CJ’s BBQ Smokehouse — Restaurant in San Luis Obispo

Hi Everyone,

We had lunch at CJs today. If I could give it a number rating it would be 4.5/10. Our server was a young gal and super nice. I’d say service was a solid 10/10. Atmosphere was inviting and the restaurant itself was clean. It was not busy when we went. The food is where it disappointed.

The gumbo, it sounded good but maybe that was my mistake getting gumbo at a bbq joint. The seafood smell was overbearing. I’ve had some good seafood gumbo in the past and none had as well like to call it a “morro bay” smell. If you have been to morro bay you definitely know what smell I’m talking about. The taste was average. Nothing to be excited about. For $18 the size and quality was not worth it. Tiana’s place in Disneyland has more flavor and worth every dollar. I did appreciate the variety of items in the gumbo. There was chicken, crab, sausage, and shrimp. The gumbo was 2/10.

The beef ribs were cold. I even asked the server if it was customary to serve cold ribs since it was our first time here and it was just weird the ribs were cold. Not even the bbq sauce was warmed up. The meat was soft but not fall off the bone. I can appreciate a decently cooked beef rib. The sauce was good, sweet but not too sweet. The rib would have been a solid 8/10 if it was hot, however the lack of warmth gives the rib a rating 5/10. Our sides for the ribs were Mac and cheese and potato salad. The Mac and cheese 2/10 it had nice texture but no flavor. It was cheese and noodles. I will say the Mac and cheese was warmer than the ribs! The potato salad was decent a solid 4/10z

My daughter got the corn dog and French fries. It was your typical corn dog with steak fries HOWEVER the steak fries was hot temperature wise and crispy.

Overall we probably won’t return since the quality wasn’t great for the price we paid. I know this place just opened so I hope the owners take this a genuine feedback and not a bash on their place.

Attached is a picture of the ribs, gumbo and our receipt for proof...

I was very excited to see a new BBQ place open up where Mo's used to be and even more thrilled when I saw they offered beef ribs. Today I had a chance to call in a take out order.

The woman who answered the phone was very friendly. She took down my order and estimated a 25 minute wait time. When I arrived, the order was ready to go! Everyone working there seemed happy and helpful.

There was plenty of seating inside and they were playing blues which lent itself to the overall southern BBQ vibe. As far as I could tell, there wasn't any outdoor seating.

When I got home, I was eager to try the beef ribs first since that was what initially attracted me here. These might be the best beef ribs in the city. They were meaty and tender with a hint of smoke and great BBQ sauce. I would score these above F. McClintocks and Ribline which is saying something because their ribs are great too.

The hot wings were decent. Better than the local pizza places' hot wings (kind of a low bar to be honest) but not as good as Buffalo Wild Wings or Wingstop.

I had mixed feelings about the sides. The mac & cheese was honestly what brought the score down from five stars to four stars. Sadly, it was bland and dry. Unless they do some major revisions to the recipe, I won't be ordering this again. However, the potato salad was good. It was creamy, tangy, and just a hint of sweetness. It tasted a lot fresher than the mac & cheese.

I'm happy we have another option and style of BBQ in town and I will return again to try some of their...

Stoked to see this place is no longer vacant and excited it’s another BBQ joint, a legit one at that! We went all out and ordered a meat plate sampler; beef ribs, tri-tip, pulled pork. Sauce on the side. Collard greens. Yams. Cornbread. Staff was super kind and friendly, accommodating while I waited all of 2min. We ordered online and it was ready right on time.

Beef Ribs - since we had sauce on the side, it makes for a clean tasting rib. Not smothered in sauce. Beef ribs are hard in my opinion, but the two ribs we had were massive. I’ll probably go baby back in the future because they tend to be more tender.

Tri-tip - fantastic, didn’t even need bbq sauce and it was tender and probably my favorite meat in the plate.

Pulled pork - sauce on the side, super clean, and delicious. The portion was massive.

Yams - this tastes like Thanksgiving. Butter, brown sugar, cinnamon. Damn these things are tasty.

Collard Greens - probably the best tasting collard greens I’ve ever had. Little chunks of meat, and was healthy tasting.

Cornbread - this stuff is incredible. It’s dessert. Didn’t come with any butter but didn’t need it. Delicious.

BBQ sauce - the spicy was our favorite.

Portion: we’ll have enough for another meal tomorrow. Tons of food which makes the price tag of ~$60 feel a...