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I've been driving down and back I-5 to L.A. about once a month now for a couple of years or more. As somewhat of a hater of fast food and after about a zillion trips not in a hurry much these days.
This exit on the Freeway has a high percentage of non-chain spots to stop. Besides this BBQ restaurant there's Indian, Mexican, Salvadoran among others. Of course you can still get a MacDonallds if you pull off here too.
Back to the review, I ate here today and was pretty happy with a couple of exceptions.
I had a tri-tip sandwich that was very good. good BBQ sauce and happily it was served on the side and not drenching the meat. The roll was nice and fresh and all in all it was a good sandwich.
The problem I had was with the side dish. I was offered a choice of fries, some type of salad and onion rings. I picked the onion rings, that was the problem.
First of all the onion rings were pretty darn oily and they tasted of fish. I guess either they don't change the oil much or they just fried some fish. I can live with that, what the heck it's highway food anyway. What really got to me was the fact that when I got the bill there was a $1.00 charge for the onion rings. The server who offered me the choices never mentioned a premium for that choice. Kind of rubbed me the wrong way and although I left her an o.k. tip I must admit I subtracted a buck.
Buttonwillow exists solely to provide services for travelers up and down I-5. The dining choices in town are few. Fine cuisine is not to be found. Although we stop at Buttonwillow from time to time, this is the first time we tried Willow Ranch. Wife had "chicken burger," which was a somewhat dried out piece of chicken breast served on a very large bun. French fries accompanying it were soggy and tasted of old fat. I had tri-tip dinner. Several slices of beef with the signature bbq sauce - it is mildly spicy and somewhat sweet. Came with baked potato, spicy beans, corn-on-the-cob and roll. Too much for this old guy to finish.
Lemon meringue pie for dessert finished it off.
Waitress provided good service, was friendly and capable. Service was quick. My wife felt her dinner was 2-star. Considering the alternatives in Buttonwillow, I rate it 4-star.
On the way down to LA for our yearly March trip, we stopped in Buttonwillow to get gas at the TA. Since we had made the stop, we decided to get some grub since it was near the lunch hour. We saw that nobody was in the Mexican joint, which to us is a bad sign. However, next door, the BBQ joint was poppin' with an almost full parking lost. So we decided to try it out.
I had the combo platter with a half rack of baby back pork ribs and tri-tip while my wife had a helping of the bbq beef ribs. Our portions were generous as we ended up taking the rest of our food to go. The bbq with it's sauce was decent. The waitress and people in the place were friendly. If I have another craving for bbq while heading down to SoCal or Vegas, I'll stop by!
driving back from Disney with 2 kids who were tired. Stopped off to get gas and something to eat. Saw the willow ranch and thought why not.
Let me tell that was the best decision. For being in the middle of no where off of 5 this place is the BEST place to stop and eat.
Hubby ordered half rack of pork ribs, came with beans, mashed taters(real ones not the fake crap)corn , salad and bread.
I got the half chicken roasted, with beans, mashed taters,corn, bread and clam chowder. I asked for extra BBQ sauce as i like it saucy, hubby ended up using it also.
boys got grilled cheese.
waitress was great, food came quick and hot. Mashed potatoes we real and spicy from the pepper, gravy was great. Corn a little overdone for my hubby but fine for me. Sauce was the BEST. You know its good when you see people coming in and ordering TRAYS of their potatoe salad. A must stop for trips to come
After exiting the 5 with the hopes of trying an Indian restaurant that had advertised itself for the past 100 miles, we were disappointed to discover that they are closed on Tuesdays. Lame. So, so lame.
Luckily, the Willow Ranch came to our rescue. It's clean, the service is friendly, and the food is fine.
The best part was the tense conversation we observed between two employees on the back patio; one of whom was wielding a fly swatter and the other had Kate Gosselin hair. Drama!
I came to this store while driving up north and wanting to have lunch. The interior was that of a traditional American diner with some BBQ-like decoration. Most customers were Caucasians.
I ordered BBQ brisket sandwich hoping for juicy, tasty with every bit of where I could eat. After about 10 minutes of pretty good service, what I got was soft but not necessarily tasty. I mean, there was no sauce poured onto the meat. So while the meat itself was very good, there was no extra kick that made me love that dish.
So that is why I decided to rate this place as it is. On an unrelated note, for some reason, near the end of my meal, the guy sitting not far away from me started talking about how he hated Chinese people. Me being half Chinese, I was mildly annoyed, but just decided to think that this is, after all, the conservative area of California.
Much you'll read in the other reviews, I stumbled upon this place while on my Diego to the Bay pilgrimage on good 'ol highway 5. I came here looking for an alternative to the ubiquitous McDonald's (aka filthy Ron's) and Carl's Jr./Green Burritos strewn across the state. Their posted "BBQ" outside their restaurant beckoned me closer from the parking filled with diesel trucks, minivans, and the like.
Inside, I came to find a honest-down-diner-from-somewhere-in-middle-America type of atmosphere. You got your booths set up throughout the place, along with the traditional long bar seating necessary for any diner.
The friendly prompt service was to be expected of this type of joint, where first-timers like myself are treated with the familiarity and courtesy of a faithful regular.
Given that BBQ was one of their apparent claim to fame, I opted to go for BBQ beef ribs. Although I only ordered 3 of them, the cook mistakenly served up 5. While I got the extra two at no extra charge, I was also pleased to see this meaty entree be paired up with a baked potato, baked beans, garlic toast, and side salad to start it all off.
Delicious all-around, for 12 bucks, I'd say this weary roadside traveler got his money's worth.
This time I had the best motherfudgin' Chocolate Cream Pie. They call it Chocolate Silk, and if you've ever eaten a silk scarf, this is even better than that.
My spoon stole across the table and sampled my honeybunch's Peanut Butter Cream Pie. Also amazingly good.
All of this after a moist and delicious BBQ Beef sandwich on a tender yielding bun.
Uncrowded at 4pm. Just us and 2 sheriffs.
What the hell am I doing in Buttonwillow!?
Eating the best goddamn Banana Cream Pie, that's what.…
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I was at Buttonwillow Raceway again yesterday... and I decided not to get Carl's Jr for lunch, but instead, take a little more time to get some BBQ. And damn, I'm glad I did!
Willow Ranch BBQ is the shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish they had a branch closer to Pasadena or LA! Damn!!!
Their service was great (I sat at the counter, so it was easy to get their attention), and the TRI TIP PLATE was off the hook!!! Really juicy, moist, flavorful tri tip slices, and the BBQ sauce was EXCELLENT. I'm a bit of a BBQ connoisseur, having been all over the USA and eaten at a ton of really good BBQ restaurants. Willow Ranch BBQ certainly doesn't disappoint with it's sweet/vinegary BBQ Sauce, I loved it.
The tri-tip also came with corn-on-the-cobb, which wasn't bad... and some chili. I'm not a huge fan of beans or chili, but I gotta say, this chili was pretty good. I just tried a little bit.
The Fruit Punch there is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It tastes like they put actual fruit juice in there or something!!! I haven't had fruit punch this good since I was in Hawaii!!! I know it was from a fountain, but it didn't taste like the normal crappy fountain punch. I need to find out what brand of fruit punch they have next time...
Well, I need to drive up to SF for a wedding in a couple weeks. Maybe I'll try to stop in again just for some tri-tip and fruit punch!
My band played a show in San Francisco. The bassist and guitarist left for home a day before the rest of us. We, in the second car, got a late start. There is traffic like you can not believe and all of our tummies are growling at each other. None of us are big fans of McDonalds, Burger King, Denny's or the ubiquitous road trip restaurants.
Desperate times call for desperate needs and I promise my car load that I will stop in the next small town and we'll eat anywhere that they serve food. I see a sign for the iron skillet which I remember isn't good but isn't horrible.
As we are getting off the freeway, we smell barbecue. Then we see a giant barrel reading, "Willow Ranch" across it.
I exclaim to my fellow travelers,"Screw the skillet. We're eating here!"
It is an executive decision that has changed my NorCal back to SoCal traveling ever since.
We are greeted by a cute little girl who tells us to sit anywhere we would like. Our waitress calls us, "hon" and jokes around with us a lot.
We all ordered the ribs and they come with a treasure trove of side dishes. The baked beans are delicious. The coleslaw is crisp, tasty and wonderful. The baked potato hits the spot and is smothered with goodness. The ribs are not the best I have ever had but high up on the list.
Now here is the interesting part. Usually eating food like that makes you want to take a nap. I am convinced that there is something in the barbecue sauce that gives you a burst of speedy energy. Everyone in my car was giddy and giggling the rest of the way home. We came up with new languages and catch phrases on this trip. Not only that but traffic seemed to inexplicably clear up. Perhaps it was the magic of the Willow Ranch?
Every trip I make to Northern California comes with the knowledge that I will be stopping at the Willow Ranch on my way back home to Southern California. Now I just need to find a restaurant to stop at on the way up. Maybe in Soledad or Salinas? Let me know if you know a spot as magical as this one.
The BBQ sauce they make here is awesome; it is sweet, vinegary and has herbs and spices that give the sauce a little something extra while the sauce itself is not hot.
The rest of the food? Not so much. The shredded pork sandwich was a little bit dry and it wasn't smoked. Service could have been just a bit faster.
Perhaps I ordered something that wasn't a signature dish. I'll be back to try something new, because sooner or later, I'll need to buy more sauce.
Why is the drive to LA from SJ so long?
My friends and I randomly stopped by Buttonwillow for some food on the way back to San Jose. We decided to go eat at this restaurant because of the the big BBQ sign. I was a little skeptical about eating here at first. Good thing we stopped by. I ordered an 8 oz steak for about 13 bucks, it came with a salad, baked potato, corn and a roll. The steak was any other average steak. The reason I gave this place a 4 star because of their customer service. We stopped in a 9:30pm. This places closes at 10pm but they were still happy to serve us. We were there till 11pm and our waitress was still in a happy mood. This is not typical of most restaurants.
Overall, I would probably stop by again the next time I pass through town.
This place rocks. Got the deep pit b-b-que sandwich with home made potato salad. It's amazing. And ordered the sweetened ice tea -- i don't know what they put in there (could it be sugar?) -- but it goes SO well w/ b-b-que. The staff here is so friendly -- love this place.
Bar-b-que so good it'll make you want to slap yo mama.
What a shame to think that years went by on…
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Almost 10 years ago, I made the mistake of traveling from the Bay Area to LA and back during Thanksgiving weekend. It was a mistake in the fact that upon returning to the Bay Area that Sunday evening, it took over 4 hours to get from Burbank to the end of the Grapevine. So tired and hungry as I was, I randomly stopped at the local restaurant off the Hwy 5/ Hwy 58 exit. That place was the Willow Ranch, and nowadays, my trip to and from LA isn't complete without me stopping there for some Cali BBQ.
Because of the cheap motel rooms in this town, Buttonwillow is my mid-stop before going to LA from the Bay Area. I'll either stop by Willow Ranch for dinner before checking and/or stop by there after checking out for breakfast. Dinner wise, you can't go wrong with their BBQ selection from the combo half chicken and brisket of beef, or simply a steak smothered in BBQ sauce. For breakfast, I made the discovery that mixing their BBQ sauce with the homefries and eggs (steak n eggs) is an awesome way to begin your day. To top it all off, they serve that old skool fruit punch that consist of nothing but sugar and red food coloring. Yeah, it's not healthy for you, but there's something nostalgic about that distinctive taste!
Service wise, it's like going into a diner where you're greeted with a "Honey" or a "How Goes?" On occasion, you may be pulled into a discussion among the manager and one of her children who is working as a member of the wait staff.
If you're hooked on the BBQ sauce, they do offer bottles to purchase. Another reason why it's important to stop there.
Herd on outta this reastaurant and go somwehere else, l'il doggies.
in my greedy, "I'm eating on the road hence I can throw all my regular dining rules out the window" anticipation, I tried too hard and failed miserably. Or rather, Willow Ranch hardly tried and failed anyway- I just had too much faith. So why only one star?
After a long day of running around at Buttonwillow racetrack being my boyfriend's faithful pit chief, I want meat and beer. QUICK.
It took them over 5 minutes to get us seated- no biggie, unless you saw how ridiculous it was- any of them could have seated us. They had ample servers and the restaurant was about 80% full.
It took another 20-25 minutes to get ANYONE to notice us. We were thirsty, wanted tall frosty mugs of domestic beer, just wanted some acknowledgement.
The table next to us and behind us had their orders taken, beverages, salad, then entrees brought to them. We still sat in the dark, literally because the lamp overhead wasn't lit, without anyone that worked there showing signs that we even had a pulse to reckon with. After trying to hold boyfriend back from talking to someone, I finally acquiesced and he stood, waiting some MORE at the cash register, just to talk to someone to say we've been waiting almost half an hour without a hello.
Needless to say, the service sucked big sheep balls (they're huge, take my word for it). A guy explained our server was 'too busy' to take our order so he took it for us. There was further confusion as to who and when our drinks and food were being brought to us as we sat for another 15 minutes without anything, not even water, being brought to us.* Note- just because they took your order, doesn't mean they're going to bring it to you.*
Finally our beverages came, and they explained our food was ready to come to the table. I hate it when food comes rushing out at me, and this is exactly what happened. Our salads arrived drenched in dressing like someone was performing dressing bukkake. Awful. The rest of our meal followed immediately and was tossed at us, the check was dropped on our table immediately following the food with "no hurry, but we just wanted to leave it here" even though the place wasn't closing for another hour or more. WHAT THE FUCK?
The food- are you sure you really want to read more? boyfriend had the bbq beef sandwich, which was supposed to come 'smothered' in BBQ sauce. the sandwich wasn't bad- but the sauce was served in a little plastic cup next to the sandwich. So much for smothering.
My ribs were tough, gristly, awfully charred in some places to the point of bitterness. the tomato-based BBQ sauce certainly wasn't enough to save it by any stretch of the imagination. The bbq beans were no where near bbq but actually chili, the top of my dinner roll had blackened bits stuck to the oily sheen, which I suspect they placed on the grill to warm up but what difference does it make when it gets to our table at room temp? It looked like the cook scraped the top of the roll on the bottom of his shoe- nasty. The corn on the cob was previously frozen then boiled beyond recognition- boyfriend commented that it looked pre-eaten due to the broken kernels covering half of the ear.
They luckily didn't charge us for one of the three beers we had- they wouldn't want me to open my pandora's box of wrath on them for the awful service AND meal we received. There was no redeeming this experience and we attempted to drown our sorrows with beer from the gas station next door while watching anime on Adult Swim in our motel room.
I don't know what their deal was- the fact that I'm not white, the fact that we were an interracial couple, the fact that they don't favor minorities. I saw another table with a few Asian guys most likely in town for the same reason, and they were here before we were. When we were halfway through our meal, I saw our suspected server take their order. I wanted to tell them to eat at the TA Travel Center's restaurant, Country Choice or Country Pride or whatever it was called.
This place must stay in business soley from unsuspecting travellers that see the word "ranch" and think it's ok. Please. Do yourself a favor and eat elsewhere- you'll be sorry you didn't take my advice, especially if you're a minority.
Out in the middle of almost nowhere...and there is this restaurant that serves good comfort food. Steak with potatoes, country fried steak, pies etc.
I have been to Willow Ranch for countless number of times. Not because I always travel between Nor Cal and So Cal, but there is a nearby race track which I frequent. At the end of an exhaustive day. this is the place to chill.
A decent ribeye steak with soup/salad and two sides run for $21. It's not IHOP or Dennys price but hey, Willow Ranch is one of its kind around here.
The place can get crowded on weekends during dinner time.
I love BBQ, and after a planned hike on Caliente Mountain, we came here before I drive back home. The food is good, and they give you plenty of it. The corn could have been fresher, but the Chili Beans are darn good. The Pork Ribs could have been cooked a tad longer so the meat could falloff the bone. The sauce though is just a tad too sweet. I like mine with a bit more of a bite (vinegar and spice). After a 17.49 mile hike this place rocked, as I was hungry! Would I come back? Yes. Is it the best I've had? No. Still though, it is pretty good BBQ.
Only thing I love better than going to Vegas, is driving there from NorCal so I can stop at Willow Ranch! Best ribs and sauce in the state!
On our drive home from Oakland, we decided to stop at Willow Ranch to grab a bite to eat. We were a little bit skeptical at first but then knew that the place had to be good if it was selling it's own homemade BBQ sauce. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with the homemade BBQ sauce. We liked the sauce so much that we ended up buying a bottle of it to take home. It was yummy!!! The portions were not too big and it was delicious! I didn't get to try the other dishes so that's why this is just getting 3 stars. If we pass through again, we'll definitely stop in and grab another bite to eat there.
When your hungry and there isn't much around, we stopped off this exit and came upon Willow Ranch. At first I was kind of skepticle since there were only 4 cars in the parking lot around noon and I knew most of them had to be the workers. So we go inside and I see 2 people inside. Ok maybe it is just slow due to the economy. This place looks like an old restaurant back in time. Nice and western like, with old signs on the wall. I'm looking through the menu and what do I see buy Chicken fried steak. And anyone that knows me, knows if there is chicken fried steak, I have to try it once. Well this place did it well and it was tender. Not only that the other dishes we order was good too. The waiter was very fast and courteous and within an hour the place had another 20 people. One thing that also perked my ears, was that someone placed an order for 45 sandwiches and I knew then this place had to be good. They actually made 45 sandwiches in about 20 minutes and had it out the door.
After a long day at the track this was much needed. i orderd the two item combo, tri tip and pork ribs. The meal came with way too much food. I was full from just the sides! The ribs and tri-tip were very tastey. Maybe they could have been cooked a bit longer but they were very tender none the less. I tried to finish the food but I took some in a to go box. The smell of the ribs is already tempting me...its going to be a long night
As a bay area transplant living in LA I can honestly say I've taken that straight shot to the face on the i5 like a champ a couple thousand times. Never, in all my trips back and forth, have I found a place as enjoyable to stop and eat as Willow Ranch in Buttonwillow... Where is Buttonwillow you may ask? Who the fuck knows? All I know is that on the mind numbing drive north we stopped to refuel and all of a sudden there was creamy goodness in my mouth! Now don't be gross...I'm referring to the gravy on my hot turkey sandwich of course! You should definitely go there!!! I promise I'm not one of those ppl who likes everything... there are MANY things I HATE... namely icy dew on the outside of my chilled vodka bottles, coupons, people who say like every other word, yappy dogs, cheese, waiters who joke with you, the list goes on and on... Willow Ranch in Buttonwillow is NOT one of those things.... Willow Ranch in Buttonwillow is going to blow your mind!
We stayed in Buttonwillow on the way home from Las Vegas; the clerk at the Red Roof Inn ($52 a night for a king size bed) recommended Willow Ranch and we loved it. One of the best meals we've had in a long time, wish there was one near our house. The service was very good and the waitress apologized for arriving at our table after a four or five minute wait. I thought I'd be the first to review it, glad to see a few others have found this great road trip stop.
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