Restaurant Review: Lillie's Q in Brea - Award Winning BBQ and Kool-Aid Pickles?

Here is one more restaurant review for 2014! This is the new Lillie's Q in Brea that opened on December 6th, 2014! This is the fourth location of this barbecue concept and the first to be located in California. The original location is in Chicago. you will come here to experience award-winning barbecue, down at home Southern cuisine and moonshine cocktails!

Lillie's Q founder and owner Charlie McKenna partnered with TAP's owner Joe Manzella for this branch in Brea.

Check out this awesome variety of BBQ sauces! Trust me, the meats at Lillie's Q are so good that you don't need BBQ sauce! But if you want to try them and I think you should, let me break down what to expect from each one! Starting from left to right, the ivory is a southern Alabama vinegar, mayo and spices that is great for fries and chicken and fish. The Carolina Gold is from South Carolina has a mustard content that is perfect on the hot links. The ENC is the Easter Carolina that uses cider vinegar and spices with no tomato. The Carolina has Western Carolina influences. The Smoky and Hot Smoky are traditional Memphis sauces and the most popular.

The Catdaddy Cocktail using Catdaddy vanilla moonshine and your choice of either root beer or cream soda. I went with the cream soda. Smooth and refreshing! If you are looking for something on the sweeter side then this is the drink for you! I love that they are served in mason jars!

My friend with the apple hooch and ginger which combines apple pie moonshine, ginger ale and lime. An equally smooth and refreshing drink.

We ordered the pork rinds and Kool-Aid pickles! That's right Kool-Aid pickles! The pork rinds are awesome and I love the kettle it is served in but the must have item is the Kool-Aid pickles! Kosher dill pickles marinated in cherry Kool-Aid with secret spices is fantastic! The sweetness of the Kool-Aid balances with the saltiness of the pickles and the spices put this over the top! I am already craving my next order! Plus my friend who can't stand pickles loves these! If that's not saying something then nothing is!

My friend ordered the Taste of LQ, a choice of three meats! Pulled pork, a hot link and tri-tip were all selected and a side of Mac N Cheese was added. Bacon was added to the mac and cheese. The pulled pork was perfectly tasty and fatty. The fat just melted with the pork. This is what I would get the mac and cheese with the next time! The tri-tip is tender and flavorful. You can see that char line! Perfect! The hot link is actually a hot link! Most places offer a hot link but it's usually just a kielbasa and not even a spicy kielbasa at that.

I ordered the Taste of LQ as well. I got the hot link and the trip-tip but added the baby back ribs. The ribs have a fantastic dry rub and an apple glaze! The meat is fall off the bone and did not need one drop of BBQ sauce! I added the cornbread with honey butter! Perfect!

It should come as no surprise that Lillie's Q have TAPS brews. This Hog-Tied Ale is specifically brewed for Lillie's Q. It is perfect for BBQ offering subtle malt flavor and hop bitterness.

For dessert we got an adult root beer float that includes vanilla moonshine and a banana pudding! Both were exceptional! The adult root beer float didn't have any hint of the moonshine so this could be a very dangerous dessert! The banana pudding had great chunks of banana mixed in with nilla wafers, pudding and vanilla meringue!

Great service and even better food makes this my new favorite BBQ place!

I am waiting for them to begin offering their $325 whole hog dinner and currently looking for dining companions to join me in this feast!


Lillie's Q is located at 240 S Brea Blvd in Brea, (714) 482-2001 

www.lilliesq.com.

Restaurant Review: Dreamland BBQ (Montgomery, Alabama)

When you are in the South, you have to stop and try some of the BBQ. While this may be a given, you may wonder where one should go for some pretty amazing BBQ. Well if you are in Montgomery, Alabama then you have to go to Dreamland BBQ. What a great name, Dreamland BBQ. Let's go find out if their BBQ is what dreams are made of.

For me BBQ and beer go hand in hand. I am a big fan of trying a local beer or two when visiting another city. My fantastic waitress offered to try the Truck Stop Brown Ale. A great local beer similar to taste to Newcastle!

Awesome potato salad! Thick and creamy and full of flavor! Great by itself and even better with BBQ!

The creamiest mac n' cheese ever! I think I will just keep this for myself!

Fresh cut fries with ranch! All of these great sides is a great way to get ready for the BBQ!

Look at the spread! Ribs, sausage, pulled pork, slice of white bread, cole slaw and beans! Everything was fantastic! The ribs were moist and meaty! The pulled pork was moist and tender ! The best though were the sausages offering great smoky flavor!

The banana pudding at the end of the meal was the icing on the cake! Something so simple is smooth and delicious! Perfect way to end the meal after so much filling BBQ!

Great service and fantastic BBQ will make you feel like you at home!

http://www.dreamlandbbq.com/montgomery
Dreamland BBQ

Montgomery

101 Tallapoosa St Montgomery, AL 36104

(334) 273-7427

Restaurant Review: Leadbelly's Southern-Style BBQ in Fullerton!

The neon sign simply says BARBEQUE but this is Leadbelly's a great new BBQ place in Fullerton! The location is a tough find but once you do you will remember how to get back!

It's a very small space but big on service and great food!

This is one of the awesome appetizers they have here! This is the Pigs & Peppers! These deep fried balls of amazingness are filled with pulled pork, cheese, bacon, jalapeno and house slaw! Just a great combination of sweet and tangy!

This is the appetizer nachos which is a meal in itself. This is a massive order!Look at those fresh toppings and I love the avocado!

I ordered a three meat plate with tri-tip, house sausage, and burnt ends! The tri-tip is arguably the best I have ever had! The charred edges with a slight pink color around the meat, with some fat to it, made for a tender tasty piece of meat! The house sausage with peppers and onions were fantastic. But my favorite was the amazing burnt ends which are the charred edges of the brisket that are salty with a nice layer of fat on them! They give you such a healthy portion of the burnt ends that this will always be one of my go-to meat choices!

The jalapeno mac n cheese is my recommendation for a side dish! The crumbles breadcrumbs and bacon with a perfect mixture of cheese makes for a great dish!

A great portion size of the house sausage with peppers and onions!

Look at that beautiful tri-tip!

The delicious burnt ends! Don't they look amazing?

Great food and great service make up for a hard to find location. But once you find it, this will be your new go-to barbeque place! I didn't even mention that they also have a great selection of beers on draft or in the bottle! I was too excited about the main reason why you are there, the meat! 

Leadbelly's Southern-Style Barbeque

711 N. Placentia Ave.

Fullerton, CA 92831

Open Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Baseball Stadium Recipes: O. Co. Coliseum 'Cholula Kalua Nachos'

INGREDIENTS

For the pork:

• 1/4 pound cooked pork butt, shredded
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 Drop liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Cholula Regular hot sauce
  

For the nachos:

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 tablespoon avocado, chopped
• 2 Drops Cholula Chili Lime Hot Sauce
• 4 ounces yellow corn tortilla chips
• 1/2 cup cheese sauce
• 1/2 cup pico de gallo

DIRECTIONS

For the pork:

Combine the shredded pork with the rest of the ingredients and simmer in a sauce pan until the sugar melts and the flavors are well incorporated, about 15 minutes. Set aside.

For the nachos:

To make the avocado-sour cream sauce, combine the sour cream, avocado, and Cholula sauce in a food processor and purée until smooth. Set aside.
In a bowl, add the tortilla chips and pour the cheese sauce evenly on top. Top the cheese with the Kalua pork, followed by the pico de gallo. Finish with a few drizzles of the avocado-sour cream sauce.

Recipe Details

Servings: 4

Source: http://www.thedailymeal.com/o-co-coliseum-cholula-kalua-nachos