VooDoo BBQ and Grill

Critic's Review

I figured I'd save some gas and check out a couple more items at VooDoo while doing the new Chipotle next door. I'd already eaten, so I took out a couple of "Po-Boy"s; I got the signature pulled pork and the jerk chicken. The wait was about 10 minutes; they play some pretty aggressive jazz music. I grabbed the bag and headed home.

When I opened the bag, you can imagine my disappointment:

VooDoo BBQ Pulled Pork

A Po-Boy on a hamburger bun? Really? The good, crusty soft roll is the entire point of a Po Boy; I found some pictures and it seems that they "used" to use mini-sub rolls for their Po-Boys, but in typical franchise fashion, they've switched to Wonder buns. The pulled pork was very good; it came with a tub of BBQ sauce that was kind of sweet; but I'll eat this with some leftover sauce from Texas BBQ. This clearly wasn't "pulled" by a master chef or with any love; more like ripped pork, but it was tasty. Too dry without the sauce however.

The jerk chicken was also visually uninspiring; Jerk is messy stuff and usually Jerk Chicken is pretty wobbly. This was neatly sliced, probably with a machine, with a thin jerk crust on the edges.

VooDoo BBQ Jerk Chicken Po-Boy

Not bad. Not too spicy but it had an interesting little zing. Too bad they serve this stuff on a hamburger bun; This could be really good with more appropriate bread.I can't recommend it as a sandwich, however.

Last Review 10/14/13

VooDoo BBQ is a franchise BBQ joint that originated in Louisiana; hence the "New Orleans Style BBQ" tagline. It's kind of interesting; they're also opening a location is the old Mama Fu's in Hollywood. This is the first store to open in the new complex across from the Andrews Avenue Hooters.

The entire place is built like it came in a big box with fake wood that looks like siding you might put on your house. There's piped in New Orleans Jazz; but the place looks more fast food than like any sort of authentic BBQ.

VooDoo BBQ Interior

I was ordering more than I was going to eat so I ordered take-out, even though I was going to have the gumbo in-house. They have numbers that you bring to your table and a runner will bring out the food.

The tables have private lable sauces; a franchise trick the forces franchisees to buy everything from the owners. It's no worse than any other BBQ.

VooDoo BBQ Table Setup

When my order was ready, I broke out the soup and dug a spoon out of the bag. My first impression was that it was kind off a small container for $5.49.

VooDoo BBQ Gumbo

I wouldn't call this a gumbo; it was too thin and didn't have much stuff in it. Aside from rice, it has 2 small pieces of sausage and a little piece of chicken. It was a little spicy; it wouldn't have been bad if it was an actual gumbo with more stuff in it. A weak offering indeed. Totally not worth the price.

I headed home after eating the soup, and frankly I was a bit scared to check out the Jambalaya. I've had some seriously bad Jambalayas; it's pretty easy to wreck it. When I opened the container, I had a mixed reaction. I was afraid that it would be a soupy mess, but this was tight.

VooDoo Jambalaya

I was disappointed in the lack of stuff; this is just rice with a smattering of chicken and sausage. I expected a BBQ version to be more meat centric; from a taste standpoint, the Jambalaya was very good; kind of spicy. If it had more vegetables (celery,onions and bell peppers) and more meat it would be excellent.

The presentation on the ribs was pretty bad; a smallish "half rack" for $10.95 with no sides. You can get 2 sides for an additional $3.95, which makes the place pretty expensive.

VooDoo Ribs

The ribs were overdone; dried out and not too smokey. But the big problem is that they were skinny ribs.

VooDoo BBQ Babyback Ribs

Not a lot of meat on these. With the sauce they weren't bad, but there aren't making any legitimate "top" list.

With Hickory sticks just down the road, it's hard to imagine coming to this place for regular BBQ; Hickory Sticks is cheaper and better as far as straight BBQ. They have some interesting stuff on the menu; I was disappointed that this location doesn't have the BBQ Chili that the company is advertising; If you work in the area it's probably no worse than your other choices.