University Heights Is Getting A BBQ Joint To Call Its Own

A rack of ribs to the tipster who let us know that a new restaurant is gearing up to take the corner spot on El Cajon Boulevard and Louisiana Street that once housed the original Pomegranate Restaurant and then Flavors of East Africa before they moved a few doors down.

Brandon Jessie, the meat maestro behind the catering company, BBQ 81, is opening his first brick-and-mortar eatery, hopefully by early June. Up until now, Jessie's main focus has been on-site event catering with his BBQ trailer or occasionally serving up his food at local bars, including The AC Lounge on 30th Street.

This new restaurant will serve beer and wine and offer lunch, dinner and late night eats; Jessie says that his specialties are baby back ribs, tri tip, mac and cheese and collard greens. He's even in talks with the Lafayette Hotel about potentially providing room service to its guests.

Some barbeque purists may take issue since BBQ 81's meats are slow-cooked and then grilled over mesquite rather than smoked, but number of Eater readers have told us it's darn tasty stuff.
· BBQ 81 [Official Site]
· All Coming Soon Coverage on Eater [~ESD~]