Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Take a boneless thigh and tenderize the hell out of it

That Boy Good, Southern BBQ in Oceanside

That Boy Good
That Boy Good
Place

That Boy Good

207 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside

Being hungry in Oceanside is a good move these days. Restaurants have been popping up all over the Coast Highway, and a lot of what I’m seeing is a step in the right direction (rumors that Tilted Kilt wants to open in Oceanside aside). Urge Gastropub and Swami’s Café have opened a location, Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub has overcome its horrible name to net mostly rave reviews, and a little shop called Panca Peruvian has proved one of my favorites of 2016 so far.

Sponsored
Sponsored

And yet, with mounting choices, I couldn’t help but be lured by a simple message painted large in brown letters on daffodil yellow paint: “BBQ & Cold Beer.”

When you can’t decide on one thing, try a lot of things.

That Boy Good reads like a rustic dive bar with a soul-food fetish. Eating alone, I set myself up at the bar and started looking over the menu. Ten minutes later I was still looking. It’s not long, and it’s not complicated, but it was tough to choose. Cornmeal-crusted catfish sounded like a good option, but only if I were willing to ignore words such as “brisket” and “ribs” further down the page. Or chicken and waffles.

Unable to pick one entrée, I decided to spread out my cravings with two appetizers: a single serving of fried chicken and waffle for $6.50 plus a $3 order of ribs by the bone. Another ten minutes, and I finally decided on a pair of side dishes. With apologies to coleslaw and collard greens, smoked beans and mac-and-cheese sounded too good to pass up. $3 each for a small serving.

It added up to a little more than I like to spend at lunch, but the smell coming out of the kitchen was fantastic, and I couldn’t leave without trying as much as possible. I have no regrets.

The smoked beans weren’t overtly smoky and were balanced nicely against the sweetness common in a pork-and-beans dish. The occasional bit of tender pork or garlic clove dressed it up. The mac boasted a delightful creamy sauce with a hint of jalapeño, delivering both comfort and kick. I only wish there had been a little more of each.

That Boy’s fried chicken recipe takes a boneless thigh and tenderizes the hell out of it, coating the flattened fowl with buttermilk and paprika-laden batter, just an inch shy of being too salty. So satisfying.

But those ribs. These guys produce a pair of house sauces made with Coke, ketchup, Worcestershire, and mild or hot-spice blends. It sounds kooky and doesn’t result in my favorite-ever BBQ slather. But it doesn’t matter — a dry rub and smoker added all the flavor this tender rib meat needed. Succulent, savory, and every other adjective I’d hoped for on a great portion for the price. If I hadn’t eaten that waffle, I would have ordered more rib. That Boy is indeed good.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Gentrification is scarier than Bandhaunt

But Queen Bee’s show still spooks North Park
That Boy Good
That Boy Good
Place

That Boy Good

207 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside

Being hungry in Oceanside is a good move these days. Restaurants have been popping up all over the Coast Highway, and a lot of what I’m seeing is a step in the right direction (rumors that Tilted Kilt wants to open in Oceanside aside). Urge Gastropub and Swami’s Café have opened a location, Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub has overcome its horrible name to net mostly rave reviews, and a little shop called Panca Peruvian has proved one of my favorites of 2016 so far.

Sponsored
Sponsored

And yet, with mounting choices, I couldn’t help but be lured by a simple message painted large in brown letters on daffodil yellow paint: “BBQ & Cold Beer.”

When you can’t decide on one thing, try a lot of things.

That Boy Good reads like a rustic dive bar with a soul-food fetish. Eating alone, I set myself up at the bar and started looking over the menu. Ten minutes later I was still looking. It’s not long, and it’s not complicated, but it was tough to choose. Cornmeal-crusted catfish sounded like a good option, but only if I were willing to ignore words such as “brisket” and “ribs” further down the page. Or chicken and waffles.

Unable to pick one entrée, I decided to spread out my cravings with two appetizers: a single serving of fried chicken and waffle for $6.50 plus a $3 order of ribs by the bone. Another ten minutes, and I finally decided on a pair of side dishes. With apologies to coleslaw and collard greens, smoked beans and mac-and-cheese sounded too good to pass up. $3 each for a small serving.

It added up to a little more than I like to spend at lunch, but the smell coming out of the kitchen was fantastic, and I couldn’t leave without trying as much as possible. I have no regrets.

The smoked beans weren’t overtly smoky and were balanced nicely against the sweetness common in a pork-and-beans dish. The occasional bit of tender pork or garlic clove dressed it up. The mac boasted a delightful creamy sauce with a hint of jalapeño, delivering both comfort and kick. I only wish there had been a little more of each.

That Boy’s fried chicken recipe takes a boneless thigh and tenderizes the hell out of it, coating the flattened fowl with buttermilk and paprika-laden batter, just an inch shy of being too salty. So satisfying.

But those ribs. These guys produce a pair of house sauces made with Coke, ketchup, Worcestershire, and mild or hot-spice blends. It sounds kooky and doesn’t result in my favorite-ever BBQ slather. But it doesn’t matter — a dry rub and smoker added all the flavor this tender rib meat needed. Succulent, savory, and every other adjective I’d hoped for on a great portion for the price. If I hadn’t eaten that waffle, I would have ordered more rib. That Boy is indeed good.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The White-crowned sparrow visits, Liquidambars show their colors

Bat populations migrate westward
Next Article

Michael Tiernan doesn’t toot his own horn

Instead, he writes songs for other people — and companies
Comments
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
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader