AJ’s BBQ Pit

This place is closed now replacing it is a taco spot!!!

Sorry folks, they’re dead.
Or doing a remodel that includes taking down the signs.

This place nailed it for West Texas style BBQ. The Triple Play plate is great: 2 hot links (cooked whole to keep the juice in); 2 pieces of chicken; and 2 ribs (REALLY nice bite to them and juicy); 2 sides (I chose beans and coleslaw).
You can smell the smoke (Oak) from down the street and the inside has a nice local LA ambiance to it.
Go get you some!

I live right across the street and i see first hand when they start early in the morning working in the pit… on weekends they sell pollos asados and they are sooo delicious he packs it with tortillas and i think u can order their famous chilibeans. trust me i see how they cook outside and all the meat is fresh nothing frozen here. its also super clean cuz i notice they stay super late to clean the place so its ready for the morning again. my brother goes here ALOT and he really enjoys their sandwhiches im a huge fan of their bbq wings and my son thinks they have the greatest fries ever. then again they have crinkle cut and crinkle is always better! ive seen some poor reviews on here and i think its just a shame i hope it doesnt change ur mind in trying this place… that one review from beverly hills… well all i can say is this is ELA if u think its bad customer service well then stay in your side of town where they r too afraid to tell u when your acting a fool… cuz i always get great customer service. its family friendly and has a sports vibe if u have some doubts due to some reviews just come on in before 5pm and try a happy hour sandwhich and if you enjoy it… which im sure you will then you wont mind paying full price for sanwhiches later on. its true they dont have fountain drinks like hopefully by writing reviews we can convince him into getting a fountain dispenser. fyi ask for a bit of bbq sauce and dip ur food in it… its amazing!.. well hope you Unilocalers comeby and try the food and decide for your own

and the Hot Links… freakin’ amazing!

Place was highly recommended by a coworker, that lives in the Area.
as good Barbecue and Hot Links place
i have try to place and order for me and my coworkers, (5)
1^st order they had no Potato Salad and Pull Pork Sandwich,
2^nd order They had no Hot Links
Over all Food is Good, Sides Sucks, Service is not the best.

Living in the neighborhood I have become accustomed to nothing but failed businesses at this location. But when i heard that there was BBQ place within walking distance of my place I had to try it.
I ordered a pulled chicken sandwich. At first bite I was in love, the sauce was equal parts sweet and spicy. The chicken flowed from my sandwich to my stomach. I was left well satisfied.
The décor is amazing, lots of local sports memorabilia as well as LA teams.
I only gave 4 stars due to the fact that there is not much room inside. If you plan on taking a group call ahead and see if there is room. This place looks much bigger from the outside but the kitchen takes up the majority of the building.
Overall I love this place because they work and give back to the community and they opened during a recession and gave East L.A. a chance for something different.
.

i waited for months to try this place, the ribs are ok but i dont think their straight from the grill! the’ve bin boiled first then put in the smoker! i ordered the slab and sides for there, and was expecting bigger sides like most places, but instead got one roll and an 8oz cup of chillybeans and a small basket of fries for for people come on thats for person if you want more bread and chilly its extra!!! no thanks ill keep it movin!

I was a little apprehensive as I was reading the menu. I mean what kind of BBQ place can serve good BBQ and Mexican food? Sadly I was correct. I ordered the ribs which were nothing special. The meat did not taste fresh. The cole slaw wasn’t very tasty. It was missing something. I also didn’t like the fact that it had raisins in it. The potato salad was OK. A little pricey for this quality of food. Sorry to say I wont be coming back.

I drop in on Jim at least once per week. I not a big eater of barbeque because of the richness of the sauces but I gotta say I am hooked on AJ’s sauce. Not too sweet and the right amount of heat.
Other than the BBQ my other favorites are the tri tip quesadilla and the AJ’s burger. The quesadilla is awesome with the tri tip. After trying it once you’ll want it all the time.
If you are in the mood for a burger, fuhgetaboutit, you need to get the AJ’s burger. Like Jim, the owner says, forget the round, go long! It’s served on a roll and measures wide and long. With fries and a drink, its all I need to make me a happy camper for the day.
When you walk in chances are you’ll meet the owner Jim. Look for the big burley dude with the footlong goatee. He’s the nicest guy you’ll meet. And he has a huge heart for the community, helping all the local high schools.
Definitely worth the trip into East Los.

Does not standout. Had pulled pork sandwich. Need better bbq sauces. would not return.

While driving down 4^th St. toward Downtown this morning, I noticed AJ’s on the right with its flames along the walls and its real flames outside in the smoker. I immediately thought of hubby since he LOVES barbecue. On the outside I read Oakwood BBQ so I kept trying to Unilocal «Oakwood BBQ» and came up with nothing! I even Googled. And nada. So I got excited because I thought I may be getting a firsties. But no… Turns out the «Oakwood BBQ» sign was just to tell you what type of BBQ it is. I have to agree with everyone else on this place. It’s pretty good and it’s pretty cheap. They have a Happy Hour Sandwich Special M-​F. All sammies are $ 5.99.
The place is pretty small with 5 tables that seat 4 – 5 inside and two counters that seat 6 total. Inside, the theme is sports with baseball cards trimming the counter and a very nicely drawn mural of sports stars on the back wall.
I decided to order the Cali Cheese Steak
and was very happy. The only wish for this sandwich would have been that the cheese be a little more melted. It was still extremely tasty. The sirloin, bell peppers, onions, and their added «kick» the jalapenos. I believe it was $ 7.50 for the sandwich. For an extra $ 2.50 you can make it a combo with fries and a drink. They don’t have fountain soda, only in a can, and bottles of Arrowhead water. They do give you cups with ice, though.
Hubby ordered their BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich
and after taking a few bites said, «I love you for thinking of me.» He says this because I usually feel sick after eating BBQ because of the high sugar and fat content and we don’t eat it as much as he would like. He wanted to try their chili beans and got a bowl. They weren’t fatty or overly greasy. They actually reminded me of my mom’s chili beans.
2 sandwiches, 1 bowl of chili beans, 1 order of fries, and 2 drinks = $ 26.72. I brought half of my sandwich home since it was so big. And there was approximately half of the beans and fries left over.
If AJ’s wants that extra star, I think they need to have two things. One is a fountain dispenser, because, really, fountain soda is just soooooooo much better. And two, they need beer. It’s a sports-​themed place. They have three TVs. If I want to go there and get my BBQ and game on, I’m going to want some beer with that.
I do give them big props though. They sponsor the local high school football teams with ⁵⁰⁄₅₀. They have pictures of Players of the Week and really support these local teams.

Cheap bastard me.
I swung by when I saw their $ 5.99 happy hour sandwich and said to myself, a BBQ place in East L. A???
And, with a Mexican twist, too.
I first tried the tri-​tip sandwich and it’s pretty good, packing some heat for this Asian, but it’s really a pulled beef BBQ rather than a straight-​away tri-​tip. The sauce is homemade and has just a nice balance of sweetness to it. The fries are just that, but I really like their chili beans. It has ground beef, green peppers, onions, and chili powder – hearty and savory.
My favorite, though, is the Cali-​sandwich. This is the Messican cheese-​steak and I think it’s the star of the sandwiches (I’ll come back for the other BBQ for an update!). It has steamy gooey Monterey jack with peppers, onions, and a lighter amount of sauce, with generous strips of smoky sirloin. I was really impressed with this one, but now I really want to try their real ribs, beef, and chicken.
Will definitely return, especially since the owner is an alum who contributes to my Catholic high school!

For the «~Best Tri-​Tip Sandwich~» in the east side we now have A.J.‘s B.B.Q. Pit. U won’t miss it w/​those Hot Rod Flames on the building. Well, U must stop in to AJ’s B.B.Q Pit & try the B.B.Q. Tri-​Tip Sandwich. Jim orders the bread to be made especially for A.J.‘s & is always fresh. It will cost U $ 8 BoNeZ, but for $ 3 more BoNeZ U can make it a combo & get fries & a 20 oz. Drink. The fries R the nice thick ones U can request w/​seasoning salt. For sure it will be yummie in Ur tummie. ;) **It’z the Official B.B.Q spot in E.L.A.!** If Ur from over the bridge well now U can ride The Rail. The Gold Line stops right on Indiana & U walk right down a hop, skip & a jump & Ur there. ~It’z between Hicks Avenue & Ditman Avenue just East of Indiana Street~ Jim has hooked his spot up w/​Direct TV, so if U want to eat a BoMb sandwich & check out Ur favorite sports channel, then it’s on. Tell Jim, BaByGiRl DeMoRnAiE sent U, k. ;)
Much Love Alwayz! BaByGiRl DeMoRnAiE

Barbecue with a Mexican twist seems to be catching on. First Territory and now AJ’s. I’m just talking about the sauce, really, but I’ll get to that in a second.
AJ’s makes a pretty good Santa Maria style barbecue. They cook it in an open pit right over an oak wood fire. I’ve read that this was also how barbecue started in the South, before indirect smoking came into practice. Nate’s Home Bar-​B-​Q Pit in Compton used to do the same thing, but added another step to tenderize the meat. (Michelle V. suspects steaming; I lean towards baking at low temperature with a bain-​marie.) This extra step strikes me as absolutely necessary, because while good barbecue should have a certain amount of firmness, it shouldn’t be *that* firm. Maybe this was an off-​day, as others have commented on the tenderness of AJ’s meats.
I ordered my St. Louis style spare ribs (4 in ¹⁄₃ of a slab) with sauce on the side. At first glance, there’s no indication that this barbecue is out of the ordinary, which isn’t to say that they aren’t good. The dry rub is simply salt, black pepper, a little sugar, and paprika. Practically no fat was left untrimmed. Best of all, the ribs were perfectly smoked. Oak produces a very strong smoke, but AJ’s does a great job of keeping it under control. Kudos.
The ribs were quite tantalizing on their own, but the sauce makes them something special. The sauce is slightly spicy, red, kinda sweet, and tomato-​based, but has copious amounts of chili powder. There’s a good bit of black pepper, too. It’s one of the thinnest sauces I’ve had, but also one of the most flavorful. I imagine there’s plenty of room to experiment with various chilis, I’ll have to get up to speed with all the varieties. Barbecue joints tend to stick to one recipe, but I encourage AJ’s to tinker around!
As for sides, I got the coleslaw and chili beans. The coleslaw has shredded green and red cabbage, shredded carrots, raisins, walnuts, and mayonnaise. I usually don’t like raisins in my coleslaw, but the walnuts help. The chili beans is actually a brothy chili, with pinto beans, ground beef, chili powder, green peppers, tomatoes, and onion. I’m going to eat the leftovers with rice, shredded iceberg lettuce, cheese, and onions. That’s how they do it in Hawaii. =)
Fast, friendly service and good prices seal the deal. AJ’s is one of the better barbecue joints in LA.

Man this BBQ is so addicting because it is so good. I go at least once or twice a month. Everything is good there, the BBQ chicken, ribs and sausages. If its your first time you must order the «triple double» meal, you won’t regret it.
They also very involved in the community, they donate to local high schools. Just another reason to eat there.

I love BBQ, and this place does it well. Good size portions, cooked the way I like it. I got the #8 Combo Meal-​2 St. Louis ribs, 2 pieces of chicken, one hot link, with chili beans and potato salad sides. Sauce is good, not too sweet, just enough balance to taste the meat. Meat cooked so tender, off the bone. I loved the chili beans-​just like the ones my Mom makes. My one complaint: just a little too salty but that could have been just me since I don’t eat lotta salt. $ 12.59 for a meal that two can easily enjoy. Sandwiches are reasonably priced, wtih pulled pork & tri tips going for $ 7.95. Burgers, wings, nachos make up the list.
Nice little family run place, inside clean with sports icons and a pretty cool baseball card collection to check out while you’re waiting for your order. A colorful exterior with flames brightly painted on the side, you can’t miss it once you know where you’re going. It’s near the new Goldline extention in East LA (the REAL East Los, people) on 3^rd just east of Indiana. My friend Erick recommended it and so do I.