Hambone 's is a popular BBQ joint owned by Bellflower and operated by Pitmaster Kenny Hamilton, who came to Los Angeles via Mississippi. What drew me here was that this is one of the restaurants in South Los Angeles, which is sold as black tacos that relate to tacos sold by black companies to predominantly black customers. Hambone 's serves a very simple black taco with chopped grilled meat with sauce on flour tortillas, dressed with salad, shredded yellow cheese and cubed tomatoes. I was a bit cheated because I could not taste the difference between the Pulled Pork Taco from the Beef Tri Tip Taco, as the BBQ sauce on the meat was so sweet and pervasive that it tasted both tacos the same. My fascination with black tacos aside, I could smell Hambone 's hickory smoked meat from my car when I entered the parking lot, which brought me in mood to have something more substantial than a taco. I'm often disappointed at the BBQ restaurants in Southern California, so I crossed my fingers as I ordered a Half Rack of Spare Ribs. The ribs were cut neatly in a way that made me a little skeptical (in my experience, pretty BBQ is usually bad BBQ), but only in the short moment before I started eating them. I was thrilled by a stubborn hickory taste through textured, dense pork that cleanly snaps off the bone with a tug of your teeth. My biggest mistake is that, like the Taco meat, these ribs are strong with a thin glaze that is sweet and sticky, reminds me of an Asian type sauce one would eat on the magenta hued reserve ribs found in cantonese restaurants throughout America. Don't get me wrong, the sauce tastes good, I just wish there was less of it and that I had the opportunity to use it myself. It is a shame, because Hamilton is proud of his ruin and speaks of whether it is as his secret of weapons, but I could not see where the ruin stops and the sauce begins, and the sauce made everything sooooo sweet. Next time I'll ask for the sauce on the side. I also ordered Collard Greens, who were flat greens that were stacked on top of each other, almost too tidy looking for collar, but nevertheless delicate, piquant, filled with pork flavor, and only a touch of acidity. Sippable pot liquor remained as soon as I quickly send the greens. These were very good by Southern California standards, even if they were on average in the south. This is an older restaurant that has aged on the outside, but is a friendly, clean place inside. Izzie at the front counter took my order and answered all my questions. Overall a pretty good barbecue area.
