Most of you probably come to this site only because you want to see if there's any further news about the almost non-existent chain of Love's Barbecue Restaurants. As you no doubt recall, I was once a big fan of them and have watched sadly as they've closed, one after another after another after another, etc. As of my last report, we were down to the alleged one in Jakarta, Indonesia. I say "alleged" because I always wondered if there really ever was one there. I suspect that, given what's happened lately in that part of the world, if there was one there, it ain't there no mo'.
In any case, all the Love's in the United States have closed. As I mentioned in August, there were still two former Love's that were operating and serving essentially the Love's menu. One was a place called Riley's in Brea, California. The other was The Great Rib Restaurant in Chula Vista, just outside of San Diego. Every year when I journey to the latter vicinity for the Comic-Con International, I toy with the idea of making a field trip to Chula Vista but I'm always too busy. A reader of this site named Mike Rossi was a patron of The Great Rib Restaurant though and he informs me that it's now closed, dark and not answering its phone. Guess we can scratch that one off, too.
Which seems to leave us with Riley's as the last standing remnant of the Love's chain. It's not a Love's but as you can see from the above photo, it has the same look and feel of one. That's the old Love's heart logo sign but with the name "Riley's" in place of "Love's." That's the same tag line that was on every Love's — "Wood Pit Barbecue Restaurant." And when I ate there in August of 2003, it was the old Love's cuisine, right down to the great beans.
Will I soon be journeying to Brea again for the near-Love's experience? Doubtful. Google Maps says it's 41.1 miles from me…about 49 minutes but adds (this is a new feature of Google Maps, apparently…a striving for honesty) that it can be "up to 2 hours, 10 mins in traffic." What are the chances of there not being traffic on the I-10 at any hour of the day when Riley's is open? If you're anywhere near there though, it's located at 720 N. Brea Blvd. in the city of Brea. Enjoy the ribs and think of me when you do.