Wow! The pork ribs looks amazing, the color is exactly how I like mine.
Thanks for the report @Chowseeker1999 Iāll make my way down there and check it out some day. Those micro greens they add have to be some sort of tongue and cheek humor.
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Hi @Ns1,
Thanks! 
The way I explained it to myself was: We drive down to Little Saigon (and have a blast) anyways. Whatās a little bit more freeway driving past that? 
Itās also only ~14 - 15 minutes after Irvine Spectrum (where Iāve met OC friends to hang out before), so itās not that bad (OK, itās a bit far overall, but it was wide open this past Saturday).
Hi @Midlife,
Thanks for helping answer the questions! Thatās awesome that youāve been keeping up with the Castillos and the build out and finally Grand Opening for Heritage Barbecue! 
Pitmaster-Owner Daniel Castillo was really friendly and welcoming to everyone yesterday. He was chatting up the crowd inbetween working the smokers, and we heard him talk about how he has a newborn baby at home.
Him starting a family and starting a brick and mortar business in the time of a pandemicā¦ itās not the easiest time right now, but weāre hoping this grows into something wonderful on both fronts!
Looking forward to your report back and hope you enjoy it as well! 
I worked at a place about 200 yards away for the past 3 years so I had a front seat. Unfortunately the place I worked for didnāt make it through Covid.
Hope you are doing OK.Heritage Barbecue is the gift that keeps on giving:
From the moment we finished eating their decadent, extremely marbled Black Angus USDA Prime Smoked Beef Ribs (Niman Ranch), I was wondering what it might taste like if you rendered out some of the excess (delicious) USDA Prime Beef Fat and then made a Beef (Fat) Rice with it. 
Well, it was dinner time, and we decided to try: Slicing half inch slices of the Smoked Beef Ribs, placing them in a pan with no oil, and letting them crisp up:
The sheer amount of Beef Fat rendered out was crazy, and it smelled wonderful with the sizzling Beef Rib slices.
I was going to try making a Beef Fat Fried Rice (a la Majordomo), but seeing how much marbling and how tender the Beef Rib slices were still, we just placed them over some Steamed Brown Rice and Quinoa (we needed some healthy in this experiment!). 
Just how good is Pitmaster Daniel Castillo and his slow-cooked Smoked Beef Ribs? The first bite of the leftovers I pan-seared to crisp up, yielded a luscious, insane beefy, balanced smoky, melt-in-your-mouth bite of pure joy! 
Itās still insanely delicious the next day, and this super simple homemade reheat of Beef Rib Rice was even more glorious than the last Beef Fat Rice I had at Majordomo (pre-pandemic)! It is ridiculous.
We had no idea you could make something this delicious with Smoked / BBQ Beef Rib leftovers (Iām a newbie, I know).
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Iāve been following Castillo for a while now and am excited to hear that heās finally open. However, I doubt Iāll make it all the way to San Juan Capistrano, even if we make our trips to/ from San Diego. I read an article about him and how he and a bunch of other pitmasters in SoCal are talking a lot together to improve BBQ in LA area. What we really lack here is good affordable BBQ thatās not considered āhigh endā. Go to places in the South and they have just average looking restaurants with really good BBQ that doesnāt cost an arm and a leg. One day, especially if those smokers that meet commercial regulations become more common.
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there are enough people here with sufficient disposable income that will pay top dollar if they think theyāre getting value for what theyāre paying. sadly, the perceived value may not lie entirely in the quality of the food but itās what it is. and if a place is paying for top notch ingredients the overall cost is going to be correspondingly high. factor in what constitutes a living wage in LA, not to mention rent and iām not so sure what you want is a reasonable expectation in LA unless street food legislation changes drastically post quarantine.
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Still havenāt gone to Heritage but I follow them on IG and Twitter. They do sell out most days but, on weekends, seem to be arranging food trucks in the evening to supplement. Thatās unusual but good PR and certainly helps their co-tenant Capistrano Brewing. From their postings (which are several a day) the lines seem to be not quite as long now but that could be because of the heat, then smoke , over the past ten days.
This is a different kind of experience than what many people here may be used to. From a recent post they made they may have gotten some blowback because they sell out. You can wait a couple of hours and not get much if anything. But thatās real Texas BBQ and Iād think theyāll be better able to judge demand as time goes by.
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How long did you wait?
2 hours before open, I was 8th in line.
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Dayum dedication!
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I forgot to mention that the pork ribs are easily the best Iāve ever had
and shouldnāt be overlooked. Iām not sure what kind they use, but DAMN.
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Wow Iāll have to go try sometime. But I hate lines and I shy away from any excessive time waiting for food.
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Any update on how bad the lines are these days? Going to be in Orange County in saturday
Following.
Their Twitter posts show no lines or wait times at ~1pm to 2pm on Wed and Thur with all proteins available but assume thatās much different than Saturday.
I tried it about a month or two ago. A friend was coming up to LA and offered to pick it up. He arrived about 30-45 minutes before and was the 6th person in line. They may have opened their doors a few minutes early since it was a rather warm day. After that it was a quick in and out.
The food itself was delicious. The brisket was tender and had lots of flavorā¦but you could still appreciate the high quality beef they use. I was so impressed by their flavored sausagesā¦we got a cheeseburger-like sausage and a blue cheese sausage the day we had it. The cornbread muffins were also stellar.
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On weekends it looks like the peak of line waiting is between 1-3 p.m. and after that it starts to die down
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But after 3:00 is when they start to run out of proteins. From following their social mediaā¦ weekends seem to be the busiest still, though the lines arenāt as long as they were a while ago. Wednesday-Friday are best.
I havenāt been yetā¦ mostly because my wife isnāt a fan of smoked meat and Iām not sure doing take-out midday (which Iād most likely do) is the best for enjoying BBQ several hours later. Any reports on āre-heatabilityā would be appreciated.