The pulled pork sandwich. Photos by Brian Addison.
For BBQ lovers, it’s always been about Bludso’s, the staple joint just north of Long Beach in Compton. Call me sacrilegious but I reject the idea that Bludso’s—which sits at #54 on the Los Angeles Times’ best 101 restaurants—tops North Long Beach’s own small-but-mighty Robert Earl’s BBQ. They’re certainly neck-and-neck, but given that the Long Beach gem has yet to be discovered, perhaps Robert Earl has the leading edge.
After all, we are talking about Long Beach’s best BBQ—hands-down. Originally, this smoked art came from Robert Earl and his family at the Greener Goods farmers market, where he spread his BBQ-mastery beyond family and friends in his backyard in North LB, and began publicly smokin’ and slow-cookin’ once a week during the summer of 2012. A little over a year later, Earl—ever the dreamer—decided that he must take his talents to a broader public.
Now, the Earl family has a brick-and-mortar facility approaching just over a year of operation. It sits east of his former farmers market locale, where he now offers up Texan BBQ on a level of production that wasn’t possible before.
Beyond Robert’s smiling mug and humble demeanor—you’ll often find him sitting down with patrons discussing how their parents are doing or how their child is succeeding in any given endeavor—beyond the well-treated Victrola where the family welcomes you to put on some Al Green, and beyond the straight-forward paper tray with red-and-white checkered paper that everything is served in, it is the meat and the talent of the man cooking the meat that makes Robert Earl’s BBQ the best of the best.
Robert Earl’s brisket.
Even those who opt for the chicken will rejoice at Robert’s ability to make it succulent, moist and with a skin so perfectly charred and crispy that it’s actually worth ordering again. Should one be resistant to clogged arteries, their links—bites that look over-cooked yet pop with a moist spiciness that makes them spot on—are one of many pork options.
But their beef and pork is where it’s at.
The ribs are simply and generously seasoned with salt’n’pepper, charred to perfection and slathered with Earl’s not-too-sweet sauce that makes it extremely difficult to not overeat.
If there’s one thing at Earl’s that will certainly make you gluttonous, it’s unquestionably the brisket. It’s the stuff of legend: beef so tender that it falls apart without much effort while causing one to slowly close their eyes in meat-fuel bliss.
But the heavenly delights do not stop there; next comes the pulled pork, which you are free to order in its pure nakedness on a plate or shoved between two giant slices of French bread. Either you, you’ll delight in the sweet, savory slivers that have been slow-cooked to a decadent perfection. When you’ve hit the point where your brain is telling you to please stop the eating, even the most diligent and strong-willed will feel guilty leaving anything on the plate.
The golden nugget.
Their sides do not dissappoint either. The mac’n’cheese—Lumaconi rigati-style noodles, a hint of some sort of chile (the exact nature of which Robert’s wife would not divulge) topped with a generous sprinkling of paprika—is nothing short of awesome. Earl’s beans have a smokey sweetness that is countered with a hint of salt, while their greens are down-home vegetarian deliciousness.
Oh, and if you ever have the chance—and if your stomach is not begging for mercy yet—you must, absolutely must, enjoy the Southern delicacy that is the joint’s Golden Nugget; a muffin of warm, homemade cornbread—with a top portion that tastes like it’s been slightly soaked in honey butter—that is then topped with a heaping of creamy, buttery homemade banana pudding and crunched Nilla wafers. In other words: absolute, unadulterated decadence.
Robert Earl’s BBQ is located at 703 E. Artesia Blvd.
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