Baby Blues BBQ

Baby Blues BBQ brings a little bit of Venice all the way to West Hollywood. (Eric Rosen)

Though it was only a "soft opening," the recent debut of the second location of Venice's Baby Blues BBQ in West Hollywood was packed with dudes and gals chomping on ribs, digging into the catfish filets, and sucking down fratboy-favorite beers on tap.

A big change from the usual WeHo restaurant crowd, Baby Blues seems to have extended Sunset's straight party vibe down to Santa Monica Blvd., not least of all with its themey down-home Southern décor, cheap drinks, and raucous atmosphere.

The menu is mostly the same as the one in Venice, with a variety of pork and beef ribs, pulled pork, brisket, barbecue chicken, catfish and shrimp served as platters or sandwiches, and "fixins" like sautéed okra, mashed sweet potatoes, mac 'n cheese, creamed spinach, and collard greens. Go with a friend and share one of the platters like the "Blue Devil" with any four different meats and any three sides. There's enough food on it to feed a full-on hootenanny.

The kitchen wasn't yet adept at filling orders in a timely fashion, and more than one dish came to the table dried out from a few too many heat lamp rays, but Baby Blues looks like it'll be putting down roots, and serving up barbecue in a part of town that has been woefully bereft of such food until now.

Also, be sure to check out the mounted Black Angus head-we're big adherents to the policy that you should know, and respect, where your meat comes from. The other big plus? The liquor menu, which features genteel booze like Mint Juleps, and Nana's "Sweet Tea" just like granny used to drink, rum and all.

Baby Blues BBQ West Hollywood
Address: 7953 Santa Monica Blvd.
Cross Street: Hayworth Ave.
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
Type: Barbecue
Phone: (323) 656-1277
Hours: Sun-Thurs 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-Midnight