Update 1 (including To-Go):
With the disaster of APL Restaurant in its main Steakhouse form, we were in no hurry to return. However after a year or so, they finally caved and Chef Adam Perry Lang and staff began to serve American BBQ at lunch. (For those that may not know, Chef Adam Perry Lang is famous for his BBQ, and debuted it as a Pop-Up in L.A. a few years ago with his friend JImmy Kimmel (on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! TV backlot).
It was delicious, and yet he decided to open a Steakhouse years later when he finally found a brick-and-mortar location. 
But thanks to the early report from @PorkyBelly during their Grand Opening for the BBQ Lunch Menu, we decided to give it a try the following week.
Walking in, the sunlight helps (normally it was only open for Dinner), but it still has that weird “corporate / national chain restaurant” feel, like a Corner Bakery or Maggiano’s. 
And sure enough, thankfully 1 week after @PorkyBelly’s report, Chef Adam Perry Lang himself was cooking and carving up BBQ! We were excited. 
BBQ Pork Ribs (Half Slab):
The BBQ Pork Ribs looked beautiful. Clearly care went into it. The nice crust, smoke ring. The actual flavor in the Pork Ribs didn’t quite match the visuals unfortunately. Mainly Salt & Pepper notes, light smokiness, some tug and chew meatiness.
It was quality BBQ Pork Ribs for sure, but flavor wise, it didn’t excite us. 
The ones we had at The Park’s Finest were more enjoyable. And Bludso’s OG BBQ in Compton back in the day was better.
Baked Beans:
These were fine. They tasted like familiar “BBQ Baked Beans” that you might expect at any standard BBQ restaurant. Meaning, we were hoping it would be more elevated / interesting, but as they were, they were fine. Sweet, standard BBQ Sauce flavors.
Potato Salad:
It was a little bit runny / watery, a bit more tart than we normally like from a great Potato Salad.
BBQ Brisket:
First, look closely at the BBQ Brisket pics above and keep it in mind. On this visit, with Chef Lang cooking, the BBQ Brisket was amazing! 
The taste was even better than the looks: Truly melt-in-your-mouth, lush and fatty and tender, with just enough lean meat, and nice smokiness.
It was incredible! 
Easily the best Beef Brisket BBQ we’ve had in L.A., ever. (@PorkyBelly @Ns1 @TheCookie @J_L @Hungrydrunk and others.)
Burnt Ends Sandwich (1/3 lb APL Beef Short Rib Burnt Ends, Pickle Salad):
This was disappointing. Just really salty, dryish, and not as interesting or tasty as other Burnt Ends we’ve had in the past.
BBQ Pulled Pork:
Moist, tender slivers of BBQ Pulled Pork. Sauced up a bit too much, in a sweet, lightly tangy BBQ Sauce. This was tasty.
Serious Sandwich (Pit-Cooked Shaved Dry Aged Prime Rib, Pickle Salad, Sweet Onions, Freshly Grated Horseradish):
First, yes, this is absolutely ridiculous that 1 Sandwich is $50 (FIFTY) (+ Tax & Tip)! 
But hearing @PorkyBelly report on it, and we brought 3 friends with us (so 5 of us), we felt we could attempt to tackle this Sandwich (and everything else).
Taking a bite, it is ridiculous: The ultra-thin slices of Dry Aged Prime Rib is legit. It’s fatty, decadent, meaty, lightly beefy, lovely Fresh-Grated Horseradish giving you a nice sinus-clearing spike of flavor.
However, even us splitting this into 5 bites, after my portion I had enough. I couldn’t imagine eating half this Sandwich, let alone the entire thing.
For overall enjoyment and taste, I think Gjusta’s legendary Prime Rib Butcher is tastier, more enjoyable and better balanced, and Gjusta’s Housemade Bread (baked fresh multiple times a day) is better. But we’re glad to have tried this.
2nd BBQ Visit:
There was enough promise and Chef Lang himself cooking that we wanted to return to see how consistent it was and try another key thing on the menu.
Chef Lang was in the house still cooking and carving:
BBQ Beef Rib (Saturdays Only):
Yes, the tastiest item from Chef Adam Perry Lang’s Pop-Up years ago with Jimmy Kimmel, he was serving the BBQ Beef Rib on Saturdays Only, we had to try it and see how it compared to the Pop-Up.
Taking a bite, smoky, tender, with a good meatiness still, a nice balance of some fat with lean and good flavoring, it was more enjoyable than his whole Short Rib Rack for Dinner. This was quite tasty, but we actually preferred The Park’s Finest Beef Short Rib over this one for ultimate taste (slightly more). Still this was quite good, but I’ll defer to our FTC BBQ experts (@Ns1 @A5KOBE @ Midlife @ebethsdad @js76wisco @Hungrydrunk @Gr8pimpin and others).
BBQ Beef Brisket:
This was served sliced in half (compared to our first visit), it was still pretty tasty, delicious and a standout.
Double Beef Chili Dog (APL New Mexican Hatch Chili with Hand Cut Prime Beef Chuck, Sweet Onions, Cheddar, Pickled Jalapenos):
This is an example of fancy ingredients being overpowered by the spices: It tasted like a solid “Chili Dog,” nothing more, nothing less. It wasn’t bad, but nothing about it screamed “USDA Prime Beef”, all you could taste was the heavy, bold Chili flavor over a Hot Dog. It was fine, and at $6, it’s fairly priced.
3rd BBQ Visit:
Only 1.5 weeks after our last visit, when we walked in, we noticed Sergio was not in the kitchen(!). We asked the waitress who said that Chef Lang is now focusing on Dinner, and comes into the restaurant later in the day. 
BBQ Beef Brisket:
It looks nothing like the 1st visit’s Beef Brisket, but it was still moist. This was more thickly cut and it tasted a bit saltier, and just not as interesting. But it was decent.
BBQ Pork Ribs (Half Slab):
These still looked close to the Grand Opening’s version when Chef Lang was in the house. Taste-wise, it was close, a bit saltier, still moist and tender, but similar boring flavor profile as before (Salt & Pepper).
4th BBQ Visit:
The bait & switch was complete: Chef Lang was nowhere to be found again, and confirmed that he was focusing on Dinner, the BBQ on this visit was a disaster! 
BBQ Beef Brisket:
This looks nothing like the Brisket we had during our Grand Opening. It tasted mainly salty, barely any smokiness and despite the moisture in the pics, taste-wise, it was dryish! 
Collard Greens:
Not even close to Howlin’ Ray’s stunning version, these were salty and rather one note.
Mac & Cheese:
This was a bit watery, runny, and mainly on the creamy, liquidy-side, with not enough Cheese. Avoid.
BBQ Pulled Pork:
This lacked the depth of flavor of our first visit when Chef Lang was in the house. It was a bit dry (covered in BBQ Sauce), not as delicate nor tender.
BBQ Pork Ribs (Half Slab):
Mainly salty, and worse than before. Just like @CiaoBob’s visit.
At this point, it was clear in about ~3-4 weeks after APL BBQ debuted and @PorkyBelly’s report, and then our visits, the bait and switch happened here (usually plaguing Japanese Ramen restaurants): Famous Chef shows up early, makes some great food, gets people to show up, and leaves, resulting in terrible replacement dishes. (@PorkyBelly @Ns1 @J_L @A5KOBE@Midlife @ebethsdad @js76wisco @Hungrydrunk @Gr8pimpin @TheCookie and others.)
5th BBQ Visit (To-Go):
During this pandemic, we heard about APL’s new Takeout Menu, which featured some eye-catching items that seemed more interesting than the overpriced, boring Dinner menu, so wanted to give them another try.
Fried Chicken Sandwich (Chicken Thigh, Spicy Cole Slaw, Pickles, Martin’s Potato Roll):
First, yes, those awful visuals are exactly how their Fried Chicken Sandwich arrived to us. The order taker said it’d take 30 minutes to finish up our order. We showed up 5 minutes early on purpose, to make sure our Fried Chicken didn’t steam.
Yet when we showed up 5 minutes early, our order was already done, sitting on the counter. We quickly picked it up and unwrapped it to stop any steaming, but that’s how the Chicken turned out.
The Potato Roll Bread was smashed, steamed to a partially mushy consistency.
The Fried Chicken patty within (using dark meat) was already steamed, mushy exterior, zero crunch or crispiness, and a decently spiced marinade overall. Very sad.
A terrible Fried Chicken Sandwich as is.
Fried Chicken Plate (Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Pork Braised Greens):
The Fried Chicken Plate suffered the same fate: Even though we showed up 5 minutes early, they already packaged up the Fried Chicken and let it steam. It was soggy, mushy exterior, no crunch or crispiness at all. Terrible.
The Chicken meat itself was moist and had the same spice & herb profile as the Fried Chicken Sandwich. It was deboned(!) which was interesting, but nothing could save the Fried Chicken as it was. Avoid (@TheCookie @PorkyBelly @J_L and others.)
Mashed Potatoes:
A bit runny, the Mashed Potatoes were quite creamy overall, the best thing about the plate.
The Braised Greens were fine. Nothing really standout about them.
Matzo Ball Soup (Schmaltz, Vegetables, Fresh Dill):
The best thing about this Matzo Ball Soup was the copious amount of Dill and the depth of flavor in the Soup itself. However, the Matzo Ball itself was disintegrating: Just barely touch it with a spoon and it dissolved(!).
BBQ Beef Brisket:
Since COVID-19 has forced the main Chef-Owners / Executive Chefs to be in the kitchen again during limited hours, we held out hope that perhaps Chef Lang’s presence (he was there when we showed up) might improve the BBQ.
The BBQ Beef Brisket was better than our last in-dining-room visit before the pandemic last year: It had some smokiness and some tenderness with a bit of moisture, but not as amazing as the Grand Opening period. Still it was an improvement.
BBQ Pork Ribs (Half Slab):
You can tell from the pics (above) how dry they were. Salty, dryish, meaty. Avoid.
6th Visit (To-Go):
We wanted to give them one last try, with a follow-up visit during the pandemic, hoping things might be better.
BBQ Pulled Pork:
The BBQ Pulled Pork was back to being moist again, tender, pull apart, light sweetness from the BBQ Sauce. Solid.
The highlight might’ve been the slice of Brioche Bread that is included with each BBQ Takeout order. It was super tender, fluffy, airy, and better than most slices of generic White Bread included in BBQ orders.
BBQ Beef Brisket:
Dryish, mediocre Beef Brisket at best. Even with Sergio in the house (but clearly busy with other dishes?), the Beef Brisket was a shadow of its former self during the Grand Opening. Look at the Beef Brisket from the Grand Opening and compare:
(Grand Opening) Beef Brisket - Last Year:
It looks nothing like this now.
APL Restaurant’s BBQ Menu started off strong on the first 2 visits we had, with Chef Lang personally cooking and carving, and hearing him talk about it, you could taste the difference and passion in the food. The BBQ Beef Brisket was the best in the city, easily, and the Beef Rib was very good. The Pulled Pork was respectable, but the BBQ Pork Ribs were average at best.
After only a few weeks, (and currently during the pandemic) the BBQ tastes like it’s made by amateurs who have no idea how to make BBQ properly. Although even during the Grand Opening period when Chef Lang was cooking, we prefer The Park’s Finest for BBQ Pork Ribs, the Beef Rib, along with a bunch of other items.
APL BBQ & Takeout had great potential, but everything we’ve had has been disappointing. We really hope to see Chef Lang return to making the great BBQ he’s known for and showed he could do during his Pop-Up and during the first few weeks of his Lunch BBQ opening. Until then, we’re not in a hurry to return.
APL Restaurant
1680 Vine St.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Tel: (323) 416-1280