Peter had a benign hot dog, completely unremarkable in every way.

“What can I get for you, sugar?” Avivah liked that part. Hell, who wouldn’t? Filmo says it’s one of those places he’s always driven by and wondered why nobody has ever mentioned it to him. Now he knows why. The fries were good and tasted like they were cooked in peanut oil. Some people thought they could be crispier. Nothing like a limp...fry. The BBQ sauce was “tangy, smoky” and fulfilled exactly two people’s idea of what BBQ is all about. But the BBQ Sample Plate was “lacking in flavor and juiciness”. The quantity of food was unfortunately more than adequate.. And the vegetarian burgers were pretty decent but wAYY too bready. Both Prickle and ChrisLove agreed on this. ChrisLove felt like her belly was sticking way out afterwards and the food was just sitting there inside, chillin’ like Bob Dylan on penicillin watchin’ Chilly Willy the penguin with the air-conditioning on (thanks Sam Selvaggio, for the best title ever), with no intention of ever leaving. This accounts for her crankiness afterwards, exacerbated by the litter box smell near the computer at the after-party.

The ambiance gets a plus just by virtue of being a converted garage, which was in turn, a converted liquor store. The BBQ pits that we were SO looking forward to were shut down, because they cook the meat then close it down at 4:00PM. So the meat we ate was heated for 4 hours or more...either that or it was cooked in some non-BBQ way. And there was a lot of discussion about this in the kitchen afterwards with Gale, near the tub: how did they cook the meat? It didn’t have that crispy-burnt-edgy flavor so adored by BBQ aficionados--lots of mystery surrounding the pinky flesh thing.

"Tommy2tongue got really messy eating his ribs and got sauce all over his face. Remembering the biblical tale that Eve was made from a rib Tom felt as though he had just eaten a woman. He then snapped out of it and realized it was just a very saucy fatty rib. Not quite a woman but still sensational in it’s own sloppy way." We feel compelled to remind him that everyone knows it was ADAM that was created from a rib of Eve, so actually, he was eating a man. Oh well, it all goes down the same pipe, or tube. Oh well, you say tomAto I say tomAHto. Oh well, maybe it’s another white meat. Trixie had BBQ chicken which was tender but had kind of a tin foil taste to it and the sauce wasn’t cooked enough. Almost like a thick syrupy soup. Like a blood sludge slimmering down her throat and gumming around her teeth and filling up her stuumach with goo? No, Trixie says...it wasn’t exActly like that. Gale said the sauce tasted like cornmeal and ketchup. Trixie would rather eat her Dad’s BBQ and she thinks he is the BBQ KING!

At least they had a big screen TEEVEE!! Unfortunately we were subjected to a Lakers game. There aren’t any sports yahoos in the group, or at least they don’t let on if there are. Marilyn Monroe was hidden behind the speakers. She wouldn’t come out to play. Cool chinese-REd fans decorated the air up there. It was a nicely mixed-up assemblage of elements.

Cake had a turkey BBQ sandwich with delicious fries and potato salad on the side. He didn’t like the way the sauce smeared into the rest of his food and got all over his hands. He can still smell it on his hands. Food was great though, orange soda too. WAIT--Cake is a new sports fan and he loved watching the cool basketball game! WOOF WOOF! or whatever. Also he said the people working there gave off a cool vibe.

Joy Faye remarked that soap was hard to come by in the messy bathroom and towels were just plain invisible which is reaaally a nonono in a bathroom frequented by chicks. At least there wuz tp.

The best part about the experience as mentioned before was the awesome staff. Cool friendly people. We would like to be their friends, if we don’t have to eat at BBQ King again. Email excerpt: “Howard, you didn't miss anything at BBQ king--ugh, I'm never going to another BBQ place again. I had a vegi burger but when everyone was talking about their icky meat it just made me sick. I am so not looking forward to writing the review. ChrisLove”.

Hence the late review, sorry folks--but at least we just gave birth to our developing web site! Check out www.silverlakedinnerclub.com

(CL)