Buckboard BBQ & Catering — Restaurant in Covina

This was the first time I had ever been to this establishment due to the 4+ stars on Google, and Facebook. I have to say this is the furthest thing from factual. I had been craving good BBQ for a month, seeing the reviews, without reading any of them, I thought, what could go wrong. The majority of the complaints regarding the over-excessive amount of time were right on point. 30+ minutes to make a burger, and a surf, and turf sandwich? Where to start though about the actual food, I was tossed between having the tri tip sandwich, and the smokehouse burger. I decided on the burger since my friend got the surf and turf, and I could grab some of her tri tip. The burger itself, even with the BBQ sauce I put on still could not cut the dryness of the meat. The seasoning if you could even refer to that was pretty much all salt, way too much for any meat. Did I say the meat was really dry? Even on my friends sandwich, she was complaining about how dry it was as well, as well as only having 3 small shrimp on the sandwich, as well as a piece of hair from probably the guy cooking, or whoever made the 'garlic bread' they had frozen in the back. Oh, I also had ordered cole slaw instead of the salad on the side, guess what I got? A half wilted side salad which I didn't bother to eat because, wilted lettuce, when I ordered something completely different for a side? The girl behind the counter said people love their tri-tip and rave about it. Really? If this is true, then some of you people have neither been to TX, or the south, or Joey's BBQ, or Lucielle's, or any of the multitude of BBQ joints between Pasadena, and Los Angeles and had real BBQ. Hell, you can get better BBQ 'and I really,,, really hate to say this' from the Dickies BBQ chain, which isn't saying much. At least there, the meat is tender and juicy, and isn't overly salted. I ended up throwing half my burger out. The only reason why I am even giving this place 2 stars is due to the fact that the same girl behind the counter was really cool, and gave my friend, and her baby a free drink because it was hot out. Seriously people, if you think this is good BBQ, then go try a few more real BBQ places that aren't probably 5-10...

Let me preface this review with it's been a long time since I've been to this place. I have no idea if it's changed owners or not, but it used to be much better when it was in the little store on Shoppers Lane.

I went to Buckboard for lunch; around 2/230 so a little after the rush, or at least so I would have assumed. When I arrived I was one of 4 people there, so the place wasn't all that busy.

I ordered the tri-tip sandwich with a side of regular fries to-go. The lady working the register was very nice, which is why I gave two stars instead of one.

It took nearly 20 mins for me to get my order. Now, I understand it's BBQ, and sometimes it takes time; but like I said, it wasn't very busy.

The tri-tip was cut up into chunks instead of slices, and was pretty chewy; like it was cooked hot n fast. It didn't have that rich tri-tip flavor, and was kind of bland. I used the BBQ sauce that was provided, which made it more edible; but it still didn't have that taste that I remembered from the past.

The roll was just okay. It was garlic toasted which tasted fine, but was a little tough to bite and pull apart.

And finally, the fries tasted like they were under cooked and stale. Nothing good to say about them.

I wish my review would have been a little bit better, but I was very disappointed. Hopefully it just wasn't the right day/time and your meal will be much better; but I sadly won't be going back since I can get better BBQ from a chain restaurant for...

I love supporting small, well-deserved restaurants but this place is very poor in both customer service and food. I ordered my food on-site and it took them 35 minutes to start my order, then another 25 minutes to make it. While there weren't many people before me, there were many people who ordered after me. I slowly started to realize that the ones after me were getting their food while I was still waiting for mine to be started. Some time after waiting, someone ordered the same order as I did yet she got her food before me! I assume the employees favor their regulars and aid to them first.

After an hour of waiting, I finally got my food but was very disappointed when I tried it. Everything was room temperature, the pulled pork and chicken were very dry and the tri-tip was salty. I would not consider coming back nor recommending this...