Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

All Things BBQ: the Barbecue Pit

Image by Fuse/Thinkstock
Place

Barbecue Pit

920 E. Plaza Boulevard, National City

For all intents and purposes, the Barbecue Pit is identical to the Wrangler Family Barbecue. Not only does the menu board read the same — with the addition of chicken and slightly higher prices — it flat-out looks the same.

Sponsored
Sponsored

That’s because, way back in the day, the Wrangler was a branch of the Barbecue Pit. The original Wrangler Family Barbecue crew took over, rebranding the restaurant as their own. As the decades have passed, branches of the Barbecue Pit have opened and closed all over San Diego.

As of now, besides the National City location, there’s one at 2388 Fletcher Parkway in El Cajon. Recently, one branch opened in North Park, and swiftly closed to all but catering operations.

When it’s decision time, the Barbecue Pit doesn’t quite measure up to Wrangler. It’s a close contest, but the sauce is less flavorful, the meat less exacting, and the dessert selection less riddled with gorgeous cream pies. That’s not to say things falter. Far from it. Barbecue Pit’s meats still deliver a deep, smoky flavor courtesy of a legit pit smoker; it’s just not quite up to the caliber of its nearly identical twin.

Peach pie and a small cup of coffee at the Barbecue Pit.

The Barbecue Pit’s website tells the restaurant’s story, about how the founders moved to San Diego from Texas in the 1940s, opening the first restaurant downtown in 1947. The place is still in the family, several generations down the road and thousands of miles from Texas.

That’s Dallas, Texas, to be precise, which is an interesting town for barbecue. As far as 'cue is concerned, Dallas is as far west as you can go and still be in East Texas. East Texas barbecue is almost indistinguishable from the proper South. Pork has at least an equal hold on the BBQ-consciousness as beef, and the smoking tends to be on the subtler side. Logically enough, East Texas barbecue forms a bridge between the classical styles of the South, especially the ribs of Memphis and St. Louis, and the cowboy style that characterizes the rest of Texas...but we won’t go there, not yet.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Image by Fuse/Thinkstock
Place

Barbecue Pit

920 E. Plaza Boulevard, National City

For all intents and purposes, the Barbecue Pit is identical to the Wrangler Family Barbecue. Not only does the menu board read the same — with the addition of chicken and slightly higher prices — it flat-out looks the same.

Sponsored
Sponsored

That’s because, way back in the day, the Wrangler was a branch of the Barbecue Pit. The original Wrangler Family Barbecue crew took over, rebranding the restaurant as their own. As the decades have passed, branches of the Barbecue Pit have opened and closed all over San Diego.

As of now, besides the National City location, there’s one at 2388 Fletcher Parkway in El Cajon. Recently, one branch opened in North Park, and swiftly closed to all but catering operations.

When it’s decision time, the Barbecue Pit doesn’t quite measure up to Wrangler. It’s a close contest, but the sauce is less flavorful, the meat less exacting, and the dessert selection less riddled with gorgeous cream pies. That’s not to say things falter. Far from it. Barbecue Pit’s meats still deliver a deep, smoky flavor courtesy of a legit pit smoker; it’s just not quite up to the caliber of its nearly identical twin.

Peach pie and a small cup of coffee at the Barbecue Pit.

The Barbecue Pit’s website tells the restaurant’s story, about how the founders moved to San Diego from Texas in the 1940s, opening the first restaurant downtown in 1947. The place is still in the family, several generations down the road and thousands of miles from Texas.

That’s Dallas, Texas, to be precise, which is an interesting town for barbecue. As far as 'cue is concerned, Dallas is as far west as you can go and still be in East Texas. East Texas barbecue is almost indistinguishable from the proper South. Pork has at least an equal hold on the BBQ-consciousness as beef, and the smoking tends to be on the subtler side. Logically enough, East Texas barbecue forms a bridge between the classical styles of the South, especially the ribs of Memphis and St. Louis, and the cowboy style that characterizes the rest of Texas...but we won’t go there, not yet.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.