Allen’s Uptown

Just not anything I was hoping for. We looked up BBQ joints and this popped up, unfortunately. That said, this review will be based on those expectations. This is definitely not a BBQ joint, whether they claim to be one or not. So, if you’re looking for BBQ, this would not be my recommendation.
We ordered BBQ Brisket for the kids, and we had Open Face Brisket Sandwiches. Kids weren’t eating too much and I had some to find out why. Brisket was pretty rubbery, shredded meat modestly marinated with a poorly executed barbecue sauce. Mashed potatoes, I am pretty sure were not home cooked but probably out of a box.
Let’s just say I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 star because it was at least edible for me (or I was really hungry). I finished mine but I pretty much eat anything NOT because something is that good but for the simple fact that if I paid for it, I should at least make a valiant attempt to finish it. And I know that I’m a good critic for good food. For the price, it was just not worth it. I swear it tastes like a $ 5 sandwich, not $ 8.50 (even at $ 5, I wouldn’t get it again).
Service was pretty slow. It was very surprising to me when it came out 25 minutes later and it actually didn’t look good to me. I was just hoping it would just be one of those «looks gross, tastes awesome» meals. Unfortunately, presentation matched the flavor.
Who knows, maybe the burgers are better. What I do know, brisket was horrible. Oh right, will never be back for BBQ, that I also know.

Oh em gee. This place ia to die for. We live around the area and we are trying new places near us. A friend suggested we try it since he found it on Unilocal.Being the picky eater I am, I Unilocaled it and was immediately convinced we should try it… so glad we did. Little whole in the wall, great customer service! ! The food, to die for!!! Those gravy fries, WOW! That’s all the have to say… if you go, you must try their pork brisket grilled cheese! Me and my bf shared (and he eats a ton let me tell you) we still had a little left over for later. If you’re in the area, a must try!

Best BBQ in town
Can’t go wrong with coming here!!!

I’m a fan for life. Their food is sooo delicious! From their burgers to their gravy fries. So good! It does seem that the last time we were here they held back on the gravy for the fries. We had to ask for extra gravy on the side because it just didn’t seem like there was a lot on there. The staff is always nice and attentive. Definitely recommend coming here if anyone is in Uptown.

W side of Greenleaf S of Hadley St.
Ok…seriously…no joking around at all… If you want a BBQ Meal that will satisfy you beyond all belief then this is the place. Now I’m not talking about your usual traditional straightforward BBQ Spots ala Bludsoe’s or Jaybee’s…this place has some of the items you’ll find at those spots as well, but I’m talking a BBQ Place that serves creative and delicious dishes with kindness, charm, and true genuineness! I’m talking Allen’s!
I came here with my «Foodie Wife» Katie per her suggestion (truth be told I forgot about this place.) We happened to be in the area and I believe she had it bookmarked. I had been here before, but my previous trip while good did not even come close to this experience. On this trip besides having fine company I was treated to a veritable treasure trove of flavors and textures that had my soul jumping for joy!
We started off by sharing some of their Brisket and Gravy Fries:
and despite the House being a little stingy on the cheese in comparison to others’ photos this dish still proved to be out of this world. The fries were all perfectly crunchy and hot and were complemented most exquisitely by the delicious and smooth gravy, the tender and well marinated Beef Brisket, and the Shredded Cheese. This was a marriage of flavors of epic proportions. This is a must order when coming here.
For my entrée despite being presented with many great options I finally gave up on my indecision and «settled» on a Pulled Pork Sandwich:
Now normally I don’t particularly care for Cole Slaw on my PPS, but for some reason a gut feeling said to go ahead and keep the sandwich the way it is. I’m so glad that I did because this slightly sweet Mustard based Slaw proved to be the perfect complement of coolness to the deliciously perfect and tender Pulled Pork and pillowy soft like a cloud bun! Wow… thinking about how delicious that sandwich was I almost forgot to mention the Onion Rings. They were also quite professional and delicious. They were crunchy on the outside while not falling apart and hot and buttery on the inside proving to be a most wonderful example of the O Rings!
Service was outstanding. Our server was so sweet. We took up refuge at the «bar» and she was there for every need. She was very attentive without overdoing things doing very well at making us feel welcome. She was quite the gem.
Seating comes in the form of booths, a couple of regular tables, or «bar» top seating.
Décor is minimalistic and kind of lends a tip of the hat to a most awesome movie… Pulp Fiction. The place is kept spotless.
The prices are fair and they even have a «Yelp Deal,» but you’ll need to purchase it prior to arrival or they also have a Unilocal Check In offer for a free Fountain Drink.
There is no dedicated parking so if you have a vehicle you will have to find a spot on the street.
I simply can’t wait to return and if you haven’t been here yet then I suggest you check them out!

Stumbled upon this place when trying to go to Wingmaster Café but they weren’t even open yet at 11:30 on a Saturday! The pictures of the food on the outside window looked amazing so we had to go try it out.
We ordered half an open faced meatloaf sandwich with Allen’s gravy fries and also the grown up mac n cheese. From what the menu said, we thought we were getting the gravy fries with the brisket in addition to whichever open faced sandwich we wanted, but when it came it was just the half sandwich and fries with gravy. When we asked, the server said that meant the half sandwich and the fries would just have whatever meat from the sandwich we picked. Clearly though, Allen’s gravy fries are gravy fries with brisket so I felt like that wasn’t clear on the menu. Instead, we got a side order of half of the REAL gravy fries because we really wanted to try it still. The mac n cheese was delicious. Small portion but there was a lot of flavor and delicious bacon in it! The gravy fries were delicious as well.
Such great comfort food. Still have other things I want to try as well so I have to go back! Loved the Unilocal deal too. Bought it right when we decided to eat there!

So yummy!!! Their gravy fries are definitely the best I’ve ever had.
I love how garlic-​y their mashed potatoes are.
Also, they have a wall with Samuel L. Jackson as Jules from Pulp Fiction taking a bite of a burger, it needs to be mentioned.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY GOD.
Yes, just yes. For the love of all things covered in gravy and bbq sauce, yes!
You might not be ready for this place. It’s that good.
Started off with some brisket and gravy fries, cuz me and Chad are watching what we eat these days. Or, when you see this on the menu you order it, you just do. The gravy is rich, flavorful, and the brisket is fall apart tender that melts into the gravy as effortlessly as the cheddar cheese does. Wow, just wow.
I ordered the bbq brisket sandwich with swiss cheese and a side salad. The sandwich was perfect. It was cold and rainy outside but the brisket with sweet, smokey and tangy sauce was warm and comforting. The bun was fluffy and soft, the cheese was melted and had a good stretch between bites. Nothing wrong or lacking here.
Now here’s where it just veers off into crazy town. The food so far was ridiculous and reason enough to return. Then I took my first bite of my side salad. By all rights a side salad is just that, boring, forgettable, an after thought. Not at Allen’s. The veggies were crisp and vibrant. The Italian dressing is made in house. It’s sweet, spicy, tangy… it’s the best dressing I have ever had. It’s also topped off with freshly made, still warm croutons. Oh friends this is what salad is supposed to be. I would of licked the bowl had we not been in public. I would of eaten that salad off the floor.
My Unilocal check in afforded me a free beverage and my sandwich with sinfully delicious salad was under 10 dollars.
I LOVE YOU ALLEN’S, I WILL BE BACK

Support your local businesses.
I went here w/​my wife last week and am set to go back here tomorrow for their new breakfast menu (I’m going to put their breakfast burrito to the test!)
Anyways… our first visit was exceptional – I’ve always loved Whittier’s mom and pop’s restaurants and always felt the patronage in our city is great. Allen’s Uptown exemplifies all my beliefs.
When we arrived we were happily greeted and was welcomed to take our seats. We sat at the bar since there was a TV, HA! Long story short, throughout our entire dining experience we were given advice on what was good to order, some history on Allen’s Uptown, and just other random tidbits that really added to the personalized touch.
You can immediately tell that the owner and the servers all took pride in their restaurant and that they really gave it an extra effort to earn your repeat business. This makes it really easy for locals like myself to return, especially since the food was GREAT! I had the pulled pork sandwich and my wife ordered the Brisket gravy fries.
Both were delicious and complimented each other perfectly. My pulled pork came with Onion rings and at the end of the meal I was stuffed w/​pulled pork, brisket fries, and onion rings – I was stuffed, man – good thing I had ordered diet coke to limit my caloric intake!!! HAHA.
Anyways, if you’re in Uptown, try your best to step out of your comfort zone and give the mundane default choice of Rocky Cola a twist and go to Allen’s – you won’t regret it.

Had the Bacon Avocado Chicken sandwich with Fries and ordered an iced tea.
The sandwich was so dry and not very tasty at all. The French Fries were okay only because I smothered them in ketchup. The iced tea never came. I would normally eat everything on my place, not this time.
The wait service is as bland as the food.

Just went there tonight. Had the pastrami dip with fries. They make their own pastrami, cured for ten days. Tender, thick meat, incredible roll– grilled? I think so, but slightly. They went a little heavy on the sauce (IMO, a ‘dip’ is just dipped in meat juices, not a sauce), but it was great. Langer’s might be a little better– but Langers is the best pastrami in the world, so…
The fries ware perfect– steak fries, but crisp AND soft on the outside.
The staff pushed this to 5 stars. They gave my dogs water and brought a table outside for us to eat with them. Maybe the friendliest place in Whittier! 4.5 stars, easy.

While walking around Uptown I stumbled across this place. This place is pretty cool. Checkered floor if I remember correctly and a cool painting of Samuel L. Jackson on the wall in the back.
I don’t remember the actual name of the plate that I got but it was chicken and mashed potatoes. I got that and it came along with a salad. The salad was a salad. Nothing spectacular about it. When my main dish arrived it was SMOTHERED with GRAVY! It was so good! I love gravy! I finished my entire plate. Every bite I took was perfectly moistened with gravy. I was very much pleased.
The gravy fries are a bit much. The gravy that was on the fries was a dark brown color and tasted a helluva lot saltier. I wasn’t really a fan of how salty they were.
Service was good. Our server was attentive and the place is CLEAN. I’d come back here to stuff my face with some more gravy. freal.
OOO and they have a big ass TV to watch the basketball games on! SCORE.

Does he LOOK like a BITCH???

I couldn’t stop thinking about Sam Jackson when the waiter took my order and this actually ran through my head…
I don’t wanna hear about no motherf*ckin’ ifs! All I wanna hear from your ass is, «You ain’t got no problem, Cesar… I’m on the motherf*cker. Go back in there, chill them nig*az out and wait for the brisket gravy fries which should be coming DIRECTLY.»
BRISKET GRAVY FRIES w CHEESE

A meal in itself! Tasty Hot steak fries topped with a tender quality brisket doused with a rich saucy gravy and then sprinkled lovingly with some cheddar cheeeeese. I could barely finish these… but I gave it the ‘ol college try cuz they were so damn good!
Oh! Thanks to Michelle T and Robin B for the heads up, you’re both awesome by the way! The fries were kinda lonely so I added a little meat and BACON action to the equation…
BACON BLUE CHEESEBURGER

Great medium rare beef patty charred on the outside, juicy on the inside. Sweet yet spicy BBQ sauce topped with tangy Blue cheese crumbles. At least two or three salty, thick, crispy strips of BACON… you even get some lightness from the fresh lettuce and this is all housed in a soft, fluffy bun. Some unexpected deliciousness in the heart of Whittier.
Hamburgers! The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go home and have a heart attack.

Potroast gravy fries… awesome. I have been here about three times and it has been awesome each time.

Cheap, good quality and friendly service.
What more can you ask for? the menu is simple, not too many choices, but what they do offer is what you ask for. My party dug the ribs and I enjoyed the chicken with salad plate.
French fries, chicken and salad were all tasty and great portion for the size. Can’t beat that with a bat! So you can get with this…

One word… delicious! We went to Allen’s last week for the first time. Had heard lots of good things about this place and it did not disappoint.
My wife had the bbq brisket plate. The brisket was cooked to perfection and the bbq sauce was nothing fancy but very good without overpowering that tender brisket. The mashed potatoes were lumpy and homemade good with just enough thick brown gravy to match. I tried the open face brisket sandwich and being the piggy, added an order of gravy fries because I love gravy. Two slices of soft, chewy french bread topped with homemade mashed potatoes, tender brisket and that wonderful gravy. The gravy fries were as I had hopped: well done steak fries, plenty of gravy and some brisket. A meal in itself. I saw a plate of them go by that had cheese on them, too.
The staff was nice and friendly and eager to get our opinion of the meal. We sat at the counter and watched some basketball playoff action while enjoying our meal. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere with a diner feel.
Went back again today and had the 3 cheese meatloaf sandwich with a side of gravy fries. Best meatloaf sandwich I have ever had in my life! A nice flavorful slice of meatloaf topped with 3 gooey cheeses and grilled onions on 2 grilled slices of that great bread of theirs.
We don’t go uptown to dine very often but this is one place that I’ll make the trip for anytime.

What a disappointment. Yet again I was lead to believe by Unilocal reviews that this was a kick ass place to eat in the culinary deathzone known as Whittier. I was misled.
I came here not sure what to order so I spent a few minutes looking over the menu. I decided on the Roast Chicken Plate with a side of Baked Beans and green salad with vinaigrette on the side. I placed my order to go.
When I get home I open the cartons and find that my Roast Chicken Plate is nothing more then sliced chicken breast with a container of white gravy. I was expecting chicken on the bone. The chicken was ok. A little on the dry side and kind of cold. it took me about 5 mins to get home from Allens so the chicken should have still been hot. Fail on the chicken.
Baked beans were ok. A little soupy. Less liquid and this would have been ok. The salad was fine except the dressing they gave me added no flavor to the salad. It was a flavorless vinaigrette. I was expecting something like a balsamic. What they gave me was just oil.
Major disappointment with this place. I dont get why they have so many good reviews.

Okay, so since my initial review, I’ve been back to Allen’s a few times. And you know what? They DO NOT dissapoint. Chatting with Peter, the proprieter, is always a good time.
Tonight I had the BBQ Bacon Bleu Cheese Burger with their gravy fries.
It was amazing. The BBQ sauce was sweet, the bacon was salty, and the bleu cheese was creamy. Seriously, the best freakin’ burger! It sounds like it would be heavy, but it wasn’t. It felt very light. It sounds weird to even as I type it. A bacon burger… light? It was! But the gravy fries that Peter twisted my arm to get, was what made it not so light. I don’t know how many calories I ingested tonight, but you know what? I… don’t… care! That’s how good it was.
He also mentioned his «hidden menu» tonight to us, after a long conversation. He’s so cool that he gave us the greenlight to give a Unilocal code word for the secret menu. Are you ready? It’s «cypher.»
Break the code, people!

AYCE Ribs and French Bread on Friday for 8 bucks!!! (after 5pm)
I didn’t partake in the Ribs grubbin, but their sign caught my eye. When did this place take over NJoy Burger? A place that has brisket in lil ol Whittier is a welcome change.
i ain’t much wise on BBQ stuff, i stay away cuz something with bbq makes me naseaus although i do like the taste… So i got myself a brisket sandwich with bbq on the side for 6 bucks. boy, do they give a ton of meat!!! It was yummy, but sometimes too much meat leaves me craving for something veggie and this was the case with this sandwich. The fries were good, esp the soggy ones. You can also get kettle chips which are addicting. They ran out of the chicken ranch sandwich for my coworker, so we got her a chicken salad sandwich instead. we had to do a switcharoo cuz the salad was loaded with onions-​which she hates. but it all worked out in the end, as someone enjoyed the chicken salad one ALOT. I think i’ll have to order that for myself next time.
Great service. Small menu, but a yummy lookin one with options like Spareribs Plate, Rib Plate, Gravy Fries, Brisket Burrito, and Roasted Chicken Plate.

3 ½ stars…
When I walk into a BBQ place I love the smell of the bbq that just consumes you. Well this place did not smell like bbq at all so I was very apprehensive about eating here but since I had read all the other Unilocalers reviews and wanted to support my neighborhood places we decided to sit and order. The menu is very basic just like other reviewers pointed out so we went with the rib plate and brisket plate, fries, mash potatoes, salads, bread and drinks. This was about $ 22. The salad came out first and we liked it. Then shortly after our food. The ribs were very moist but for me nothing special and the brisket was shredded not cut, I thought that was a lil’ weird. All in all I would go back because it’s in the neighborhood and reasonable priced but I’ll probably stick with the sandwiches no need for the plates.