Grandpa Fred’s Barbeque

The food is great I had the brisket sandwich which was juicy and delicious, I also got the collard greens which I loved from their previous location before they moved to chatsworth and It tasted exactly as I remember, the Mac n cheese was great as well! The place doesn’t seem to exciting too be honest but with great people and great food I could care less! And Ms. P the waitress is very funny and kind!

I am soooo glad this placed closed. Went there years ago when they were located on Victory. Had the Gumbo which was just the worst! Oscar is a nice guy but a poor me dude! Tried it again when they relocated to Corbin. Brought some female co– workers who were immediately insulted by the waitress including phallic drawings on a napkin. Are you kidding me? We complained and she continued to serve. Took an hour and a half for lunch.

This place is a halal version of Lucille’s. It doesn’t matter if you eat halal or not, this place is just plain awesome food! The people are wonerful and the prices are reasonable. The best part was that the meat literally fell off the ribs and the steak was cooked to perfection. They have 40 levels of spicy bbq sauce and after the 15^th one they make you sign a waiver! This place was awesome and I’m glad we found this little gem!

We were in the mood for catfish, soul food! We get there and there’s no one in there! This is the new place, bigger place than the small place on Victory. We get seated, there’s no problem because we’re the only ones there. We say can we get some fried catfish… this older woman says, we have none!!! WHAT! I tried to order something else… she says, we have none. We walked out, disappointed and hungry! Will never go back.

No clue what happened to the place. I went and it’s completely shut down.

closed/​relocated

The original restaurant use to be off Victory Blvd. In woodland hills. I remember going here my first time and wow, what an experience to eat some soul food. Everything was exactly how I imagined it. The Mac n cheese, collard greens, corn bread. I could not agree with the ribs though, it felt like I was eating ribs dipped in sugar.
Place is pricey than usual but the service makes up for that. An experience to have the owner lady /​cookers to have a chat with you is very cool. They introduced me to the hottest hot sauce of them all. Mad dog. Of course I had a teaspoon of that. Food does take awhile like about 15 — 20 mins. But yeah, I like the ambience of the old place. The new place has a lot of room and seems to be like a ghost town.

It’s hard to leave a review because everytime we come here, it’s closed. Is this place open anymore?
Very disappointing to driver somewhere multiple times and find no one there.

I actually really enjoy Grandpa Fred’s food; however, their service has consistently been unacceptable and their lack of organization is evident even to the customer.
I’ve dined at Grandpa Fred’s (Northridge location) three times over the course of these past several months. My last two experiences dining there were in hopes that things had improved. They hadn’t…in fact, my dining experiences at Grandpa Fred’s have increasingly gotten worse.
The first thing one might notice upon arriving at Grandpa Fred’s is the décor. It seems like the building may have been 2 or 3 different businesses/​restaurants at one point and the walls were knocked down to conjoin them all. Each room of Grandpa Fred’s still has the same old décor of whatever other business/​restaurant it used to be, leaving the overall design of the restaurant inconsistent. In addition, even months after the grand opening there’s still things lying around such as boxes/​random excess bar stools/​etc. as if they’re still unpacking/​designing the place. It’s unprofessional. Also, the last time I was at Grandpa Fred’s there was smoke spilling out from the kitchen filling up the whole dining area. Nothing was done to improve the situation and I eventually got a bad headache. Overall, let’s just say ambiance is not their strong point.
Another major issue that I have with Grandpa Fred’s is consistent lack of variety. Each time I’ve been there they’ve ‘been out of’ a main item on the menu. First of all, if you’re advertising yourself solely as a BBQ restaurant, it might be in your best interest to always have all of the BBQ items on your menu available to your customers. However, in the event that the kitchen happens to be out of a certain item, the server should inform the customers when they are first seated… rather than just hoping no one orders the item.
Lastly, the most unfortunate aspect of Grandpa Fred’s is their service. Each time I’ve dined there I’ve had a server who has forgotten to bring something out or gotten an order wrong. When something is wrong with my order at Grandpa Fred’s I make it a point to tell my server at once as I’m not sure when (or if) I’ll see them again. Last time I was there, my family and I waited almost 40 minutes from the time we finished our meal to when we received the bill and the restaurant wasn’t even half full. That was the last straw.
Like I said, I really do enjoy Grandpa Fred’s food, but unfortunately food is just one aspect of what makes a good restaurant. From the other reviews I’ve read it appears I’m not alone in thinking this… so what’s going on Grandpa Fred’s? We’re waiting…

We have wanted to try Grandpa Fred’s BBQ for quite some time dating back to their old place in Woodland Hills. We finally got the chance and tried them at the new location and were pleasantly surprised. No, the ambiance is not quite there yet, the service was not bad and the food was really good. I tried the Combo Platter with the Brisket and Chicken and tried the Baked Beans and Mac N’ Cheese for the sides.
The Brisket was excellent, it was tender and juicy and the flavor was awesome. The BBQ was sweet, and smoky with just a touch of tanginess. I really don’t care what the ambiance is like if the BBQ is this good and this BBQ I would eat in a barn with animals if I had to, it is that good. It reminds me of a BBQ place in N.C. that we dined at. Our server was funny and friendly and the experience wasn’t bad, try it if you really like BBQ.

Facebook page says they were talking to Chef Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares casting — please God let Ramsey help them! They desperately need help with décor and service. And the food — 1 star at best. I’m sorry but, it just didn’t meet my standards. There are some really great halal restaurants in the valley — this one is not worth the visit.
That said — I’m really hoping they will make some improvements b/​c I would love me some halal bbq — Woodranch style.

We have been big fans of the restaurant in their old location. Happy to see they finally reopened. We had a party of 7 including a 5 year old and 9 year old. I had the prime rib steak which was excellent. Others had the chicken, a little heavy on the BBQ sauce but everyone liked it
Mac and cheese was good not great. Overall an excellent meal. The only disappointment was no desert available, but they are working on it
The owner Oscar is a terrific guy. They need to get a few things together but overall we loved it.
Who cares about the cuisine, it’s BBQ

The food is SO good. Southern BBQ at its finest.
People are annoyed with the lack of ambiance or casual service? Get over it! It’s all about the BBQ, people. If they don’t have something, order something else. Clearly they don’t want to overstock on meat and want to serve you fresh food. My bf wanted the brisket, but when he was told they were out, he happily ordered the prime rib instead and loved it.
Seriously we devoured our plates. Hot links and prime rib were excellent. What makes everything so good is the BBQ sauce. It has the best flavor. Delicious! Sides we tried were all great, too. The mac and cheese is delicious and creamy. It’s the perfect compliment to the BBQ, especially if you are eating something spicy. The cornbread and french fries were tasty, too. We loved everything.
I seriously can’t believe all the negative reviews! This place is great and we are gonna come back for sure. Also, everyone on staff was super friendly, especially our waitress. Best BBQ in the area!!!

Just a note to the people on here who are trying to give it a «0» (Uh, Tom, I’m talking about you…).
I really wonder how in the world you could have «Pork Ribs» at Grandpa Fred’s? You mention the «hardened pork ribs»… But anyone with half a brain would see RIGHT AT THE TOP OF THEIR WEBSITE…
«NO PORK»
Grandpa Fred’s is a Halal BBQ restaurant. No pork is served there.
I don’t know where you ate, but it obviously wasn’t at Grandpa Fred’s. Maybe you work for a competing BBQ restaurant and came on here to try and slander?
By the way, I ate there last night. Wow the new place is huge (I wonder what they are going to do with the big hibachi style bars in the back room?)! I loved it. I prefer short ribs but they were sold out, so I had the Angus Beef ribs. They were good. I love the BBQ sauce they use. I ordered a chicken plate, brisket and filet mignon to go. I tried a little last night and am going to have it for lunch today. They were really good! I couldn’t tell much difference between the brisket and filet, but both were really tasty. I like how they get the sugar in the BBQ sauce to carmelize a little bit on the outside.
Also things I noticed (and liked), none of the sodas have sugar in them. They have a decent vegetarian menu (for groups with people who don’t eat meat). The corn bread and the yams are really good! And the hot sauces are REALLY hot (test one before you put it all over your food).
As a muslim I haven’t ever been able to find good BBQ that was also halal, except for Uncle Freds. Now that they are open again, I’ll be heading back often.
The only thing I would change, is they need to add some desserts to the menu! ;-) A good pecan pie would have been a perfect ending to a great meal.

I ate here last week for lunch and I think I am still full.
Anyway, don’t let the location fool you. There is a office desk/​reception station at the front door, but once you’re inside, be ready to eat. The food is pretty good. I did not know what or how much to order so I had the chicken lunch special and a side order of hot links. I think the hot links are what did me in.
The BBQ chicken was pretty tasty. The lunch came with a ¼ chicken and two sides. The sauce was a little sweet and had a nice kick. For sides I had the mac & cheese and baked beans, both of which were tasty. The mac & cheese was southern style shells.
I noticed some concerns from Unilocalers about the iced tea. They do only offer sweet tea, which is fine, but I usually prefer basic black iced tea.
With tip my lunch was $ 18. Not the cheapest, but not outrageous. I could have saved a few bucks by passing on the hot links (though they were good).

My family and I have waited for many months for Grandpa Fred’s Barbecue to open. What a disappointment. Don’t bother.
It started when we ordered. My son ordered a «Coke» and me an iced tea. Only sweat iced tea (you’ve got to be kidding me). The cola they served was not Coke (and we were not told this). My son could not drink it.
My son and I ordered the full chicken dinner to split. It came with four sides. My wife ordered the steak sandwich which came with two sides. With the exception of my fries, all of the sides were cold. My chicken was luke-​warm while my son’s was actually cold in parts. When the food was returned, it came back zapped in the microwave… hmmmm.
As for the food. My son couldn’t eat his chicken and returned it for something else. My chicken was barely satisfactory but I was able to eat it (without the skin which was pure fat). While my wife’s steak sandwich was warm when delivered, it was dry.
As for the service, slow and incomplete. The waitress was not the person we returned the food with; it was the bus boy. She had not bothered to check on us. Further, she was incapable of checking in occasionally to see if we needed refills.
And finally, while we were eating, we were serenaded with Karaōke… LOUD Karaōke. While great for a bar scene, not good when you’re trying to have a quiet dinner with the family. By the way, the singers were pretty awful.
As for the balance of the ambiance, there was none. Just a bunch of tables and chairs thrown into a big room sparsely decorated. While this would not matter for me if the food was a home run, well I think you get it.

If I could give 0 stars this place would get 0.
Sorry Oscar,
We went to try your place after reading your rebuttals to the bad reviews.
We have to say that there is nothing that we tried that was worth paying for accept the beef bones that my dog will most likely enjoy.
ambiance; none
but, hey, for great ribs, we can get past it.
place setting; the utensils are beyond cheap.
Especially proven was the knife that couldn’t cut through the overcooked hardened pork ribs.
service; from waking in, to being seated, to getting our order taken.
sometimes it’s just best to hire experienced people.
food; Ordered baby back rib slab, got something like spare ribs.
warm outside, crusty and luke warm at the bone… sent them back
ASAP, they came back (SAME ONES) way to hot to touch, more overcooked than what they started as. As stated, my knife would not cut through the end parts.
Beef ribs. again, ordered a slab. Saucy yes, fatty yes,
IMO ribs should be removed of all the underside fat before cooking,
let alone be served like fried fat hanging off the bone. The meat was
tough. Enough said on the two orders of meat…
Intermission… Yelling going on in the kitchen…
I heard it all, from asking the employee if he really wanted to work there, to the stuff about the health department. Not what you want to hear while having bad food.
side orders… excuse me… where is some sauce to put on the ribs???
reviews said hot, spicy huh… how about just bad.
collard greens; taste icky
cole slaw, no flavor accept that of raw cabbage
beans, taste like canned, BBQ sauce added didn’t help
mac & cheese. powdered cheese? maybe, but drenched in it,
Pink Lemon aid, taste like made from a mix.
Save yourself the time and go somewhere else for ribs.
READ THE REAL REVIEWS!

I love Grandpa Fred’s! The food is so good!
The cornbread ad baked beans are amazing as are the mac-​n-​cheese and yams.
Try the short-​ribs or the links.
If you’re brave enough to try their hot sauce, make sure that when you get ‘the cure’ you try the green tea version. It helps better than any other.
It’s also really cool that they have a projection tv with movies playing all the time

This place was decent. Only reason they got 3 stars from me (which means they’re average, so don’t hate me) is because they don’t have Pork. No baby back ribs, no pulled pork sandwich, no pork spare ribs, no pork shoulder… I want my freaking PORK! (This is coming from a Jew. lol)
I heard great things about this place and was craving a pulled pork sandwich, only to be disappointed. After scanning the menu 10 times, trying to find something else I want… I settled with Rack o’ Ribs ($ 19). I also ordered the Arkansas Cheesesteak ($ 10) and the Chicken Breast Sandwich ($ 8.50). Everything came with two sides.
The Chicken Breast Sandwich seemed decent, but I only had a bite.
The Arkansas Cheesesteak was also alright.
For the sides I got Mac n Cheese with Cornbread. The Mac n Cheese was greasy and gross, but the cornbread was great.
For $ 19 you get a decent number of huge ribs. I think it was 9 or 10. Lots of meat and a bit too much fat on them. I’m all for a bit of fat on my ribs… but these were chunks of pure fat.
One thing I loved about this place was their BBQ Sauce. Definitely one of the best I’ve had to date, but it wasn’t enough to make me forget about my pulled pork sandwich that I couldn’t get. :(

Awwwwwww yeeeaaaaaah… I ordered the Arkansas Cheesesteak sandwich, a delectable open faced sandwich in which a large amount of ribeye is stuffed haphazardly on a white roll. Dark, sticky sweet BBQ sauce is generously spread over the meat, green and red peppers are thrown in for good measure, and some cheese is melted on top to make a gooey bloody mess. I ain’t been to Arkansas, but you can bet your carnivorous ass that the Arkansas Cheesesteak sandwich is one mean MoFo on the stomach… It tastes so good going down and you know the bitch is gonna burn when the stomach acids starting spewing up your oesophagus… Better get me some Tums before bedtime!
Seriously, this sandwich kicks some ass and I don’t quite fathom why the hell Sara F, apparently a vegan, would come to Grandpa Fred’s Barbeque. That’s like a diabetic walking into Beard Papa’s, right? Or a hemophiliac getting a tatoo? Or a middle aged man with hearburn eating BBQ? Errrrr… yeah.
Oh and people… They got Mac & Cheese yo! No, really… the good «kind» Mac & Cheese. not quite orgasmic, but still pretty damn good! The kind of Mac & Cheese that gives you dirty thought… Now it’s just me, but I’m thinking a bed, lots of BBQ sauce, and some Mac & Cheese and… errr… I’m just sayin’. I got my BBQ meal, I got Mac & Cheese, and the SF Giants are beating the Dodgers… All good.
Still, when all is said and done, my wife said her dinner wasn’t so good. She had the sliced ribeye plate with yams and corn. The meat tasted so-​so, the yams were watery and the corn… well, how can you screw up corn, right? Take corn, apply copious amounts of butter and salt. Eat. Simple, eh? Anyway, she tried the Cobb Chicken salad which we’d ordered as backup, since she wasn’t too thrilled with the barbecued meat, and she didn’t like it either. Chicken tasted weird, said she. Wouldn’t argue BBQ with her though, seeing as she was born in Texas and I come from a country that is below sea level where it’s rarely sunny enough to barbecue in the first place! ;)
Also, they don’t deliver… Well, they do, but you got to go through VIP Meal Delivery Services, which we did. It’s a ten dollar premium, which is a bit steep… I don’t think we’ll use them again. I dug the food, but my wife not so much. We’ll hit the other BBQ joints in the West Valley before committing to one place.