Smoke City Market Brings A Taste of Texas To The Valley

Phone: 818-855-1280
Status: Opened Nov 4
Inspired by Texas' Luling City Market, Smitty's and Kreuz's, partners Jason Cestaro, fiancee Lauren Fricchione, and Michael Gans (The Den) debuted Smoke City Market just one week ago in the previous Hott House space on Van Nuys Blvd. The idea here is to serve high quality barbecue (meats are smoked over natural oak without gas or propane) at an affordable price point, Cestaro explains "We have truly made it our mission to take the SoCal market by storm with the best bbq, the highest quality of meats and produce, and the lowest prices.... We are going to make people experience real Texas BBQ with affordable prices." So, Smoke City serves everything from plates of beef (ribs, brisket moist or lean), sandwiches (turkey, sausage, chopped beef), grab a 1/4 chicken, 1/2 chicken or turkey breast, then of course there's sausages and pork (ribs, bone-in chop). To balance out all that meat choose from Southern sides like green bean salad, potato salad, chili, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, that sort of thing. Plates and sandwiches cost roughly between $5-$8, while sides, depending on portion size, cost mostly between $2 and $5.

To match the barbecue menu, Smoke City is outfitted with wooden picnic benches, ceiling fans, an old school Coke fridge, and a few other embellishments like an animal skull and rusty wheel spokes that adorn walls. If you're looking to watch the game there are a couple of flat screens plus eight beers on tap. Apparently this is how it's done in Texas.
Additional Reading: Plywood Report, 8/12
Additional Photos: Eater LA Flickr Page

Elizabeth Daniels 11/10