Grand Ole BBQ Y Asado — Restaurant in San Diego

Best Texas-style BBQ in San Diego! I’ve tried other bbq places around here and GOBYA is by far my favorite.

Service/Ambiance: Our party of 4 went at 5pm on a Wednesday and there was no line to order at all, though I hear this place gets jam-packed over the weekends. Once you enter, you order at the cashier in the back corner and they call when your order is ready. It was my first time here and the lady up front was patient and helpful with my questions, and offered food/size suggestions. Food came out very quickly.

Plenty of benches outside that could seat 6 to 8 people, maybe even 10 in some tables. The “indoor” section has tables, benches, booths, and seats at the bar. The whole place gives you a laid-back, barbecue with friends kind of ambiance.

Parking: Street parking only but our party got lucky with multiple spots open close by.

Food: Price listed is per pound for all meats and you can opt to make it a sandwich. There’s a kids menu, bar food options, and even vegan options. You can choose from different sauces ranging from sweet to spicy (though the spicy wasn’t really that spicy for me but still had good flavor). My husband and I shared this order and it was the perfect amount for us.

-1/2 lb brisket ($15.50): MUST GET. They serve half fatty and half lean and it’s the perfect amount of each. Sooo tender and juicy!

-1/4 lb turkey ($7.75): surprisingly very good! Thin cuts of turkey served with lots of flavor.

-3/4 lb beef rib ($25.50): fall-off-the-bone good. We were lucky that there were still some left for us to order!

-1/4 lb tri tip ($8): a little chewier, it was just okay for me but my husband liked the flavor. Served with their chimichurri sauce.

-Green beans: I asked for recs for popular sides and it was between this and Mac and Cheese. These were just ehhh for me, I would get Mac and cheese next time.

Overall, I’m so glad we finally found a good Texas-style barbecue joint here in San Diego! There were other things offered that I would love to try next time. I’d also want to try out their happy hour from 3pm-5pm during...

The location, the venue, and everything else about the place that makes it a very unique dining situation. It is not like your typical restaurant located on the busiest streets or malls. This place is tucked into a neighborhood surrounded by houses, a couple of small businesses for the neighborhood, and a brewery.

The doors open at 6pm. You must get there ahead of time for 3 reasons.

1. The food is on a 1st come, 1st serve basis.
2. This place has a really long line. We arrived at 6pm and were eating around 7-7:30pm.
3. Because of the neighborhood, it is only street parking.

You are allowed to bring your own drinks for $5 per person or can order drinks from them.

This is not a traditional dine-in restaurant. The seating is outdoors. Some tables are covered under a roof. Most are not. So, prepare to sit outside.

We ordered a 1/2 lb of meat of tri-tip, smoked Turkey, Pork Ribs, Brisket. We also had potato salad and some black bean dish.

All meats were outstanding. My preference was the brisket. I asked my wife what her favorite was. It was the brisket, as well. It was probably the best brisket that I have evet ate.

I was not a big fan of the black bean salad. It was ok, but just not my preference. Potato salad was good.

There are a few things that I was not too happy about. 1)There were patio heaters, but only 1 if them were on. We did not have the luxury of getting the seating near the heater.

2. They use these cheap wooden utensils. My wife's broke and I hate the texture of wood products in my mouth.

3. There was a guy going around and asking if everything was ok, which I thought was very good customer service. When I asked him for boxes to wrap everything up, he said ok. He never gave us any. He walked around to other guests and then came back to ask if everything was ok again. There is a place in one of the rooms, where you get the aluminum foil yourself, but that was never mentioned. Felt kind of like living out Bill Murray's "Groundhog Day" movie.

Overall, a very good experience. I will have to come...

I was really hoping to like this place. For a caveat, I have only tried the Argentine asado which is only available on Sundays, I have not tried the Texas BBQ which they make more days of the week. I was really surprised first to order "one beef rib" and they told me they could only serve it by the pound so I ordered half a pound, plus lamb and one link of chorizo. Typically in Argentina--admmittedly from my one experience visiting the country--there the beef rib comes longways. When my meat appeared, I was surprised to find Los Angeles Korean-style galbi cross rib cuts. The thin cut rendered the meat tough when cooked Argentine style, it was unusual and not normal to my experience with asado. Especially since a lot of the other photos on Google show a long rib, this is one of the things that drew me in... I was hoping to try this out and was weirded out to find overcooked galbi instead. The chorizo was fine but not especially flavorful, I would have expected a little bit more pimentón, but it was still a fine sausage that I won't complain about in a vacuum not comparing it to other chorizo. Easily the best meat of the day. I grew up in a Spanish household and my grandfather always overcooked the lamb, I was hoping for something nice and rich, slow cooked, but it was pretty dry grilled lamb. I am normally pretty satisfied even with room temperature barbecue, but these grilled meats served room temperature relatively dry and tough were depressing to spend as much for. The wedge salad and the spicy slaw were both delicious. The pickles were delicious. It's odd to walk into meat-centric restaurant and spend over $70 before tip but to find the vegetables more delicious than the meat... I really like the atmosphere and I could see dragging myself there for Texas style barbecue just to give it a try, but it was pretty expensive for a relatively disappointing experience. Again, I really wanted to like this place a lot more than I did. I don't believe I would recommend the Sunday asado given...