Meat butchered on premise, brisket smoked over peach wood logs, a pitmaster from Texas—Maple Block Meat Co. is checking off all the right BBQ boxes. Since 2015, this Culver City spot has offered everything from chopped pork shoulder to ranch beans seasoned with meat drippings. While it may be tempting to avoid any semblance of healthy food on the menu—“Screw it, I’m having piles of meat, let’s do this”—the pickle plate is worth ordering, and not just because it acts as a palate cleanser between bites of pork and beef. The bouquet of pickled cucumber and cauliflower offers a clean start and a solid crunch factor, not to mention a hefty kick of vinegar. It’s not a bad thing to fill up on the buttermilk biscuits here, too: light and slightly salty, they come with a honey butter that is addictive as it sounds.
But biscuits and pickles don’t make a BBQ restaurant—the meat does, and there’s plenty of it at Maple Block. Before you even get to the entrées, smoked chicken wings appear under the menu’s snack column, small in size but packing a flavorful punch. There’s plenty to go around—maybe 10 to a plate, flanked by white sauce and fermented hot sauce. Other smoked meats include a pork chop and prime rib, but the pork spare ribs are the standout choice. Fall-off-the-bone tender and sporting a beautiful rub, the ribs alone are worthy of sitting through 405 traffic.