Kaminski’s B-B-Q & Sports Lounge, 12725 Poway Road, Poway, California 92064
By Sandi Masori
POWAY — While driving on Poway Road to get my hair done, I noticed a barbecue restaurant that seemed to jump out at me. I guess I must have been hungry, because I never noticed it before. It looked perfect to have a bite to eat.
The ambiance when you walk in is very sports bar- lots of tv screens and team memorabilia. We noticed lots of NFL and college team gear, but as a new Mama Golden Bear, I was disappointed that there wasn’t anything from UC Berkeley.
The menu is pretty robust, and they have a stand-alone page for fish and vegetarian selection, but I’m of the mind that it’s better to get the menu items that are the restaurant specialty than something else. Generally if you order fish at a steakhouse, or steak at a fish house, you’re going to be disappointed.
So I ordered the thinly slice barbecue brisket sandwich. My companion ordered the barbecue chicken salad. Both were quite good. The sauce was on the sweet side which I liked as I find that too many barbecue sauces rely on black pepper for flavoring, and I really don’t like black pepper. This one did not though, so it was pretty good. The brisket was tender and fell easily apart. Instead of fries I ordered steamed vegetables, and they were just okay. The fries were probably really good though.
I didn’t try the salad with pulled chicken, but it looked like it was a pretty good one. In addition to pulled chicken and lettuce, it contained fresh greens, black beans, diced tomatoes, grilled sweet corn, cucumbers, red onions, cilantro and cheddar cheese, with a ranch dressing.
We arrived just after they opened for lunch, so had our pick of tables. It wasn’t long before people started trickling in. The bartender/ waiter was on point and attentive. Generally all was as you would hope.
I’d like to go back there when I’m a bit more hungry and try their beef ribs. I was too worried about making a mess of my clothes to order it this time, but it did jump out at me.
All in all, I give them an 8.5 – the food was good, as you would hope, but not dream worthy.
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Sandi Masori is the restaurant reviewer and food critic for San Diego Jewish World. If you there’s a restaurant you’d like her to review, email her at sandimasori@gmail.com. Please note, though she may try the restaurant, she will only write the review if she feels it deserves a 7 or higher.