okie bbq pork sandwich

pecos bill's bar-bq, victory blvd & justin ave, glendale

Occasional breadxbread poster jonnnp's parents are from Glendale, and he says that they love this BBQ joint. In fact, he says that they went back for some BBQ 20+ years after moving and that the folks running it remembered them! He encouraged me to try the place out, and while looking up a map online I stumbled across the Pecos Bill's Yelp page. Personally I don't put too much stock in Yelp (sorry Yelpers), because I've worked at businesses that got slammed on Yelp because the "reviewers" were a bunch of stuck-up morons who thought they had the world coming to them (haters!). So normally I ignore Yelp altogether, although I was intrigued by the extremely varied reviews this place was getting. Some people were absolutely trashing the place, calling the BBQ sauce flavorless and mucus-like; others were singing praise to high heavens in Pecos Bill's favor (almost invariably, the positive reviews came from native Glendaliens who have been eating at Pecos Bill's since they were children). Since this was going to be the first sandwich that I'd bought in a month (yeah really, I'm super broke), I was a little concerned that I was going to blow a sandwich-eating opportunity on something that might not be too great. But the positive reviews convinced me that there was something good about this place, so I decided to check it out. The first time I tried to go, they were already closed- at four in the afternoon. It turns out that this place is only open 11 AM-3 PM, or until they run out of meat! So today, a week after my first attempt, I returned. It's take-out only; there are some shaded picnic tables out front, but those were already taken when I arrived. I ordered a pork sandwich, some BBQ beans, and an iced tea (I was hoping it was sweet tea, but no dice). While I was paying, an older customer lined up behind me to order what was his second (or possibly third) sandwich. According to him, Pecos Bill's is the best BBQ in America, and he'd been to Texas and Oklahoma. I took a seat on the grass nearby and dug in. And... well... I can see why some people would give negative reviews. The BBQ sauce isn't your typical shade of red (that's hot sauce in the second pic up there), nor does it taste like your average BBQ sauce. The comparison to mucus isn't completely off base, at least visually. And there's nothing on the sandwich other than your meat of choice- just meat, and bun. But to all those negative review giving Yelpers I say- YOU HATERS! Hating on any BBQ is a possible indication of Communist sympathy, in my opinion- BBQ is as American as democracy and rap music, and if you don't like it, the terrorists win. I really enjoyed my sandwich. The pork tasted great, and it was clear that they are serious about their meat at Pecos Bill's. It was great to eat my sandwich and think that if I'd come twenty years earlier, the sandwich would've been exactly the same. After wolfing down my sandwich (truthfully I could have eaten another one or two) I enjoyed eating my baked beans out of a styrofoam cup. And I enjoyed sitting near customers who have been coming to this BBQ shack all their lives and truly believe it is the best BBQ in America. It felt really good and summer-y, sitting on the grass in the sun, with a BBQ pork sandwich in my hand. Next time I'm going to get the BBQ beef.