Cookin’ With Lenny

This one’s for JC, because he paid: D
This cozy little spot is located right around the corner from a good friends former homestead. It is TERRIFYING to be in this area at night if you have no car, but quite lovely during the day. It’s a beautiful and secluded area. The Smokehouse had a giant smoker out front and is beautifully decorated with the perfect blue with a simple layout. Usually the type of seating offered (no booths) gives me bad anxiety. This was nicely counterbalanced by the good atmosphere and relaxing décor.
The waiter was very friendly and seemed like he enjoyed talking to people a lot… like, A LOT. He was very informative when it came to their craft beer collection even though it fell on deaf ears whose mouths consider Bud Light the beer of champs.
There were six of us and thus the orders varied deliciously. Here’s a breakdown:
Tri-Tip:Tasty, cooked medium well to well done. Not Santa Maria Seasoning. B
Brisket: Dry and covered in sauce, small portion. C
Ribs, two kinds: Both were soooo delicious! There was a raspberry and whiskey. Both were tender, tasty, and inventive. A
Mashed Potatoes: I don’t know what they did with these but they’re probably the best Mashed Potatoes I’ve had and I really want that recipe. At
Mac and Cheese: Decent, not bursting with flavor, overcooked. B–
Vegetable of the day: There was no yellow squash on my plate! Otherwise perfectly cooked and flavored. A
Negatives: They had no fresh lemonade and the Dr. Pepper was unavailable, and that day there was a propane issue but no one wanted anything fried, anyway.
It’s one of the better barbecue places I’ve been to, but when you’ve got someone smoking delicious meats every weekend, it’s hard to be satisfied with restaurant barbecue places. Still delicious!

Hidden Gem!!! So glad I found this place, the atmosphere is great, and the food is phenomenal. The beer selection is small but very good.

Excellent BBQ. Smoked beef ribs, smoked brisket, mac and cheese, braised kale with bacon, and jicama slaw– really what more could you ask for. Come when they have music — it’s a tasty night out.

Awesome gem in the valley! Its has the ambiance of old town restaurant. Every saturday they have entertainment here. When we came some guy playing country music.
Dont forget to have their blueberry cobbler the best!

I fail to see what the excitement is about this place. We went there for the first time today. Highly highly disappointed. Very nice Décor in the restaurant, but the seats suck. Feels like you’re sitting on a damn Rock! And our waitress, although very very sweet, was very bad. We had to wait long long waits for every single thing. And we had to keep flagging her down to get things from her. It was very very very slow service. She only had us for customers, literally. We were her only customers. So I don’t understand why everything took so damn long with her. It was really unnecessary. And I had the maple glazed chicken and I thought it was too spicy. I don’t think chicken from a BBQ place should be spicy! And they are out of most of their desserts, so I couldn’t even get dessert! Will not be coming back. Very sad, because this place was highly recommended by people on Facebook.

I am super picky with food. This place was just wonderful. The hospitality, location, and inside. It felt so cozy and it kind of took me back to the cowboy scene in a movie I cant remember.
If you want to take someone special 10 min away from the city to somewhere cozy and romantic, this is your spot. Btw there bbq dishes are full of flavor.
ABSOLUTELY great spot!!!

AaaamaZing!!!

–service was fantastic
–ambiance is perfect. Warm, inviting and rustic.
Food:
Appetizer. Best Gourmet Nachos I’ve ever had. Great portion, delicious flavors, perfectly executed. Couldn’t stop eating the last bites even after I was stuffed full.
Burger. Pulled Pork BBQ bacon burger! super filling (shared with my husband), topped with onion rings and the most amazing buttery delicious bun. Waffle fries were cooked to perfection!
Beyond stoked by the all around experience, so happy we finally stopped to try Lenny’s. the only problem for me is going to be not pulling in to eat every other day when I drive by!

First time here, all the food is so delicious. I’m not mcandcheese lover but this one .I can’t resist to eat it. Yummie for my tummy. Service da best. We had great recommendations. Of course we will back.

First off the BBQ was amazing! I ate here with my daughter and had a great time! After reading some of the other reviews I was nervous but had NO REASON to be, my family is from Houston and Memphis so I know BBQ and this place held its own! Ribs were tender and flavorful, and the salad was fresh and yummy! I def recommend & will be back

This place friggin sucks.
This owner is like the classic «Kitchen Nightmares» tv show owner: Came from movie catering, thinks that’s the same as working a restaurant, and longs for riches built off a brand.
Where the bottom really falls out of these daydreamers is ALWAYS service.
And Lenny’s is no exception.
Douchy waiters who run around in wasted energy and bad displays of inefficiency.
I wouldn’t be nearly so hard on this place if it wasn’t the exact same miserable wait and service the last 3x we’ve tried to go.
The worst thing is I tried to reach out to Lenny 1:1, and he ignored the opportunity.
So Unilocal it is. This place sucks. Can’t wait for a new owner to scrap the menu and waitstaff and make REAL use of this awesome location.
PS — There’s one guy who really rocks, though. He seems like a daytime manager. A big dude whose son does homework in the back patio while his dad works the restaurant. Not sure of his name, but THIS guy needs to own the restaurant. He’s a really nice dude, and knowledgable on beers.

They know their BBQ. Saw the reviews and had to try it. You will not be disappointed. Forget food baby I have food twins! Tender trip tip, bone lickin’ Whisky baby back ribs, amazing sides! I couldn’t pack in the desert. Saving that for another trip back. Customer service was excellent too.

Absolutely unreal experience. I’ve been meaning to try this place for years. Finally tried it the other night and we were utterly disappointed.
We placed an order through Eat24. The order was confirmed by the restaurant so I headed over for pick up. When I got there, they very apologetically told me that they didn’t have the order. They were very nice so I didn’t mind waiting… Plus I already paid. Unfortunately, an hour later, my food still wasn’t ready. Someone finally checked for me and apparently my order was eventually made but no one ever gave it to me. So it was just sitting there. Brought the food home and everything was cold and one of the side dishes was missing. This could have all been savaged if the food was amazing — but it wasn’t. The brisket was so fatty we had to throw half of it way.
So disappointing… I thought we were going to love this place. It’s a cool location and the servers are really friendly. Unfortunately, our one and only experience here was atrocious. But even if all the problems with our pick-​up order was an irregular occurrence for this place, there’s just no way the food was worth the money. We felt almost ripped off from the sub-​par BBQ served.

This place was amazing!
When you arrive, there’s a big ol’ smoker outside so you know you’re in for a treat. Staff were incredibly friendly and nice and the food was excellent. Baby back ribs and kale were both soooo good. I’ll be back!

Excellent bbq the maple chicken was moist and delicious waffle fries were nice and crisp
Bbq ribs were perfectly seasoned and smoked

BF & I have been wanting to try this place. Generally when you set no expectations, it always turns out better. It reminded me of the dark thrilling drive to the Summit House. The main road takes you to a neighborhood of estates. The restaurant seems a bit outlandish but it somehow works. Lenny stood by the grill and greeted us before we entered. That’s a nice gesture.
Ambiance: Very humble, cowboyish, and rustic interior. Make sure to get served by Brandy (a friendly server who’s got a short blonde bob haircut). She was so attentive, it made the dinner so much more pleasant. There was a guitarist who was singing for tips. What bothered us was most pple only tipped $ 1s? BF & I thought he was such an amazing performer, we gave him $ 38 to show our appreciation.
Food: It was a busy Saturday night, suggest you call to make reservations on the weekend. The service was a bit slow, but that allowed BF & I to have a romantic chat before we got dirty with our hands.
We ordered all the below:
½ Whiskey rubbed ribs
½ Raspberry rubbed ribs
Cilantro shrimp
Fully loaded Macaroni — it’s the bomb. (It initially arrived cold but Brandy our server got it reheated and comped us with a free glass of cab to make up for it.)
Commander salad
Parking: It’s a small parking lot but you’ll manage to find a spot.
Overall: if you love ribs like we do, then «YES» you should come all the way to Chatsworth to support Cooking with Lenny. You won’t regret it as it’s finger-lickin’-hella good!

The service can be slow when they are really busy, but the food is so good, they still get 5 stars.
Best breakfast in the valley.

By and large the most tasteful BBQ in the Valley!
With the live acoustic entertainment and the amazing service by the staff, we couldn’t have asked for a better evening. Thank you and see you again soon.

Love the location, makes you forget you’re in the Valley.
Now the food can use some work, our Mac & Cheese Skillet smelled gross. The skillet smelled like a dirty wet kitchen rag, we told our waiter and he agreed with the stank but said he wasn’t sure if it was the cheese or the skillet… like really? Either way we didn’t eat it.

I’ve read lots of good reviews about this place so we decided to try it. The service was excellent, the place was very clean that can fit about 50 people. We went two days before Christmas at 5pm and we were the only one’s for a good two hours. It was nice because we got lots of attention but at the same time, it felt weird to be the only ones in a restaurant.
We ordered the following:
Spicy potato taco ($ 2): it was interesting, they just got a cris cut fry (the one’s you get at Carl’s Jr.) and chopped it up and put in in a corn tortilla with cabbage slaw. I’m glad it was only $ 2, otherwise I would have been pissed.
Blue Cheese Wedge ($ 8): it was, nice big chunks of blue cheese crumbles.
5 Beef Rib ($ 28): The ribs were very tender, I’m not used to ribs with a very watery sauce, I like dry rub with a nice BBQ sauce. This was definitely not my favorite.
Kids Burger ($ 11): we just got the hamburger patty and bun and it was $ 11.00. My son liked it so that was all it matters.
Whisky Full Rack Ribs ($ 32): it had a very watery sauce so I’m not a big fan but it was very tender.
Purple Haze Beer ($ 5): this was probably my favorite thing on the menu.
Don’t know if I’ll be back again.

I really wish I had this place closer to home.
This place is noticeably closely run by family.
It feels so home-​y, so full of love.
The owner or manager’s kids even stopped in after school and started up homework on a table.
It’s THAT type of comfort restaurant.
The mac and cheese skillet was to die for.
I could probably clear two of those on my own just because of how amazing they are.
But then I’d probably make myself sick because of too much of a good thing, so just, forget the above…
The spicy pulled pork quesadilla was such a great balance of pork and cheese.
It had a nice bite, with zestiness, and cheesy goodness.
The tri-​tip melt was ordered by my friend, and he was in heaven too.
If we had had room after everything, dessert would have probably been just as dreamy as everything else.