B’s Backyard Barbecue

The only thing good about this place was you could eat outside by the water. They are now closed for business, and understandably so as the food was terrible. I’d imagine they would have have been successful if they knew what they were doing in the kitchen, what a shame.

Tasteless and extremely disappointing. We walked in with no one to seat us and after waiting several minutes and hearing the staff talk in the kitchen we decided to seat ourselves. We ordered the brisket which was, as my wife called it, like dog food. The only thing that ha any taste was their «spicy» BBQ sauce, which I had to douse the brisket in to even try it. We should have went somewhere else…

Came here after snowboarding half day at bear mountain. We ordered the pulled pork sandwich. In the sandwich was Cole slaw so if you dont like Cole slawake sure to tell them you dont want it. The sandwich was decent. The pork was really tender but the sandwich in total was really plain. Even with the barbecue sauce they give you in the bottle its still a bit dry.
The way they tale your orders out is a little unorganized with the server basically just asking anyone if a plate is theirs. It became an issue when a person in our group didnt receive her food until 20 minutes after everyone else had finished due to the mix up.
All in all it was eh.

I’m giving this restaurant three stars as an average between the barbecue, the other food options and the restaurant overall.
The barbecue is outstanding, 5 stars for sure. The other food options left a lot to be desired, 2 stars. The restaurant overall was a 3.
I got the pulled pork sandwich and my brother in law got the brisket. Both were excellent and we enjoyed our meals.
However, I think the restaurant puts all of its energy and resources into their BBQ because the other menu items were terrible.
My sister ordered half a club sandwich and salad. The turkey was grocery store quality and the salad was nothing special.
My friend ordered the portabella sandwich and it was ok. It was served on a hamburger bun, which was a wrong pairing for the sandwich.
Their meals were edible, but not enjoyable.
The outside was poorly lit, making the entrance difficult to find. The restaurant was cluttered and outdated and the bathrooms were filthy.
Overall the meal was hit or miss. Go for the BBQ but be wary of the other menu items.

My group of nine wandered into this place with mean hangovers to get some breakfast after a night of New Years raging. Some of the tables were occupied by fellow hungover New Years groups, but the restaurant was not full. The food at this place was mediocre, but it’s the service that was so bad it became comical.
We were greeted right away and we asked to sit outside and a man with some menus said, «Sure,» and led us out the back door onto the patio with no empty tables, and then he just disappeared. We waited out there for ten minutes as we watched him ignore us. We decided to go back inside and just put a few tables together ourselves. A waitress brought over some menus and it took another ten minutes to get water. Only seven waters were brought out and there were nine of us. Fifteen minutes later the remaining two waters were brought out and our orders were taken. Many in our group ordered alcoholic beverages, but some had coffees and sodas. We just sat there as another fifteen minutes go by until I flag someone down. We repeat our drink orders and he comes back with just my coffee. The rest of the group had to ask at least three times for their beverages. I watched three parties of customers enter the restaurant and two of those parties got so fed up and walked out due to the horrid service. The couple that stayed got so frustrated they both had to get up and find a server just to get their attention.
Then the food comes out. I know this may sound nit picky, but I asked for my hash browns well done and they came to me all white and barely brown. Two people in our group never received their toast, one person received a completely different menu item from what they ordered, one person received home style potatoes when they asked for hash browns, and one person received a biscuit when they asked for wheat toast. Now, I am forgiving when it comes to a mistake here and there, but that was just way too many.
I am not a fan of big chain restaurants, but I’d rather go to Denny’s and forgo B’s the next time I’m in Big Bear.

We had a party of nine for Sunday brunch (mimosas!) and it seemed like the only place in town that was able to accommodate us without a reservation. The restaurant wasn’t packed (probably because it is a little off the main road). It has a really pretty view of the lake and a dog beach.
The food was good and decently priced. The service was GREAT. They have a super friendly/​attentive staff and our food came surprisingly fast for our large party. We had a small misunderstanding with our order (which ended up being our fault, not the waitress’s), but she fixed it quickly and comped us the extra entrée.
Overall, a really great place with no wait to be seated!

Great location with views of the lake. That’s about it. Odd BBQ sauce — maybe chipotle? Dry ribs. Bland Mac. Would have gotten two stars except for the view.

Perhaps our expectations were too high.
We came to B’s in mid-​October, off-​season for Big Bear. And apparently off-​season for service, good food and cleanliness.
The empty tables (should’ve read that sign better) we’re still cluttered with half-​eaten sandwiches and empty glasses. The clean one we sat at was wiped clear by our server who handed us grubby menus.
When we unrolled our silverware, we got the choice of live or dead bug. I went with live, she took the expired one. Just personal preference on that one.
At that point we should have called it a day, but we had driven from LA and were hungry and seated, so on we trudged.
We settled on the brisket sandwich and the pulled pork sandwich. For sides she got the mac & cheese and sweet potato fries; I got the cole slaw and baked beans.
The sandwiches were wholly mediocre and forgettable. The sides didn’t score much higher. The ketchup was good.
For what we paid the food should have been at least memorable and the bugs not present. But I guess we spent the money on the atmosphere of the lakefront. That what we tell ourselves, anyway.
Moral of the story: manage one’s expectations when searching for mountain BBQ.

Suzy & Erica were a huge help when we decided to have our destination wedding dinner here.
Suzy was in constant communication with me in regards to what I expected and she offered great suggestions as well.
Once we got there on the «big day», Suzy & Erica took over and I was finally free to relax from all the pre-​wedding planning. They helped decorate the tables and patio which was way beyond the call of duty :)
Dinner was delicious and served in a professional, fast manner. Our guests loved the food and and the staff. It was such a fun, relaxed dinner, everyone had a great time. The staff at B’s made everything go as smooth as possible.
Thank you so much for helping us plan and celebrate our big day. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Food: 2 stars
Service: 1 Star
Ambiance: 1 star
Location/​view: 5 stars
It really pains me to leave this review of B’s. We have eaten there probably 20 plus times since they opened. We have taken and sent many friends to Bs.
It seems that there is simply a total lack of leadership in running the restaurant. The servers do not seem to care or take pride in their work. Hint to servers, I can have a lousy meal but great service you can figure on a tip ranging from 20−25%. On the other hand, if you provide poor service I will still tip but it may be as little as 2%, it lets you know what I thought of your lack of attention. Don’t mix up 2 simple orders and be offended when I call your attention to the mistake.
Please do not seat people at a table that has not yet been wiped down, then pull out a dirty looking rag and wipe my table, even brushing food debris on to us!
To the owners, why have you let your physical building deteriorate? We were thrilled when you took over the old Blue Whale and cleaned the place up. It no longer looked like an epic frat party from Animal House had taken place for the past 48 hours. Now it seems you are going down the same road and allowing the place to fall apart!
Your food was one time excellent. I have seen the quality of the food decline. I have to agree with so many that the food has become low quality. Maybe you are not giving us canned food, but it tastes like it.
Perhaps the owners do not agree with the negative Unilocal reviews. I would urge you to look at the Bs thread in the Restaurants forum on the Socalmountains. com website. If you read what is posted there in order from the 1^st post to present you will see that many people are saying the same thing. Your business is going down.
Please understand, I want you to get back on top. Your place WAS our favorite eatery in Big Bear. Please take what I have written to heart. I really do want to come back and enjoy Bs.

View, spectacular! Food, dreadful!!!
Stopped in for lunch in hopes of finding great Q, what I got was tasteless, mushy and obviously not smoked pulled pork that was loaded with fat. Rule one when preparing pulled pork, make sure all the fat is out of the finish product. It truly tasted like it was baked in an oven, zero smoke flavor and no smoke ring evident any where on the meat. The Mac-​n-​Cheese was bad, cheese sauce tasted canned. Baked beans are from the can and doctored up. The BBQ sauces are NOT made in house, it is a commercial sauce that gets a few extra ingredients thrown in.
Trust me, I know real Q, it’s what I do. This is far from real Q.

Ugh… where to start?
I admit I was biased after looking up the Unilocal reviews before dining at the restaurant. I’ve never dined at a place that was so poorly rated and was quite apprehensive about it from the start. But my friend had heard from a friend that it was good and made reservations for the 10 of us before we had even checked Unilocal so we just went for it. I did my research and found a meal that was relatively well received by my fellow Unilocalers but my experience was still less than ideal.
First, the positives. Love the large, open patio that is dog friendly. My pug enjoyed coming along for the meal, especially getting to dine on my boyfriend’s baby back rib bones. The view of the lake is nice too. Sadly, that’s where the positives end.
The meal starts with complimentary homemade potato chips and dip. At first I enjoyed them, looking back now, not so much.
I ordered the chicken strips, which many Unilocalers deemed acceptable, along with sides of mashed potatoes and french fries (I’m a potato lover!). They tasted decent yet greasy and I’m not used to so much grease anymore. The fries were okay and the mashed potatoes were probably the highlight of the meal despite not being the best I’ve ever had.
But the problems started before the meal even arrived. The waiters brought out the meals for my half of the table but brought me chicken fried steak instead. This is after I even pointed out what I wanted on the menu to the waiter. So everyone received their food about 10 minutes before me. At the other end of the table, the waiters forgot to bring out the side of chili and had to be asked several times.
My boyfriend ordered the half rack of baby back ribs and at $ 22, it was a super small portion of food. There were five or six ribs and two didn’t even have meat on them. Compare this to my more plentiful chicken strips at $ 12 and it’s ridiculous!
Another friend didn’t care for her brisket sandwich, which arrived dry and she had to wait for barbecue to be delivered to the table (at a barbecue place, shouldn’t that already be there?).
I checked in on Unilocal and noticed there was a $ 1 off entrees check-​in deal, which the waiter didn’t know anything about. Eventually, he figured out what to do and took $ 5 off our check (we had split the checks in half).
The restaurant is older and looking run down. The patio seating is mismatched and it’s definitely not the classiest of places.
I ended up not feeling well that night and I’m not sure if it was due to this restaurant or not, but I won’t be coming back. And I’ll be sticking to my gut when it comes to reading Unilocal reviews and deciding whether or not to go to a restaurant.

Before we arrived, we checked the Unilocal reviews and the mixed reviews made us question our choice to eat here.
We sat outside on the patio and just as the Unilocal reviews stated, it was pretty ghetto. Some seats were lawn chairs, some regular chairs. The positive thing was that there was a nice view of the lake and it was dog friendly. The tables were also nicely spread out so you didn’t feel like you were dining with the table next to you.
Then I had the misfortune of going inside to use the bathroom and the inside was horrible looking. It was poorly constructed (the floor sank a little when you stepped on it, there was caution tape on the steps that were tore up). There was nothing modern about this restaurant and it was not well-​lit.
We received our free chips and dip, which we all enjoyed. But we’re questioning whether this was the cause of the majority of our group not feeling well the next day.
The baby back ribs were good but unfortunately there were only three bones with meat on them. The sweet potato fries and barbecue baked beans were good but not good enough to make the meal with it’s $ 22 price.
The barbecue sauces were both good, however.
Service here was lacking. It seemed like the staff was confused and our order was screwed up several times. My meal was supposed to come with a biscuit, which I never received. One of my dining companions drinks arrived with no ice and the waiters took awhile to replenish our chips.
We tried using our Unilocal discount ($ 1 off for checking in) and no one knew what to do. Finally they just took a couple sodas off the bill to balance it out.
The restaurant is cash only.
All in all, I would not recommend this place. There’s a couple other barbecue places in town that I would try before coming here.

DOG FRIENDLY.
This place is SO dog friendly, it’s right next to the Dog Beach! :D
Dinner here with my dog, sitting on the outside patio with the wind from the lake gently blowing through my hair was a fantastic experience. The place certainly does have that «backyard» feel to it. The staff are friendly, prompt, and treat you like you’re visiting their home. I really felt welcome here.
The food? It’s not the best BBQ in the west. However, it’s very much acceptable. Ribs are aplenty, portions are large, and beers are cold. What more could you ask for from a backyard BBQ restaurant?
Much like the chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant, this place serves Homemade Potato Chips and dip as appetizer. FANTASTIC STUFF.
After dinner, we walked over to the dog beach where there’s a bar and tables/​chairs in the sand. We sat and watched the dog play with other dogs while drinking beers to the sun setting into the lake. What a fabulous way to end a day in Big Bear Lake.

This review is for the restaurant portion only — B’s Backyard BBQ. We ate here last summer, despite the bad reviews. Why do we do that? Should have trusted our fellow reviewers.
The service was terrible — we were seated at a table out on the patio, and sat there for quite awhile. We finally went inside, asked for menus, and returned to our table. Still, no one came. Had to flag someone over to take our order. Order placed, we went inside to the Bloody Mary bar. This time, while we were only gone from our table a few minutes, servers must have appeared from out of nowhere, and shut down our umbrella and took our place settings. Returned to our empty table, had to open our umbrella again, and find a waiter to ask for more silverware. It was a hot day, so we also asked for 2 waters. About 5 minutes later, they brought them — to the wrong table (who accepted them) — so we had to wait again.
On top of that, the food was not good either. We ordered the BBQ 3 meat combo w/​2 sides (which was not cheap — about $ 30) — the babyback ribs were very dry, the pulled pork very strange — totally flavorless, like boiled in water. The brisket was best of all 3. The sides were terrible — mac and cheese was one of worst ever, and coleslaw tasted like grocery deli slaw.
It’s a shame, because they have such a great location and property — one of the few (only?) places right on the lake. But I would definitely not come back here to eat. Now, having drinks at the bar, B’s Boathouse next door? Absolutely; separate review on that one. Hopefully they’ll get their act together and improve the food and service; with their great location, they have the potential to be the best on the lake.

This place was ok the food was kinda simple and flavorless but their 2 BBQ sauces are good if u mix them together!

This is THE place to come in Big Bear for a weekend bloody mary. B’s has a nice bloody mary bar, with all sorts of things on it – from the norms of celery and carrots to the not-​so-​normal pickled green beans, okra, and baby corns. At $ 5 apiece, they are a deal.
Grab yourself a bloody mary and a bite to eat, and sit out on the deck looking out over the marina and lake.

Last time I came here it was during the 08 Chinese Olympics. We came up from the flatland for a long weekend with family. I was the guy who had to pick the dinner fare for the whole fandamily. BBQ what did you say? They got a BBQ joint up here? I think one of my friends at work said this place was good. I wonder if it’s related to Big B’s in Placenta?

IT’S NOT! WTF, OK we’re going to B’s anyway.
Pulled up in several cars and saw a bunch of locals (half drunk) playing volleyball in the adjacent sand lot. OK I thought this is a lively place. I heard some live hillbilly music coming from the backside too. Noticed the nice view of the lake from the restaurant. And the meat smelling smoke coming from the joint was like a welcome card to me.

OK I made a cool choice for dinner.
My family group of 20ish ranged from 80+ to –2 years old. Most of us 25 – 45. I put in our group for seating and was told 20 – 30 min. Not bad considering our size.
So we waited and waited and waited, I already had drink in hand and finally asked how much longer??? At almost 1 hour we all got seated.
Cool Olympics on all the TV’s and every one was rooting’ for the local Big Bear runner. We all got into the spirit too and were soon hollering and chanting for Ryan Hall. My daughters name is also Ryan so she thought we were chanting for her.
Orders were taken and we were all in a pretty festive mood everything from salads to ribs to puled pork to brisket and a few cocktails.
Food came in small waves but we all got what we ordered. Only couple of foul ups.
My brisket sammy was great as was the pulled pork I got to try. The ribs I tried were dry and had seen better days. Don’t remember the sides I had but don’t remember any bad sides either.
The evening was full of USA, USA, USA, Olympic nationalism and the younger kids got a boost of our country’s pride and joy.
The food was not so memorable but the atmosphere and energy of B’s was a lot of fun for all of us.

Came here for our last meal during our group snowboarding trip. Honestly I don’t understand why we chose to come and eat here out of all the places to eat up in Big Bear. I mean, all of my friends have smart phones and use Unilocal to find places to chow down at, why… oh why of all places did they choose this place over the other eateries that had higher star ratings? No comprende! No me gusta! (Is that even correct?)
I can’t speak for the other diners except for my two bffs BJ, Johnny and myself.
BJ ordered the beef ribs entrée in which he described as tough and overcooked. I had a bite, but I can’t say much just because everyone that has eaten with me knows I hate, HATE barbecue. So when I ate it, all I tasted was sweetness.
Johnny shared the eggs florentine benedict with our gf Sherry. I know Johnny well enough just by the way he eats when he doesn’t like his food. Poor guy, couldn’t hide the dissatisfaction from his face to save his life.
I ordered a bowl of their clam chowder and shared a side of biscuits with gravy. BJ made the joke saying that my biscuits and gravy were just a plate of biscuits with the clam chowder slapped on top because they looked like the same thing. Well, I have to say… they both tasted like crap and were equally crappilicious. All I could taste was raw flour, very unpleasant and no amount of hot sauce could salvage this meal. Only good thing that I actually enjoyed of this meal was the hot tea I ordered, but how can you mess up a box of store bought tea bags, honey and lemon slices?
Besides the view, I really don’t know why my friends chose to dine here… and I give them the blame because I don’t have a smart phone, just my trusty dino phone… If I DID have a smart phone I would have Unilocaled this place and steered us away from this bad epicurean mistake. No bueno. Let’s just not.

What’s your choice — mediocre food, bad service, or stray dogs walking from table to table?
This was ridiculous. We should not have to be concerned with our grandsons’ safety while having dinner in a restaurant, even the outdoor portion of the restaurant. The dogs on leashes, tied to something, were ok. Dogs on leashes wandering around with no one securing the leash was not good. But watching the waitress run at stray dogs to shoo them away — large husky type dogs — sorry, that doesn’t work.
Every part of the service was poor. Friendly but poor. Maybe someone should have though to bring us napkins before the food arrived. Or maybe utensils. Or maybe ice for the drinks — «Our ice hasn’t arrived yet. When it does we’ll bring some right to you» Never happened.
The BBQ pork was ok, but not good. The baked beans, homemade, were absolutely awesome. Nothing else stood out, although the distraction of being in the middle of the dog pound may have influenced our taste buds.