It was almost 10 years ago that I first heard Steve Francis talk about his dream to open a barbeque restaurant in Hermosa Beach that exhibited his history and cooking style. After years of talk it finally happened in 2008 and Pinkie’s BBQ was born. The food was instantly a hit with hardcore BBQ fans becoming a culinary destination in the South Bay. The core of Pinkie’s menu focused on authentic smoked meat – pork shoulder, tri-tip, brisket, chicken, salmon, and on the really creative days, anything that could fit in the smoker – supported by killer sides – creamed corn, vinegar cole slaw, and my absolutely favorite mac n cheese of all time. To really round off the menu Steve did one thing that few restaurants did in those days: he only served great beer. It was a given that you were going to get a solid plate of BBQ, but knowing that awesome beers were always on tap and a frosty mug was always waiting to be filled made this place. And as if that wasn’t enough Pinkie’s had to take it up a notch by introducing monthly beer dinners.
About 4 and a half years ago Steve and Stone’s local rep, Mr. David Tardiff, put their brains together to create Pinkie’s beer dinners – 4 courses paired with 4 beers plus an appetizer beer – and the selection never disappointed (see the last dinner menu below). In addition to the food and beer special guests occasionally showed up like Opera Dude who would sing a few classic tunes with the Francis girls and Steve Roberts of Boogaloo, and now Charlie’s Italian, to help whip up a few awesome dishes. Every meal was guaranteed to surprise and impress you. The dishes were generally Steve’s experiments on classic BBQ that he wanted to try on a small scale, always made with fresh ingredients and paired well with the great beers that Dave and Stone Brewing Company provided.
Besides doing great food and having great beer on tap Pinkies BBQ should go down in beer history as a catalyst for local breweries. About 4 years ago I met Rich Marcello at a beer dinner and he told us about the idea for starting Strand Brewing Company who, besides making great beer, opened the door for the other breweries by showing that the South Bay is stoked on local craft beer. When Strand finally rolled out kegs Pinkie’s was one of the first full time accounts and has continued to show support since day 1. I have also heard that the original talks for Dudes’ brewery started at a Pinkie’s beer dinner, but whether or not that’s true Jay, a Dudes’ rep, was showing support at the last beer dinner. Also in attendance was Martin from Phantom Carriage, probably the most unique brewery in the South Bay. The Muis is a great beer and I can’t wait to see what wild sours he comes up with. Pinkie’s also laid the foundation for Coastline Brewing Company. We owe Steve quite a bit for the exposure to food/beer pairing capabilities and general inspiration. We are definitely bummed out that Coastline will never get to do a Pinkie’s Beer dinner, but maybe we can convince Steve to do a little BBQing at our brewery some day.
Pinkie’s BBQ definitely had a huge impact on me. It was the place I found one of my favorite beers (Stone’s Vanilla Bean Porter), learned to accept mustard in my mac n cheese and ended up loving it, met Dave Tardiff, Rich Marcello, and a bunch of other people I’ve since become friends with, but most importantly it was a real family business. The Francis’ and my family have been close for over 30 years and it was awesome to see a long time dream come true. We all wish it could have lasted longer, but as it tends to happen another good thing comes to an end. However, I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of Pinkie.
The Final Menu:
Iron First Renegade Blonde
Port Anniversary DIPA with jalapeno corn fitters
Phantom Carriage Muis with a farm to table salad
Great Divide Wolfgang Doppelbock with a bone in pork chop and plum reduction
Smog City Coffee Porter with peach ice cream pound cake and fresh peaches
Coastline Brewing Co. 