Handy Market - Burbank

The Handy Market is right by my house. I was walking down Magnolia just minding my own business when I saw a huge cloud of smoke emanating from the market parking lot. At first I thought "Fire! Sweet!" but then I realized it was even better - barbecue!

Handy Market is an independently owned and operated grocery store on the corner of Magnolia and Buena Vista right in the heart of the Burbank flats. But every Saturday from noon to six PM, they bust out their massive smoker and grill setup and start cooking all sorts of great barbecue for anyone who passes by.

I had stumbled upon a local gem - at least a dozen normal people in line, waiting to pick out what they wanted, all talking about how great this place was. It was apparently a well-kept local secret.

I promptly got in line with my partner in crime for this adventure, Drew, who remarked that the look and smell of the pit was amazing. I agreed. The way it worked was simple - you lined up by the smoker, you picked out what you wanted, they would wrap it in tin foil for you and you'd take it inside and pay for it at the register by the pound. For a specific Tri-Tip Sandwich, you'd go directly inside and get it there without stopping by the smoker. But where's the fun in that?

The smoker behind the three or so pit workers was massive - one of these competition-style hitched-to-a-truck smokers. In front of the pit workers was the real magic - about 20 feet of mesquite grilling. Chickens, tri tips, and baby back ribs. They also have beef ribs, but they run out early. I'm definitely going to come back for those, as beef ribs are probably my favorite barbecue cut.

So Drew and I went all out - we ordered an entire tri-tip, half a chicken, and a rack of baby backs - total cost, 25 dollars. 25 dollars??? That's ridiculously cheap for this amount of food. If you're interested in feeding a large party on a Saturday afternoon, you couldn't do much worse than this.

We took our haul and went home and had a look. There were plusses and minuses. The biggest minus was the chicken. It was just kind of tasteless, almost like no one decided to put any salt or anything on it. After a few bites I was done with it. The thing with chicken is you need to serve it immediately after grilling it, otherwise it dries out, and that's exactly what had happened here.

The ribs were better - also dry from sitting out for a while, but tasty and tender. If we had asked for a bigger rack we probably would have gotten more out of them. We also ordered without sauce, and that might have been a mistake. Putting sauce on these ribs would be smart.

After two ho-hum experiences, we were banking all our hopes on the tri tip. And we weren't disappointed. This was some of the single best tri tip I've ever had. The marinade was really flavorful and authentic to the Santa Maria style of cooking tri tip, and and meat was cooked through without being overdone or too pink. It was pretty damn near perfect. If the beef ribs are this good, we'll be set. They also serve turkey legs, which are probably super tasty.

Even though the ribs and chicken weren't up to par, the tri tip was so good, and the atmosphere was so fun that I will definitely be coming back for more. I love that this little secret is right in my neighborhood, and there's nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than attend a neighborhood cookout.

PROS: Amazing tri tip, local street cred, super value

CONS: Forgettable ribs, bad chicken, and it's only on Saturdays

CONCLUSION: Skip the chicken and ribs (unless you really want them) and go straight for the beef. You can't beat the price, you can't beat the taste.

Handy Market is located at 2514 W. Magnolia Blvd. Burbank, CA 91505. It's on the corner of Magnolia and Buena Vista. You can't miss the billowing smoke. Just pull into the parking lot (or the nearby street parking), walk up, and enjoy!

UPDATE: I went back to eat some tri tip and hope to score some beef ribs, but apparently the Market doesn't make beef ribs every week. They're not very big sellers, apparently, so you just have to cross your fingers. I retried the pork ribs and this time they gave me a much better rack (last time I asked for a small one, which condemned me to a not-so-meaty dry rack) that was juicy and tasty. Hopefully someday I'll be able to try their beef ribs. They looked great when I saw them there.