California > Rocklin: Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ


 

Chris Allingham

Administrator
Staff member
This is a chain out of Southern California with a location in Rocklin just north of Sacramento. Kind of a converted barn look on the outside, large outdoor seating area, screened-in porch area, and indoor seating and bar. The motif is NOLA, mardi gras, cajun, blues, etc. They have live blues on Saturday nights.

I went for the first item on the barbecue menu: a pulled pork sandwich with original sauce on a soft potato bun and deep-fried shoestring potatoes. The sandwich was very generous, I got some good bark mixed in the meat, the sauce was quite good, and the bun was nicely toasted and crispy--a nice touch. I would try it again if in the area.

http://www.lucillesbbq.com/
Blue Oaks Town Center
6628 Lonetree Boulevard
Rocklin, CA 95765
916-780-RIBS (7427)

Regards,
Chris
 
My in-laws have gone to the Tustin location on several occasions and say its the best "chain" BBQ in the area.
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I wonder if the "Lucille's" is from:
-The Owner's (Owner's relatives) name
-Lucille, as in BB King's guitar?
 
From their website:

“The best Bar-B-Que in the County!” “Or maybe the State.” “Or maybe the whole South!”

That’s what folks said about the barbecue Lucille Buchanan grew up eating in her Grandma’s lunch shack, a tiny little nothing of a place on a back road in a small town way outside of Greenville. But Lucille didn’t know any different. She hadn’t traveled more than about 30 miles in any direction. It was just Granny’s cooking. And Lucille loved it…

As soon as Lucille was tall enough to clear tables, Granny put her to work during summers and on weekends. She shared her secrets with Lucille on how to make the best Bar-B-Que…special spice rubs and savory wet ‘mops’ and sauces Lucille had to swear she’d never share with a soul. Most of all, she showed Lucille how to cook Bar-B-Que nice and slow, for hours on end in the gentle smoke of hickory wood, until the meat became sweet and succulent and so tender it would fall off the bone if you so much as looked at it.

When Lucille married Joe before World War II and followed him out to the naval yards in Long Beach, California, she discovered that the folks back home were right: Granny’s Bar-B-Que was the best. She and Joe couldn’t find anything like it anywhere from San Diego to Santa Barbara and beyond.

So she found herself a place in Long Beach and started cooking Bar-B-Que just like she used to eat at home - with Granny’s permission, of course! Naturally, Lucille added some of her own special touches, like buttermilk biscuits and peach cobbler. After the war, Joe joined her in the restaurant. When they had children, and later grandchildren, they helped out, too.

And Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que grew and grew and just like they did when she’d eavesdrop on the customers back at the lunch shack, folks started talking....
 
Thanks for the link Chris, another fine T-shirt for less (10.95 + 3. shipping).
My BBQ T-shirt collection grows stronger
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shirt arrived today... a nice "Hanes Beefy-T"... this ain't no thin-wash-it-two-times-and-toss-it t-shirt...
Quality screen-printed logo on the front left breast...
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...and a full-colour logo on back...
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Very nice shirt for 14 bucks delivered.
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Pretty good BB ribs. A little salty. GReat biscuts, good beans.

Down the street from me. makes me want my WSM every time I pass it.

I really should order mine.
 
I ate at Lucilles in Tustin today for lunch. Ispecifically ordered the three things I've made on my WSM so far - BB, PP and Brisket.

Flat out, nothing they served tasted as good as what my WSM has given me. Their ribs had decent flavor but were not very tender. The PP was plain, chewy and they put a tangy sauce on it that wasn't really good. But worst of all, the Brisket needed to be cut with a knife. Good Brisket should be cut-able with a fork, easily.

Decent smoke flavor but overall, not great. Their sweet sauce was way too sugary, the first ingredient was ketchup. The spicy sauce was too hot. Nothing in the middle. I'm no BBQ super hero, but the first batch of BB's I pulled out of my brand new WSM blew Lucille's away. The Pulled Pork that the WSM would put them out of business, but then I do mine with a custom Cider Vinegar based sauce.

Anyway, good atmosphere, decent food, but not great BBQ. Passable, but not as good as the WSM can do.
 
I have eaten at the Rocklin Lucille's a few times and have been very satisfied. I agree that I prefer mine out of my WSM but for BBQ from a restaurant, myself and everybody who I have gone there with have always been happy. As mentioned above the portions are generous and the biscuits and butter are great!
 
There is a Lucille's in Belmont Shore (Long Beach area) and Irvine. I like them quite a bit. Overall good food and good atmosphere.

I was there a few weeks ago and had their Beef Ribs. I thought they were pretty good.
 
I live right down the street from Lucille's in Rocklin, CA. I always get the sampler platter to get the best of all worlds. Everything from the complimentary sugared biscuits with chilled apple-butter, drinks served in preserve jars, down to the bucket of after dinner Tootsie Roll pops on your way out; Lucilles really does the bbq experience nicely...thems is eatin!
 
I ate at Lucilles I'm Roseville a few weeks ago for my birthday and would recommend.

Wife and the kids wanted to take me out for dinner after a movie and said pick a place. I chose Lucile's which made my wife nervous since I never want to go out for something that I think I can cook better myself at home.

I had the beef ribs and burnt ends and I was pretty impressed with the burn ends. They were tender juicy not over cooked and only had a slight hint of sauce (I hate sauce on anything, even ribs) they were good and I would order again.

Beef ribs...OMG cooked to perfection, dry rubbed, no sauce and not huge gobs of fat. Their beef ribs are delicious! Three huge ones too.

Sides were good too. Mac & cheese, baked beans and green beans. All good!

More food than I could eat and I'm a big ol' Hoss. Enough to feed me the next evening too. Price wasn't bad considering the portions. I would go back and would recommend
 
Update: Went back to Lucille’s this weekend. Was really looking forward to their Beef ribs. Wife was too. While they were cooked really well they were sauced. Not just a little but a lot. Really disappointed. Neither the wife or I really like suace on anything let alone beef ribs. Asked the waiter (who was the same we had back in August) why the change. He had no idea and said that as far as he knew everything gets sauced. Too bad considering they have 3 sauce choices on the table. We were disappointed.

This time I got the rib tips instead of the burnt ends. Figured I try something different. Yeah, should not have done that. Rib tips were chewy, dry and covered in what else but a pile of suace. I actually should have know better on this choice, but the 3, 4 dollar 14 oz House IPAs before ordering might have influenced that desision.

Sides were fine. Same as last time. Mac and cheese very good and the beans were pleasant as well. Green beans were not on the menu this time. Sad...

I did try a bite of my wife’s half chicken. This was very good. Had a nice smoke flavor and a bit of a smoke ring. Moist and the skin wasn’t rubbery.

If I come back again I’ll likey skip the beef ribs and get the half chicken and try something else like the ribs or pulled pork. Before I would give the joint a 4 out of 5 stars. After this visit a 3.
 
I'm in Southern California, where good BBQ joints are rare or don't last long. I have been going to Lucielle's for maybe 15 years off and on. They had a couple restaurants near the two offices I had, Long Beach (Towne Center) and Seal Beach (Long Beach Marina). Many of our work related lunches have taken place at one of these. It was/is a favorite place for these events. Also, there is one near our home in Torrance.

Lucielle's is true full service family style restaurant. It has a full bar, sit down dining, and very large menu with appetizers, salads, main dishes, sides, and desserts.

I've observed their giant rotisserie being loaded and unloaded and being fed big sticks of wood. It's real bbq, done right in in the middle of the restaurant. The rotisserie is front and center for all to see in their places.

Over the years, the menu has had some changes. Their smoked salmon was a favorite of ours and I fix my salmon in a similar manner. But sadly it got dropped many years ago. Hopefully it makes it back on the menu sometime soon.

Ribs are a staple on their menu and likely will never be dropped. I like them a lot. Burnt ends as a side dish seem to have gotten dropped a couple years ago. Those were very good with a beer or three when a full meal wasn't wanted. They also have a bar area in all of the restaurants I've been to.

Sides are always very good too.

I have to agree with an early post in this thread about the sauces. Too sweet for the mild, too hot for the Hot. I blend them 50/50 and get something pleasant.

My wife and I like Lucielle's enough to go there several times a year for dinner and my sporting clays shooting buddies and I stop at one after shooting quite often for beers and snacks.

All said, it's a large corporate chain that does BBQ consistently good. Not something you can say about a lot of small joints.
 
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