for my particular tastes. I would get again. Great dipped in the sauce. I could see it being superb for someone else. I'm just so glad it wasn't that mustardy type potato salad! That's the worse!! The cornbread was a pass, but it's rare I find good cornbread in a restaurant. Too much cornmeal and too dry. I like a very light, fluffy and moist cornbread, almost like a cornbread cake, but that's just me!! Portion sizes are pretty good!! We had a 2 way and a 3 way and had leftovers!! Service was absolutely perfect. Every single staff member made us feel totally welcome. All had a smile and made us feel like family!! You will definitely see us again!!

9/5/24 Updated review! Had such a surprising re-experience that I had to update!! Went in yesterday for dinner and it was like they took every single thing I mentioned in my review last time I was in, and made improvements. The most notable improvement was the cornbread! Not gonna lie, last time cornbread was a total pass, completely inedible. This time it was some of the best cornbread I have had at a restaurant. Warm, super moist and flavorful! (Even the next day!!) Didn't even need butter. (Last time butter was no help) the other change was the Mac and Cheese. No more creamy ooey gooey mess, it was more solid and had a thick crust of nicely baked cheese on top!! Totally respectable Mac! I wish I would have taken a pic!! Meats were all just as good. Tried the green beans this time and they were great, (thank you to the wonderful lady at the service counter for letting me try!!) It's still allllll about that cabbage tho, lol!! Superb!!👌🏽Potato salad was a little smoother with a bit more flavor, so even that was hitting in newer and better ways. Still overall 5 star but just upgraded my food grade from a 4-5!! Good portions too, I just finished my leftovers for lunch!! Hope they keep doing what they are doing! And now, not only will I be back, I won't be checking out any other BBQ spots and will definitely consider them for catering and...

After trying to synchronize our schedule for whenever this place was open; we finally had the chance to visit. There were a few things that didn't meet our expectations and then there was some really excellent things about Bear West BBQ & Soul Food.

Truly, the best thing about this restaurant is the professional customer service that we received. From the moment we walked in, up to when we ordered and received our food; we were treated like valued customers. This was a big plus and made our dining in comfortable and pleasing,

The pricing for the food was really high for basic soul food. Our meal cost just over $70 for just 2 people. The portions were lacking for the price and quality of food was eye appealing. Yet, the taste, composition and cooked quality of our received food needed to be much better especially for the price we paid.

We ordered two 2-way meals (tri-tip, ribs, green beans and mac 'n' cheese, mild BBQ sauce), (chicken and ribs, baked beans and potato salad, spicy BBQ sauce), banana pudding and 7up cake with grape kool-aid for drinks. Our food was ready within minutes of our ordering and was nice and hot, except the ribs. The ribs were barely warm but may have been served this way since we asked for our BBQ sauces on the side. The ribs were relatively small and had only a small amount of meat on them but also contain a lot of fat.

The rest of the meal tasted as though it came from either cans, or boxes and didn't taste like it was originally cooked or homemade. The baked beans had ground beef or sausage in them and tasted decent. the mac n cheese was over cooked and was extremely greasy. Our meat tasted like smoke and looked blacked on the outside, but the inside was moist and juicy. The chicken was not fully cooked to the bone and was still red and bloody. The 7up cake was dry and tasted like they cooked it with an off-brand soda. Lastly, the banana pudding tasted much like out of the box mix.

The only parts of our meal that tasted authentic were the green beans, the potato salad and the kool-aid. These three things tasted like someone took the time and effort to make them from scratch and avoided using premade in-the-box/canned products.

For $70 paid for a meal; we wholeheartedly expected to taste homemade "Soul Food" cooking but got much less in regard to flavors, portions and thoughtfulness. To say the least, this place tasted like a backyard BBQ dinner that was lazily put on in the last few minutes to an hour right before guests arrived.

I believe that Bear West BBQ & Soul Food has the potential to be much much better by way of authenticity. Let's hope that this review motivates the owners, managers and staff to do so, so that more people will...

Ya'll, seriously, there aren't words, or at least I don't know them, to describe how amazing this place is. We were in town for a convention and wanted some barbeque; after searching we decided on this place because of the reviews and the name (I mean seriously, Bear West BBQ and Soul Food?? Love it!) We are from the South and have some experience with both barbeque and soul food so we feel we know what is good and what is just OK. My advice? Bring a bib and be prepared to eat. My husband had the pulled pork with the mild sauce (sweet with a bit of a tang) and a mild hot link with sides of baked beans and green beans. I had a half rack of ribs with the spicy sauce and the same sides. All of it, and I mean all of it was AMAZING! The flavor and the char on the ribs was top notch. The meat was enhanced but not overpowered by the spicy sauce. There was enough fat to make them juicy but not so much gristle that you felt slighted. The pulled pork was juicy and flavorful and the mild sauce added a dimension that was sweet and tangy. The baked beans were chock full of flavor thanks to the spices and the chunks of meat. The green beans were next level! Garlic, spices, vinegar (I don't know how they made them but they were delicious). The spicy sauce changed my life. I love a good sauce and make my own but this sauce? With sliced jalapenos and sweet sugary goodness? I need this sauce in my life on a daily basis. The best part of this place? The people working. Friendly, knowledgeable, and ready to serve. The cooks? They are in a league not often found outside of home kitchens. Honestly the food was what I would expect to eat at someone's backyard barbeque or maybe the church fundraiser. But better, at another level. The peach cobbler was tasty as well, definitely something you would expect at your grandmother's house! I was disappointed in two things: the greens are made with turkey instead of either fat back or hambones and the mac and cheese had run out by the time it was our turn to order. From what we had seen waiting in line I was ready for the mac and cheese! Wish I could say that I took pictures but alas we did not because we were too busy stuffing our faces. I also wish I lived closer so I could justify making the trip, but if I am ever in the Sacramento area again I will definitely be making a trip to Bear West BBQ...