merman
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Smoking or Non?
The critiques of spelling and grammar do not serve your positions well. Miss Wise, your unbalanced criticism (in tone, rhetoric, and substance) was over the top and personal. Again, I question your motives in pinning such a missive. If I had the time to peruse your archive of reviews, would I find any as vitriolic as the one you crafted here? How many other restaurants have you accused of using pre-packaged, frozen items? How many others have you jokingly reworded their names ("House of Root Canals"), or flippantly associated their food with the neighboring establishments who share signage? Perhaps this is your style, I am not sure. If so, that is another issue altogether. But the fact remains that your words do have consequences, especially in these hard times. Good reviews have far less impact than scathing ones to the bottom lines of business owners--as I am sure you are aware. What is worse is that your attack was not directed towards some faceless corporate entity or large group of restaurant investors, it was aimed at an extremely hardworking family whose complete livelihood depends on the viability of this restaurant. This is irresponsible and hurtful.— June 14, 2009 1:37 a.m.
Smoking or Non?
(Part 2, for SDaniels) I knew Miss Wise (ironic, huh) had no clue when she wrote bad things about the pulled pork sandwich--it and the brisket are the best I ever had, period (and, again, I should know). If you are not hungry enough for a full rib plate and try only one item, let it be one of these--loaded with sauce, meat and of course slaw, I swear my mouth is watering as I type! The beans are homemade and wonderful, as is the potato salad and slaw. And, to take this reviewer to task even further, Pete, the owner, makes all the soup from scratch as well. If you get a chance try the split-pea when available--thick, creamy, very healthy and delicious! Let's see, oh yeah, the Greek chicken sandwich and plate are incredible (why is the reviewer citing a blog for her own review, btw?). Tangy and spiced to perfection (again, mouth watering as I type). And finally the ribs. If you like the Memphis dry-rub better than ribs with sauce, well then you will probably have a bias going into it. My wife, having worked at and managed an award winning BBQ joint that specialized in the dry-rub had this bias but she was floored by the homemade bbq sauce they had (both of them). The meat falls off the bones, and is as tender and juicy as can be. Again, it is the best in SD so far for us, and rivals our favorites in the south (besides "Sticky's", Bono's & Sonny's in N. Fla--very blue-collar and delicious). When we moved here from the south 5 years ago, we had a really hard time finding two things: Good Crawfish and down-home bbq. We found the first in a place called "Bud's" (now in terrasanta--check it out too!), and now have our favorite rib-joint. If you want a fine dining bbq experience (sort of a oxymoron if you ask me), then this is not the place. If you are a blue-collar, hardworking, rib-joint loving person, give it a shot. If you are a snooty, elitist, cultural critic who claims to know "authentic" southern cuisine, yet finds charm in bbq joints with "gentle Latin American sounds ranging from Oaxacan folk-tunes to Cuban and Brazilian tropicalismo", you may want to avoid this simple pleasure. (how's that?)— June 13, 2009 5:54 p.m.
Smoking or Non?
Wow... That is all I have to say about this review. Way off base and I can see why a few people are irate about it (including my wife and I). We moved here from Savannah, Ga. (Actually know Paula Dean's sons), lived in the south for 35 years, know a thing or two about BBQ and all other forms of southern food (oysters, crawfish and fried shrimp are staples along with the ribs). My wife used to work at "Stickyfingers" (a famous rib joint in the south) for years so she knows good bbq too. Recently stopped by the famous "Rendezvous" and "Corky's" in Memphis. In short, we know and love ribs--both rubbed and sauced and Chicago House of BBQ has so far been the best we have tried here in SD. We have brought numerous friends there and they all agree that the BBQ is off the chart. Not to mention, it is almost completely family owned (when they first opened, it was all family I believe) and operated and they are wonderful people. This is why I find it very disturbing to read this hateful review. I honestly do not understand how a critic can be so smarmy and condescending while at the same time trying to convey an authoritarian perspective on BBQ--the most blue-collar of cuisines I can think of! I have not been to the other places (besides Phil's) mentioned in her review, and I am sure they are all descent, but if you want to feel at home and enjoy some of the best comfort food you ever had, try them out and ignore this pretentious, un-funny, elitist critic. What was with the slanderish comments? Is she actually trying to put these good folks out of business? And if so, why? That is what I had to ask myself after reading this because it surely was not an objective review with comments like "House of Root Canal calls itself 'Chicago BBQ'" in the opening lines. Honestly, if you are trying to gain some sort of cultural capital to help you obtain more status as a food critic, don't do it by putting these hard-working people out of business with your snarky little witicisms. There are real lives at stake here. If you want a real review folks, just ask the people that leave the restaurant after eating--they will tell you how great the food is. When you go there as often as I do, you also see a lot of familiar customers who are returning for the food (as well as workers from the surrounding restaurants coming for to-go!). In regards to comments by SDaniels, my personal review is in the next message since it would be too long to submit if included here— June 13, 2009 5:52 p.m.