Gus's BBQ — Restaurant in South Pasadena

After driving past this restaurant for years, my girlfriend and I finally stopped in this afternoon for early dinner - it’s a solid experience; I’ll break it down:

Billed as “Southern” food, I’ll say that while there are certainly a lot of Southern-style options, this is more of a “SoCal Southern” than serious Southern venue. And there’s nothing wrong with that!

I got the meat plate combo, which consisted of smoked link, Memphis ribs, and brisket. For the sides, I got the mac and cheese, and beans. My girlfriend had the brisket plate, and got the mac and cheese and creamed corn for her sides. We both had sweet tea to drink.

Since it was our first visit, the staff offered us a complimentary cornbread appetizer (which we were planning on ordering anyway), which is about a $10 value. It’s served in a cast iron skillet, and comes with honey butter and jalapeño jelly, which is sweet and has very little heat.

The cornbread is very good - I preferred the honey butter, while my girlfriend loved the jalapeño jelly. We’d definitely recommend this.

We both thought the mac and cheese was great; by far, the strongest of the sides. Her creamed corn was very good, too. Unfortunately, my beans were my least favorite part of the meal. They had a smoky bite that wasn’t sweet as you’d maybe expect, but rather, it was acrid; overpowering and unfriendly to my palate. I won’t get them again; they weren’t horrible - just not my thing.

The brisket - she loves her steak, etc. well done, so she loved this brisket. For me, it was very dry - way too lean. I like my brisket to be somewhat fatty and definitely juicy; this is definitely not that. It’s not bad - the bark is very flavorful, and the meat IS good - just not the way I like my brisket. So this is subjective to how you like your brisket done.

The ribs were solid; meat came right off the bone and was flavorful and not overcooked.

The link was probably my favorite thing on the plate. The sausage is very flavorful with just a slight kick - it is great with or without BBQ sauce.

There are multiple sauce options at each table; I loved the Kansas (spicy) sauce, as did my girlfriend - super tasty with just the right kick to it.

Our sweet tea was great - refreshing, not TOO sweet, garnished with mint. Super nice.

The service was outstanding; our drinks were constantly refilled and everyone kept checking on us throughout the meal. Top notch.

I can see us returning, for sure. The venue is three-in-one: a diner-style area with counter, a restaurant style section with booths and tables, and a bar tucked away in the back. It’s been there since the mid-1940s, and it feels that way. It’s aged well, and is definitely...

I wanted to update my post. The establishment contacted me and showed genuine concern that I was treated poorly. They made me feel heard and I appreciate the professionalism they showed. 5 stars on correcting a wrong.

Let me start with the food was good. The cornbread was great. Catfish fried in cornmeal(as it should be) was good. It could have used a bit more seasoning. The reason I didn't give 5 stars was the service. They offer the service of texting you when your order is ready, great except it still wasn't ready so I had to wait another 5 minutes. I like my fish fried well and my chicken cooked well so I always request that and watch them add it to the order. That way there is no problem later. I asked the lady which one of the fish orders was well and she said none took it back and I assume threw it back in the grease. Yuck but ok. After 5 min I said it was OK because my other food was getting cold. I drove 30 minutes to get there so I didn't want to leave with cold food. When they gave me the fish back I asked which was well and she said I don't know I guess you will figure it out. True but if that was the case then I wouldn't have given it back to correct. I didn't dare say anything about the chicken or ask if it was well. Of course, when I returned to the hotel it wasn't well so I trashed that. Friendly service before they took my money, rude once they had my money. 70.00 dollars for 2 catfish plates, and wings I threw away. It wasn't the money. I will pay for good food and great service but when you pay and one of those two is missing then you feel the miss in your wallet. The atmosphere was nice. The problem is too many people in a small area. I'm sure it's up to fire code for maximum capacity but it may be cutting it close. Not sure if I would go back. I would recommend it if you're eating there. Maybe the service is better because the prospect of a tip always...

A poor man's interpretation of southern BBQ and hospitality.

I’ve never written a food review before but the service at this restaurant deserves a 0 star.

I came in, approached the hostess stand, which no one was working, waited 5 mins for someone to ask what I wanted (their words). There were roughly 5-8 employees seated next to the stand eating and talking. I explained I was looking for table for one. The worker said they would prepare a table for me- there were 5 open tables I could see. I waited 15 minutes in front of the stand and no one came. I approached again and waited another 5 min for a different worker to show up at the stand and take me to a table, which had been available the whole time.

I asked for a manager, which I've never done in my life, and it turned out to be the same lady who spoke to me at the hostess stand and who forgot to come back. She immediately started out with an excuse of being busy, which was odd because I had watched her stop by the counter multiple times to eat pizza and a slice of pie, and so she saw me sitting there and standing there right in front of the stand all that time. She seemed incapable in our conversation of grasping the obviousness of the terrible service and she offered no solution or even a simple apology.

And so in the time it took to finally be seated I couldn't eat anywhere else since it was Christmas Eve and now past 9 PM so every place was closed. But since I could no longer support this establishment I chose to eat nothing for dinner and go home hungry.

I find it funny the owners list owning a hospitality business as their linkedin profession. Maybe they should get back inside their restaurants? Doesn't seem like hospitality is really something they get,...