Phillips' Barbecue

Every year, there is an upstart who claims that he makes the best barbecue in Los Angeles. And every year, I visit the stand, snort, and stop back at Phillips on the way home, because there are occasionally things that shouldn't be messed with. Crusted with black and deeply smoky, the spareribs at Phillips Barbecue are rich and crisp and juicy, not too lean. Beef ribs, almost as big around as beer cans, are beefy as rib roasts beneath their coat of char, tasty even without the sauce. They are the only ribs that can compete on equal terms with the best from Kansas City or Tuscaloosa. And the extra-hot sauce, so crowded with whole dried chiles that the ribs occasionally look as if they have been embellished with Byzantine mosaics, is exhilarating. Tucked into a mini-mall between a liquor store and the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous, the original Phillips might be a little hard to find, although if you keep your window open, you should be able to sniff it out from half a mile away.

• Cuisine(s): American, Barbecue

  Hours: Mon-Thu 11am-8pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm

  Price: $

• Payment Types: cash

  Features: Takeout

  Serving: Dinner, Late Night, Lunch

• Alcohol: None

  Reservations: Accepted, Not Necessary

  Parking: Lot Available