Atwater Crossing Reboots with BBQ as The Crossing...or ATX

The Crossing or ATX is mostly patio eating, though there's an enclosed room behind the bar.

ATX, formerly Atwater Crossing Kitchen, is almost the restaurant I used to dream of when my kids were small: a place with decent pizza where the kids could run around while the parents drank pitchers of reasonably-priced craft beers. It only took 15 or 20 years for the near-Eastside to catch up to that idea, but now that we've got The Crossing, the results are a bit uneven.

brisket is a bit fatty, though collards are fine

Early in the evening, it appears that plenty of parents and dog-owners have also been waiting for a place like this -- even though there's nothing specifically kid-friendly on the menu, the patio tables are spread-out enough that the tots aren't as likely to bother fellow diners. It can be a confusing place: the ownership seems to keep changing, so there's not really a website, and even if you live nearby, you'll probably want to consult the GPS the first time you go. But now, Texas smoked BBQ has been added to the earlier pizza-intensive menu.

Pizza comes with brisket, pesto and several other toppings

We tried some of each, and the barbecue wasn't quite up to snuff yet, although the sauce was a tangy, zingy pleasure. Both pork ribs and brisket were way too fatty -- clearly the pitmaster has yet to master the technique that Horse Thief in Grand Central Market has perfected. Collards and potato salad were fine, but it might be nice to offer at least one side included with a meat choice.

a half rack of ribs

Ribs were also on the fatty side, though the sauce certainly helped. Pizza would be better with just another minute or two in the wood-fired oven. The beer selection isn't bad though, and pitchers are just $10 from 4-6 on weekdays and $15 the rest of the time. Maybe ATX or the Crossing or whatever it's called is still getting its barbecue sea legs, so I wouldn't write it off just yet. Because really, I've been waiting for a place like this for a long, long time -- in fact so long that my son can now drink a pitcher with us legally and complain about toddlers underfoot.

Horse Thief BBQ: Crispy Edges and All That Texas Meat at Grand Central Market

Horse Thief has a large patio all to itself outside Grand Central Market

If you haven't yet seen the gradual revitalization of Downtown's Grand Central Market with new food and drink options like G & B Coffee, Sticky Rice Thai Food, Valerie and the Bulgarini Gelato cart, then the opening of Horse Thief BBQ is a perfect excuse to go.
Horse Thief has taken over the entire large patio on Hill Street directly across from Angel's Flight, and when the beer and wine license comes through around October, it's going to be a sweet beer garden for watching the buzzy Downtown scene pass by. But until then, Horse Thief is already a worthy BBQ stop, one of just a few restaurants in L.A. turning out carefully-smoked meats in the Texas style.
Texas style implies a focus on brisket, although the other meats -- pulled pork, pork ribs and juicy, spice-rubbed Mary's chicken -- are nearly as good.

Pulled pork at left, ribs, brisket and chicken in the middle. Add sauce to taste.

Owners Wade McElroy and Russell Malixi haven't run a BBQ joint before, but Malixi says he's a "brisket obsessive" and the attention to perfecting the meat shows. I've usually been more partial to saucy, spicy Kansas city BBQ hot links or pork ribs, but I'm an instant brisket convert now.
The meat's connective fat has somehow been slow-cooked just to the point before it liquifies, making the slices of beef extremely tender, while the outer edges are lovingly caramelized to a crispy black nirvana. I'm not a Texas BBQ expert, but I'm guessing this is exactly the combination the pitmasters are trying to achieve. The sauce comes in just one variety -- lightly-spiced and tomatoey, it moistens up the meat nicely -- but it's not the star of the movie like it is in Kansas City places.

After BBQ, take a ride on Angel's Fllight

Sides so far include an innovative jicama cole slaw, black beans to shut up your vegan friends, mac 'n cheese and potato salad with blue cheese and bacon. Soon to come are collard greens and cornbread. For now, meats are available by the half pound and pound, but sandwiches are coming soon, so I hope I'm finally due for jury duty.When the beer and wine license arrives, Horse Thief plans to stay open to midnight -- a huge development for the Grand Central Market area, which usually closes up shop in early evening. Check Horsethief's Facebook page for updates on their hours, but for now lunch every day is a sure thing.

Horse Thief BBQ 
Grand Central Market
324 S. Hill St.
Downtown L.A.

(I was invited to a press tasting for this restaurant, but I'm totally serious about the brisket.)

Holiday guests arriving? Why not stock up on, yes, barbecued meats with a Filipino twist?

A giant beef shortrib is sliced and served with horseradish crema

If a food critic says, "It doesn't have any flavor of the neighborhood it's in," it's a true slam to a place that's trying to be too slick or ignore the area's culture. This will never be said of The Park's Finest, probably the best (or only?) restaurant firmly grounded in the largely anonymous hood of Historic Filipinotown. It's a part of town south of Echo Park and west of Downtown that has no landmarks, no community monuments or gathering places and only a few small mom and pop eateries that are not recognized by even the most adventurous food bloggers.

pulled pork zings to life with a squirt of Park's bbq sauce

But the arrival of Park's at the beginning of 2012 changed all that, when Johneric Concordia took over a sushi bar on Temple Street and stocked it with smoked meats and craft beer instead of the expected pancit noodles. The Park's Finest (not to be confused with the thoroughly Korean Park's BBQ a few miles away or The Park restaurant in nearby Echo Park) sprang from a backyard catering operation and its brief menu sticks mostly with grilled meats and a few Filipino-inflected sides. We were invited recently to try a broad selection of the meats, which are all available for takeout and holiday gatherings.

The Park's is on Temple, hard by the 101 freeway

In fact, this might even be the best way to experience The Park's Finest. Because although the craft beer selection is as good as you might expect for one curated by Beer Belly's Jimmy Yune Han, the meats are mostly served alongside white rice, which doesn't always compute for those of us used to more bready accompaniments.

Cornbread works as either a dessert or a side

 Some of these lovingly long-smoke meats like turkey, pulled pork, tri-tip beef and ham are just crying out to be slapped between two hefty slices of good bread, with a dousing of their special vinegar-based sauce and maybe some jalapeno slices and a dollop of cole slaw. The saucy coconut beef, similar to Indonesian beef rendang, works well with the rice, and don't forget to order some cornbread bibingka, a moist cake-like rendition steamed in a banana leaf. The beef shortrib -- a giant beef rib scored into easy-to-remove slices -- is kind of the signature beast of the restaurant.

One of our favorites was candy-coated ham, available on the holiday catering menu

I like their housemade horseradish sauce, it would really sing with the beef on an onion roll. If you've got guests visiting over the holidays who will be pawing through your refrigerator looking for sandwich makings, they'd be pretty darn impressed to find a pile of San Pablo 16-hour smoked pork shoulder or candy-coated ham lurking in there. Of course, you could also just order up an entire office or holiday party at home from the catering menu.

Elote captures the flavors of corn sold on the street all over L.A.

 As for the sides, I recommend the elote, an indulgent bowl of Mexican street-style corn doused in mayo, parmesan and cayenne pepper, and the Ube greens, a Filipino take on collards that pair well with the Southern-style meats.
The Park's Finest
(open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week)
1267 W. Temple St.
213-481-2800