Shortstop BBQ

Very disappointed. We’ve been here before and were willing to live with the somewhat slow service because the food has always been good. But now the service is even slower and the food is abysmal.
First it took 25 minutes to get our order. We had the pork belly, lettuce and tomato sandwiches and a burger, both of which were burned to an absolute crisp. The burger looked like a hockey puck and our nine-​year-​old – who loves burgers – wouldn’t even touch it. The ribs were ice cold, And they were out of virtually every side dish. It appeared that the manager was drinking behind the counter, and playing games with his friends rather than paying attention to the restaurant. The only upside is that we didn’t order our very favorite item on the menu – the pulled pork fries – so they didn’t have an opportunity to ruin that for us as well.
I hope they get back to their former standards, and we will give them at least one more try to see if they can fix things, but be aware that the former glowing reviews may not be representative of the current standards.

They have to fix the inside because I’ve seen customers walked out because they don’t know what’s going on. Everything looked brand new and there’s not really any signs or enough employees to better direct first time customers.
The food is amazing I ordered 3 pulled pork for my husband and friend but they messed up my order and gave me tri tip with slaw and I hate slaw. Since I felt bad and didn’t want them to throw it away I purchased it. I really wish they gave me a discount or even try to offer me would of been better customer service on their part since they did messed up my order.

Oddly enough cream corn does taste fantastic in a pulled pork sandwich.
Bottom line the food is fantastic. Pulled pork, cream corn, burger, fries. GOOD.
Bacon Mac, it’s ok.
Reason for the 2 missing stars.
TERRIBLE INATTENTIVE SERVICE.
Sat at the bar, waited several minutes before we were asked about beverages.
Then sat several minutes more without any acknowledgment with our menus down ready to order before we were asked about food.
Provided some simple instructions with our order (cut the burger in half, put the corn on the side) both ignored.
Had to ask for napkins twice. As well as initiating contact with the help to request the check. And again, had to collect their attention to take our card as payment.
A simple 20−30minute experience for a small snack turned into an elongated visit lasting long enough i could have washed and dried my clothes at the laundromat next door.

I promised them a while ago that I’d write a review and now I’m making good on that promise. I’ve only been to their truck, so I assume their restaurant will be on par.
Though I’ve only tried their Pulled Pork sandwich and the Tri-​Trip sandwich, it’s clear that they put a lot of love in their ingredients and make sure that the meat is tender, juicy, and abundant. They definitely blow their BBQ food truck competitors out of the water. Give them a shot.

Wrong direction
I have to say, I was very disappointed after my latest visit to shortstop BBQ. As you can tell from my previous review, I am a big fan of this place and still am. However, my last experience was less than ideal
(that’s the nicest way I can put it).
The pulled pork was extremely spicy on their standard pulled pork sandwich– So much to the point that I wasn’t able to finish it– I’m just guessing here but it seemed like somebody accidentally put waaay too much cayenne pepper in mix. Now, while I don’t love really spicy food, I am not completely turned off by it and can handle an average amount of spices but this was excessive and unlike any of the other pulled pork sandwiches I’ve had there.
If there is one thing that I crave from every restaurant I go to it’s consistency — and their sandwiches have never been spicy before and I really missed that consistency with what we were getting.
The last time I was in, one of the people working there really sold me on trying the burger so we ordered that this time also to try. Now, I didn’t really specify how I wanted it cooked so maybe part of it is my fault, but this burger was severely undercooked to the point where it might of been unsafe and was really disgusting. The outside was cooked, but all the way through the middle it wasn’t just pink, it was raw ground beef. So that ended up in the trash.
Really spicy pork and severely undercooked ground beef made this meal a pretty big disaster. Now, I will go back and try it again because I really like the food from previous visits and I find the staff for the most part to be pretty friendly and helpful. But I look forward to my Friday night meals and if another one has to end up in the trash, I won’t be very happy. If I have another experience that mirrors anything like the experience I just had, it might have to be my last time shortstop. Let’s hope this last visit was just an anomaly.

Free drink with your student ID.
I absolutely love their cream corn and the buffalo wings! Oh my goodness. It’s my favorite.
The cream corn has this sweet creamy, yet cheesy and peppery taste to it.
The buffalo wings are not overpowering with sauce. It’s perfect.
THE BUFFALO WINGS DIPPED IN CREAM CORN IS EVEN BETTER. It might sound weird, but I like it like that.
The tri-​tip blue cheese bbq fries were good as well, but it’s a bit too sour for my liking. Maybe next time, I’ll have the bleu cheese & bbq sauce on the side. The fries were super crispy though!

It just gets better and better! Looks like they got their booze paperwork approved, cause they’ve got pumpkin ale now, baby!
As if I needed another reason to stop in here — the food is as good as it gets for this little BBQ joint set in this non-​descript little plaza. If you haven’t been there yet, it’s situated right smack next to a big olé laundromat. Better yet, look for the Jack In The Box you’ll avoid forever after trying out the sandwiches or frites here.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The sandwiches are good, to be sure, with creative toppings and artisan rolls, and are pretty decently priced at around $ 6 each, and there’s even a vegetarian option with a portobella mushroom ‘meat’ that is absolutely delicious — ask for no provolone to make it vegan, I believe.
That said, their standout menu option, in my humble (yeah right!) opinion, are the frites. Double fried thin cut fries topped with wonderful BBQ goodness — you just can’t go wrong. The Beef and Bleu Frites are tossed with cool bleu cheese crumbles and then smothered with tender, thin-​cut brisket and sauced nicely with their signature Carolina BBQ sauce. Delicious, and something I keep coming back for.
More on the subject of Frites: Boyfriends hearts the BBQ Frites — pulled pork, cheddar cheese, & BBQ sauce, not my favorite, but it sure smells good! On days when I’m feeling like my meat tooth needs a break, the Portabella mushroom frites do it for me with portabellas and provolone & tangy Carolina BBQ sauce.
The portions are large enough to share, and be comfortable. Trust me, if you act like a piggie, and order a whole portion for just yourself, you’re gonna be sorry — and direly in need of looser pants :)
They also have their year round holiday offering of turkey, on both the sammich and the frites — smoked turkey, cheddar, and chili-​cranberry BBQ sauce. Pretty damned tasty if you ask me. The only thing we haven’t tried yet are the plates, which they offer with one, two, or three meat choices, and two sides. The sides include their ‘offensive’ baked bean, creamed corn (sweet and very creamy) Bleu Slaw, and french fries. I hear they’ve got a black eyed pea salad, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. Oh well, tomorrow’s another day!
Now, I’ve read other’s reviews that talk about their food truck, and occasionally, how lacking it is. Never tried the food truck myself, but their storefront location deserves a chance for all you BBQ lovers out there. Hands down, this is one of the best BBQ locations EVER, and the folks that own the place are the nicest people too — and they do know their BBQ! :)
Addendum: The takeout Frites arrive perfectly home — still crispy and piping hot.

Tri tip and blue cheese fries were amazing.
Huge portion, plenty to share.
Fries were perfectly salted — - lots of salt, just how I like my fries.
The man got a pulled pork sandwich. Loved it, especially the creamed corn on top.

I’m partial, I’m critical, I’ve had good BBQ and I make good BBQ. Now I have to give them credit for touting themselves as Southern California BBQ. I don’t know what that means, but it’s seems bold. I can tell the differences between North and South Carolina, Texas, Memphis, Kansas City, Georgia and the Gulf Coast. It’s the subtle differences in the wood used, spices, cuts, and if sauce is used (also the type of sauce). Californian’s are more known for the Tri-​Tip which cooks very well high and fast or slow and slow and we have a smaller variety of hardwoods naturally in our area.
They do a pulled pork, tritip, turkey and a portabello option on fries and between some buns. The creamed corn was an interesting idea, both good on their own, but didn’t quite click together. I was hoping for a more pickled side or perhaps just pickles. The pork was well shredded and tender, I could feel the bark, but could not taste the bark. Very little smoke ring. The bun was to me too artisanal, but then again maybe this is Southern California BBQ. Beef & Bleu Frites, not fries, but Frites. The gorgonzola and tritip was a good call, a bit overwhelming on the cheese and more sauce perhaps (Carne Asada Fries esque). I prefer my meat to be larger chunks rather than chopped so small. It’s tritip, it’s not going to crumble and it’s a big cut of meat, I kinda want to see it’s size.
I have to say I’m not overly impressed by their lack of smoke ring, lack of bark on the pork and the sauce which although good seemed more like Arby’s sauce than anything uniquely original. The fries were good, nothing impressive. They should really push their sides as they are what non BBQ enthusiasts haven’t really had. With a few more innovative sides they could also play the styles from time to time versus just some generic Southern California moniker. Actually incorporate. I’m not saying completely sway from your roots, but here’s an idea I’ve been throwing around my head. Open faces sandwich with pulled pork, over easy egg then a BBQ sauce with heat, or jalapeño poppers instead of the creamed corn. Try using beets instead of creamed corn for that sweetness.
I just feel if you’re going to represent yourself as Southern California BBQ, we have a lot of opportunity to rewrite things with ingenuity, creativity and adaptability. Perfect the sauce, perfect the rub, smoke the meat and really throw people off with flavor profiles and combine things. Just because it’s close, the lines are long doesn’t mean it’s good they could just be hungry or lazy, but I’ll travel for food, just for the opportunity for good food

Had the chicken sandwich, turkey sandwich and the beef & blue frites.
Chicken sandwich was delicious. Had a little spice to it, the bun was nice and toasted with some mixed greens and tomatoes, and the creamy shallot sauce was light but added a nice flavor. Also found out that people like it so much, its going to be on their permanent menu instead of just the specials menu.
The turkey sandwich, which was like a shredded turkey like chili, was lacking something. It either needs some cole slaw, corn, or greens and tomatoes on it. The sauce which was a cranberry chili sauce was good, but overall the sandwich was a bit plain.
As for the frites, this is what will keep us coming back!!! They were amazing! French fries topped with blue cheese crumbles, tri tip beef and topped with a tangy BBQ sauce. SO GOOD! Even though we were stuffed, we made sure to finish these! Their most popular of the frites. Gotta try them!
Service wise, they were very friendly. Offered us a little sample of their baked beans. Their prices are awesome, $ 1 for a small drink with unlimited refills and the sandwiches were just over $ 5, the frites were $ 7. The only complaint I really have is that it took awhile to get our food. When we walked in, they were making food for a party of 3, then had a to go order for 2 and then it was ours, but it took a decent amount of time. But the quality of food may outweigh the wait time.
The ambiance felt like… if a food truck were to have a brick and mortar store, this would be it. Not sure if they were a food truck or anything before this place though. We will definitely be back!

I feel bad for this 2.5 star round down, as I really hoped to be a fan of the brick & mortar location.
I think it’s great that these are young entrepreneurs trying to build a business, especially considering all the other things (or lack of things) they could be doing!
Unfortunately, I tend to agree with most of the points noted in the lower rated reviews.
Hopefully the consistency of the low reviews will help the team make adjustments, or at least show a very accurate picture of what to expect here.
First off, the .5 is for the friendly counter service, having self serve Pepsi fountains, and my brother’s kids seemed to enjoy their burgers — however their food opinions are light years away from credible!
This place is more like a fast food BBQ sandwich place — maybe if the name included the word sandwiches — I would consider it with lunchtime sandwich places and it might be «ok» in that category. Rated as a BBQ place, I can’t say that.
The menu — 4 types sandwiches, 4 types of loaded fries, the same meats plated instead of sandwich style, one burger, one chicken sandwich, creamed corn, and cole slaw as possible sides — I read something about beans in one review from the truck, but they were not on the menu — and one type of ribs — St. Louis style — available only on weekends, no ribs at a BBQ place — disappointing. I was there on a Thursday night from 5:30 to 7pm and there was only one other party the entire time — not a good outlook — Pepe’s and Jack in the Box’s drive throughs were very busy the whole time.
Seating is not real comfortable, no décor, no character, just paint — sparse. Again, more like a fast food place — I guess this is basically the truck with no wheels — problem is — when you go to patronize food trucks there are usually a bunch of other trucks around — you have a varied choices for yourself and others in your party — so their limited menu might not be and issue, but here at the restaurant it ‘s very limiting.
All of this could be forgiven if the food were a home run — unfortunately some interesting ideas are squandered. The pulled pork sandwich includes creamed corn, and the tri tip sammy has a nice blue cheese slaw — however the meat quality as others have noted is severely lacking — it really looks like fast food quality. The tri tip on my BBQ Frites looked and tasted cheap — I also expected a larger portion for the price — It wasn’t tiny — but I expected more. I had the tangy sauce on my items — it was ok — not hot, but rather vinegar and mustard style — It was ok, not exceptional though.
They have two other sauces — a sweet BBQ sauce — which was fine — tasted about the same as Sweet Baby Ray’s (which I like), and a cranberry chili BBQ sauce that I thought was the most flavorful and best one of the three. One person in our party requested the sweet sauce — and the order was wrong — she got the tangy — which she was not a fan of — that’s kinda sad since we were the only ones there for an hour and a half and they couldn’t get our order correct!
They give discounts to CSUF students — and they recently had discounted pulled pork sandwiches for $ 2.50, at that price I’d say it’s priced about right. It may be that they are looking for a starving student demographic that’s been surviving on microwave ramen noodles.
Positives — as others have noted — the bread, and the (I like them thin) fries are good.
They carry cupcakes from here :
IDK if they are good or not — but this places reviews make it look like they might be worth a try.
No beer, waiting for a license, but I didn’t see the typical application documents in the window so who knows what will happen– they have Root Beer on tap.
Ok, so in the end this doesn’t measure up as a BBQ place, however if you are right there — it would serve as an alternative to getting a burger from Jack in the Box.

I tried the tri-​tip sandwich today for lunch. It looked really good from the outside, with the golden brown, nicely toasted, and buttered brioche bread. But as soon as I took a peek inside, I was a bit deflated. The purple cabbage and bleu cheese slaw really dwarfed the few slices of tri-​tip meat in there.
Okay, with just a few slices of meat, it better good. Unfortunately, it was really chewy and rubbery — no flavor whatsover either. I counted 3 slices of tri tip. Not a good value for $ 6. The sandwich was dominated by the bleu cheese. The portion of the cabbage slaw to the meat was like 3 to 1. Not a good ratio. I really liked the brioche bread, though!

Their BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches are $ 2.50 until February 12^th! So hurry!
The BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich is already a great deal at only $ 5.00. A great deal not only because it’s inexpensive, but sizable, tasty and well prepared. You get mounds of tender, hickory smoked flavored pulled pork shoulder smothered in a tangy and not overly sweetened barbeque sauce. Then, they layer it with their yummy creamed corn and I believe a little bit of mustard. All the sandwiches are served with a soft, toasty artisan brioche bun. The bun was so good and tasted awfully familiar. It turns out that they get their buns directly from the OC Baking Company — the makers of what I think are the best sandwich buns in the business!
Add fries to your order for just an additional dollar. Good food and great value!
And for all you CSUF students, come here and, if you show them your Titan card, you get a free soft drink with your entrée!

And in the end the barbecue you take is equal to the barbecue you make — The Beatles
I barbecue, therefore I am. — Rene Descartes (I believe the original Latin was «barbecue, ergo sum.»)
There must be something in the soil here in Orange County. For there is plenty of urban planning firms but still even newer centers (I’m looking at you The District) are still incredibly poorly planned; and there is nothing more than average BBQ in spite of all the BBQ places that come and go.
Next mediocre BBQ place I have tried is Shortstop at their truck location at the OC Fairgrounds (Thursday lunch and Farmers Market). Now I got to meet the lovely and talented Robin Z. of Unilocal and OC Fair fame so all was not lost. But, the BBQ Frites with pulled pork, shortstop BBQ sauce and fries was definitely a waste of calories. The meat was just one level above Subway/Togo’s pulled pork with no discernible smoky flavor. The sauce was an overly sweet mustard mess lacking any type of robustness. The fries and cheese were good so that is positive.
Service was also very good with friendly workers and just a short wait on the hot day. I’ll give them a try at the brick & mortar location. Hopefully they have different sauces to accompany the meat (and I’m presuming the meat may taste better on site).

This review is for their new physical restaurant located in Fullerton.
I am a big lover of BBQ and when I heard Short Stop BBQ was opening up, I had to go. Before I headed over I heard a lot of good things so I was looking forward to chomping on some home cooking. Here’s what I realized.
DECO: 3 stars
The place just opened so I have to give it some leniency for the way it looked. The walls are painted a nice deep red, with clean metal tables and chairs. The place was a bit bare and lack luster when it comes to looks, but being a new restaurant there needs to be some time for a business to settle and find their groove. Although their current look leaves the eyes wanting more, I’m sure as they keep chugging along the place will look great.
PRICE: 3 stars
When I came they were having their soft opening so items were half off, which was spectacular. It allowed me to try things that I might not have. However, all items are under $ 10 regularly. Always look to their cash register to see what their daily specials are.
SERVICE: 4 stars
The service was nice as far as personal interactions go. They have a nice staff that looks you in the eye as they hand you the food. Very warm and welcoming and genuinely cheery people.
FOOD: 3 stars
This is my biggest gripe about the place, which ultimately, past all the things I mentioned before, is what knocks the place to just an «okay» rating.
Firstly, I HAVE to mention their BBQ sauce. When I went to eat here and was waiting in line, I saw all their items being smothered with this delicious looking sauce that was very close to texture and color as a warm, rich gravy.
This was not the case.
When I had a bite of my BBQ Pork Frites (French fries covered with cheese, pulled pork, and the house BBQ sauce), I made one of the funkiest faces ever. I just wasn’t ready for the flavor that exploded in my mouth. I’ve had a lot of different type of BBQ sauces in my life; from sweet to savory, Short Stop BBQ’s house sauce is the only sauce I’ve ever had that was salty. And I don’t mean like a little salty like soy sauce. I mean I felt like I was eating melted salt.
Now, perhaps it was my expectations of something savory from what I thought was gravy, but personally, the sauce was ridiculously salty. It covered every flavor underneath so that I had to scrape off and shovel the sauce out of the way to get to the actual food. AGAIN, it’s my personal opinion that the sauce is too salty, but some people might like that. If you are like me and don’t, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ORDER THEIR SAUCE ON THE SIDE. You’ll thank me for this advice later.
With the sauce aside, I thought the BBQ Pork Frites were quite delicious. I could taste the smoky goodness used to create the pork, and the fries were crisp. It was enjoyable, and I wish I had this flavor when I first tried it.
Next I tried their Tri Tip Sandwich. Again, it was smothered in their BBQ sauce so I had to try and scrape some of it off. I’m going to have to chalk this to just opening, and being so busy, but my sandwich was cold. The tri tip was a bit chewy, but I could taste the potential behind the coldness. Also, they created this nice concoction of a bleu cheese slaw to put on their sandwich. I’m not a fan of bleu cheese at all, but I thought the execution was good and the quality was there. Only gripe with the slaw was I wished they shredded the red cabbage a bit finer, but overall, past all the flaws I could really taste the quality and potential for the food.
CONCLUSION
Short Stop BBQ is still a fledgling of a restaurant, but there is so much potential for the place. Right now, they’re still finding their footing, and seeing what works and doesn’t. They have quality ingredients for their food, and owners who genuinely seem to love making the food they create. There is plenty of things to improve on, but I look forward to seeing how Short Stop BBQ evolves as time progresses. I’ll definitely come back to try their BBQ once again in hopes it only gets better and better.

Shortstop BBQ has opened up a store front. Soft grand opening was last 2 days and everything was 50% off! As with the truck, they also teamed up with Cupcake Blake.
It was quite a scene — standing room only — literally. We’ve never tried the truck so this was our first time with Shortstop. We tried the pulled pork sandwich, which was smothered with their tangy BBQ sauce and creamed corn. It was delicious. The pulled pork was sooo tender. We also tried the smoke duck sandwich, which has some kettle chips inside the sandwich. Very interesting. I thought there could’ve been a little more duck meat. Also sampled the tri-​tip which was smokey and flavorful. Their sides are very interesting. We had the cream corn which had a nice kick to it and the baked bean which was tangy, not overly sweet, and had bits of tri-​tip in it. The fries were fresh and crisp. Apparently, they have gumbo which they were out of. Gumbo is one of my fav so can’t wait to try.
We topped off this light meal with 4 of Cupcake Blake’s cupcakes, which were great. We tried strawberry and cream and corona lime. The cupcakes were so most, yet light, and not overly sweet.
We did have some trouble finding it. Don’t rely on GPS as it will take you about a block away. Look for the Jack in the Box and it is in the strip mall behind it — the same center as Ola Hawaiian BBQ.

Awesome service, friendly gal.
Holiday fries were pretty good and tasty but a bit too salty. Sodium overload but we nearly finished it.
The Pulled Pork sandwich (with the mustard bbq sauce) was ok. Too much mustard, too sour. The pork was good though, wish the mustard bbq would of been more sweeter though.
Not bad… not bad at all…3.5 STARS!

Pulled pork ranks pretty high up there as my death row final meal. Fortunately for me (and you too perhaps) I don’t need to commit any capital crimes in order to get me some good BBQ. The Pulled Pork Sandwich at Shortstop BBQ satisfied my sinful side and for a very reasonable $ 5. The pork was tender and juicy and was nicely glazed with a savory mustard-​based sauce (psst … Unilocalers, this is the correct sauce for Carolina-​style pulled pork). The grilled brioche bun was also a nice touch. I wasn’t too crazy about the Creamed Corn though, for it was just too, well, creamy. Something with more texture and crunch (and maybe more acid) would have prevented the sandwich from being too mushy. Solid.
3 ½ stars

Ordered the tri-​tip blue cheese fries this past weekend and was left severely disappointed, mainly because of the EXTREMELY and OVERPOWERING tangy bbq sauce overload on the fries… After my first bite I knew it was going downhill…
Not sure if this is the only bbq sauce available but damn, drop the tanginess of the sauce a couple notches down or something lol

It seems like a lot of people have tried sliders from SSBBQ. I didn’t see those available. Instead, I paid $ 5 for a regular size portobello mushroom sandwich. With how the handwritten menu was laid out, it looked like I’d also be able to choose a side to go along with my sandwich as a combo. «What a deal!», I thought, and requested «Bleu Slaw». It turned out the side was extra, and I ended up paying over $ 7 (with tax, no drink).
The sandwich was pretty much just grilled mushrooms and cheese. I guess I can’t expect anything else, but I thought there might be a little more to it (onions?). Some bites in the middle were a little juicy and pretty tasty, but many were dry and moderately flavorless (because I just bit bread). The size was kind of small for $ 5. Obviously it was meatless, but really not that heavy on the mushrooms to fill it in lieu of the protein.
I expected the «bleu slaw» to be like some kind of fun bleu cheese cole slaw, but instead it was just some slaw with light bbq sauce. It was very plain. Not worth 2 bucks IMO.
Overall, my meal wasn’t very exciting, I didn’t feel I got what I paid for, and it far from filled me up. I ended up going to Seabirds and ordering a full second lunch (also vegetarian, coincidentally) for $ 2 cheaper and no tax. In hindsight, I regret not trying the pulled pork, but that seemed so unoriginal to me.
I mean, the mushrooms were good, maybe just not enough of them. And with 6 other trucks available to me during this particular lunch, I feel like maybe I should have gone another route.