rayfield's ribs

By a strange turn of events, I found myself in Santa Clarita (no, I wasn't buying, selling or manufacturing methamphetamine) and happened upon the most amazing BBQ I've had outside of the south - given that I was a NoLa wife in another life, I know a thing or two about the que.

I was driving around when I got a waft of some serious BBQ. I followed my nose and the plumes of smoke rising into the sky hoping I wouldn't find myself at someones meth lab, ahem, I mean, garage. It was a purely residential area so I imagined I'd be crashing someones backyard party, but lo and behold, nestled on this little street in the middle of bum fuck nowhere was a sweet, little church, and they were cooking up some mean BBQ.

This church put me in heaven alright (and I'm a Jew!). I ordered just about everything I could (the prices were so low, they were practically giving it away - chicken, pork ribs, beef ribs, hot links, and more). The pastor was doing the cooking in steel drums you rarely see this side of the Mississippi - or a cook off. His wife was running the till, and his kids were serving up platefuls of everything BBQ you could imagine, pulling sodas out of a cooler for the diners, and all the fixins - including dirty rice done just right, mouth watering greens and mac and cheese.

Turns out this was a Sunday tradition that had gained such popularity with the locals they'd started serving up a few weeknight dinners in the fellowship hall. The pastor is from Texas and his wife is from Louisiana, so you'll find specialties from both areas on the menu, (though the style of the BBQ itself leans toward Tex).

Since then, word of mouth has taken off like a Malibu wildfire and a couple of years ago they opened up an actual full service BBQ restaurant in a little Canyon Country strip mall. Naturally, the experience isn't quite the same, but the food and the service sure as hell is. They'll tell you they've been blessed to live their own American dream. Even still, this remains one of the city's best kept secrets.

You can't get me over the hill for anything, but if you want to trek to Santa Clarita for some REAL BBQ, I'll offer to drive :)

18436 W. Sierra Hwy, Ste B
Canyon Country, CA 91351

(661) 298-3663