Champs Smokehouse BBQ & Catering — Restaurant in California

What shall I say...Champs BBQ was disappointing. I'll add, this is a group consensus. We work all over the state and a group of us wanted good bbq (we know quality food). Two of the guys got the Tri-Tip melt with frys and one with the macaroni salad. I purchased the three meat plate. The 3 meat plate I purchased had tri-tip, beef bbq and a hot link, potato salad and corn bread. All three of the guys who bought the Tri-Tip sandwich where disappointed.

These where the overall complaints

• sandwich to small for the price • although the meat was moist...it had no flavor • the frys where decent but, there was very little • no flavor in the macaroni salad...its missing something •the outstanding point of that meal was the BBQ sauce.

As for the 3 meat plate meal...it doesnt get any better

• the cornbread wasn't cooked thoroughly • potato salad too sweet and too much mustard • The tri-tip was as bad as mentioned above • the BBQ beef...not sure what the cut of meat it was but it was shredded, too salty and quite frankly it seemed like it was yesterday's leftover meat cooked down • the "hot link" was anything but hot. It was tasted like a thawed store bought link and with no flavor of substance.

I almost forgot to mention the Tri-tip melt with a soda cost the same as the 3 meat plate ($16.09).

Bottom line...save your money, time, taste buds and move on the street to a fast food restaurant where at least there you'll know what your getting and...

Update 5/2/22

I can't tell you how fantastic their tri-tip is! I have tried just about EVERY BBQ place in Bakersfield and NOTHING compares to the Champs tri-tip. It is always juicy, smoky and tender and I never put sauce on it! It is always consistently perfect. Their other best-in-class is the Ultimate Smoked Burger. It has an incredible amount of smoky flavor that does not disappoint.

Original review three + years ago (and still stands!)

Wow! I'm in love with California style tri-tip! I lived in Laredo Texas for a year and got used to some of the best BBQ brisket and tacos so I was concerned I would not find an equal here in my new home of Bakersfield. Thankfully Champs knocked it out of the park with their smoked tri-tip! Lots of yummy smoke flavor and really moist it has the perfect balance of fat marbling, something brisket can't do with either too much or not enough fat marbling. Their sauce has wonderful sweetness and tang, just perfect for my taste. I will continue to explore their menu and report back with...

We used to love Champs. The food used to be great but today's visit was horrible. I ordered the tri tip sandwich. First off the French roll wasn't even heated or toasted. Just a cold french roll with 2 slices of bloody tri tip. The roll was blood soaked. I ate half and said no more. The French fries were good. My husband ordered the 3 meat plate with Mac and cheese and potato salad. He had it before and was very pleased with it. The mac and cheese had no flavor and tge potaoes werent even cooked thoroughly. This time the only thing good was the piece of chicken. Everything else was just terrible he said. No we didn't return any of our food to the kitchen. Too many horror stories with returning your food to the kitchen. Must be new owners, management or cooks. Champs needs to figure out what is wrong now and get it back to how it was last year and before that. Just terrible now. I should have read the recent reviews before our visit today. Will not be returning anytime soon, if that. On a positive note, our waitress...