Beachwood BBQ & Brewing

Reviews 4

JO

Jon Marshall

Stellar Brewery - Tastetastic Food! Brew pubs are amazing - what more can you want from a restaurant? Of course it must have good food and offer a good selection of drinks (that fits your style). So, make the food joint a brewery that cranks out phenomenal beer in addition to mouthwatering food: WIN! The food is perfect for the casual, hang out vibe that is Beachwood. BBQ is a great food type and its sorely under-represented in S. CA; its fantastic that Beachwood brings BBQ to the table and does so very well. Whether its basic BBQ options (pulled pork sandwich) or something a little more unique (portabello fries), everything Ive had seems to be terrific! The brews that Beachwood crafts are award winning, so dont take my opinions of stellar/fantastic/etc as the mere ramblings of a craft brew lover who respects his local brewery. Check out the recent medals from the GABF among others to see the type of recognition Beachwood has received. While the regular styles are represented year round, Beachwood has fun with seasonals and unique concoctions that rotate, so when you have a specific IPA or porter one month, a different take will follow the next. There are regulars that resurface in time so watch for and anticipate your favorites to come back. Now, what can make their in house beer any better? To start, the distribution from keg to glass through the Flux Capacitor. Its a mind blowing level of attentiveness that should be implemented in all beer bars, everywhere. If optimum gas mixture, pressure and temperature mean nothing to you, then maybe the next advantage wets your whistle. In addition to the great offering of Beachwood beers, there is a healthy amount of guest brews that are available (though always rotating.) Youll find a number of local CA beers featured and sometimes (for example via fundraiser) youll discover that some of the most elite releases are brought in. To make all of this even better, there is a Happy Hour from 3-6pm that drops the price of brew and features some good food options (ie pulled pork sandwich at 1/2 price). Being downtown, parking may be an issue... to help you out, Beachwood validates for 3 hours when you park behind the building in The Lofts parking structure (accessed via the alley off of Broadway or 3rd St).

WA

Walter Macalma

In my nationwide search of great BBQ I started in my own backyard, or rather my backyard from my work. Without comparing directly to the heavyweights I have to give it more of a Yelp review than a purist BBQ review. Ambiance is a very hip (for a BBQ joint), but it’s really part brewery part gastro with a emphasis on BBQ. Service is good. It’s packed on weekends and I suggest to order ahead. HH and Latenight menu’s are limited, while lunch and dinner and full. This is the only BBQ place you’ll find any sort of fish. Brisket, slightly missing is the heavy pink smoke ring. OK flavor, not nearly enough bark and cooked a little too hot. No burnt ends offerings. Pulled Pork is really more vinegar BBQ dip based and very uniform since they don’t use the whole hog. I do like the pretzel bun, but tends to fall apart. I like the mustard cabbage shallot blend on the pulled chicken, but again missing that smoke ring. Get a mix of the sweet and tangy coleslaw. I dig the kale and barley salad, but isn’t quite southern as hoppin john’s since that uses black eyed peas. Pickled scotch egg is tasty, but of my 2 tries 1 came out a hair cold. Mussels were really refined and I dug the smoked chili flavor. Tater Tot casserole is awesome and of good value. Procini duck gravy and duck confit makes it a rich, almost pountine like offering. Beef ribs weren’t anything as generous or meaty as Texas offerings, but these do have good crust. Baby back ribs are good, but I prefer a little more fat, get the dressings and sauce on the side as they offer a wide variety, nothing specifically complimenting any one dish. Come for the beer, price and variety, not for the pure meat experience. Staff is quite helpful assuming it’s not busy, then all bets are off on what kind of service you will get. If you come for the beer you’ll be annoyed by the BBQ crowd, if you’re here for the BBQ you’ll be annoyed by the beer crowd. Trying to please too many people and they haven’t quite mastered the art of pairing craft beers with specific BBQ dishes. They have some great items matched with slightly above average BBQ (for socal). If your in the area it’s a good stop, but not a destination to go out of your way for.

AN

Andrew Prichard

Ive heard so much about Beachwood and I finally had a chance to go! Unfortunately, my overall experience was quite disappointing. First off, there was some kind of confusion as to who was actually our waiter. But we were eventually served. Anyways we had ordered appetizers and it literally came out 30 minutes after our main entrees. It was pretty clear that our waiter had completely forgotten to put in our appetizers and we had already eaten about half of our food before it finally came out. He came to check on us probably twice, including taking our orders. Our waters were always empty and I felt bad because my friend was so thirsty that he drank from my brothers glass. Two words to describe him were unprofessional and impersonal. It almost seemed as if he were ignoring us. The food was pretty good except the BBQ Ham Sandwich. The contrast of the brie cheese with the smokey ham and arugula did not go together and the cooks must have messed up on the order because there was suppose to be an aioli on it but it definitely tasted like a blue cheese Mayo or something. Besides that we ordered the brisket sandwich, pulled pork sandwich, and ribs, which were quite delicious. Id really like to dine here again but Id probably go to the Seal Beach location because the service was so bad. *UPDATE* The manager reached out and read my first review and apologized for the service that we had a while ago. The fact that he messaged me back and listened to my review already shows that they value service and he also sent me a gift card for the trouble we had. It was very nice and he really wanted us to come back. We went back last night and our service was so much better. Our waitress was very helpful and helped us choose exactly what beers we wanted. The food was amazing and overall it was a much more enjoyable experience than the first time. I spoke to Kirk, the general manager, after our meal and I told him the situation we had before and he was very apologetic and also thanked us for the feedback because he is always trying to improve their service which we definitely saw that night.

IA

Ian

I have heard so much hype about Beachwood BBQ & Brewing for quite some time now. Finally made it out to give it a go for a friends birthday celebration. Beachwood is located close to the Pike in Long Beach by the 710 freeway. Since its at the Promenade, parking wasnt difficult at all. Theres two main parking structures on Broadway and 3rd St, offering 2 hours of free parking. We had a party of 15, and surprisingly we only waited about 30 minutes. The hostess said we could hangout around the bar area, while we waited for our table. Many of us ordered a couple of beers like - Foam Top, OatMonster, Hop Jitsu, and the Annihilator. By the way, the OatMonster was delicious! *Just a Note* - I do not recommend this place for watching sporting events. There is only one TV located at the bar. Many of us were disappointed because we expected to watch our games while having lunch. This unfortunately didnt happen. On to the food... The menu is quite simple. Burgers and BBQ plates are the most popular items to order. We ordered a variety of items but I chose the "Lamb Burger" with sweet potato fries. The lamb is cooked to medium, so no special orders. The burger seemed interesting but just missed the mark for me. The blend of sweet and salty didnt mesh with me. I think it was the blueberry aioli which made it a wrap for me. Although the flavors didnt blend well, the lamb was cooked beautifully. Theres 4 sauces available; I recommend the "Spicy" and "Sweet" sauces!!! For a party of 15 our service was on point. The drinks and food came out quickly. Due to previous experiences at other restaurants, we expected to wait a while for the food. Sure glad this wasnt the case at Beachwood BBQ & Brewing. The server even allowed us to separate the checks. This was a definite plus. I had a great time at Beachwood. Its a bit far from Orange County but I can see myself coming back in some time.