Sorry I missed this thread before my trip this week. I found a positive review in the LA TIMES 2004 Restaurant Guide for Big Mama's Rib Shack, so having the better part of a warm sunny day ahead, I set off to Pasadena on the Gold Line, walked around the Old Town until I found Lake where I caught a bus up to this restaurant. Looked promising in being a modest place where I might sample some "black" style cooking.

I ordered the sampler platter of three ribs, a couple of slices of beef and pork briskit, some BBQ chicken and a sausage. Also had a side order of their supposedly authentic fried chicken. The best beer they had on offer was a Miller Genuine Draft.

I was given a couple of corn bread muffins to nibble on until my beer and chicken arrived. The fried chicken was a bland as the beer, crusty but other than the basic chicken taste, no indication of any flavouring or spices. As I have never sampled this style of southern cooking -- other than the Colonel's -- that was promoted as being "authentic", well... Not impressed.

The BBQ items arrived, and while the ribs were tender and meat pealed off the ribs nicely, they too lacked any real character. The sauce seemed very katchup and sugar, with a pinch of tobasco and some orange aftertaste. The sliced meat was dry and not the type that shredded. And the sausage was no more interesting than your average ballpark frank.

I had hoped for more, but it certainly came nowhere near even the least interesting BBQ sampled a couple of months ago in Kansas City.

Also checked out two local brewpubs, the Crown City and the Pasadena Brewing Company. In both cases, their only ale offerings were quite uninteresting. Oh well, always good to have reference points at the bottom end of the scale too.