Sunset lakeside makes for an inspiring dinner setting, as our star drops below distant mountains and bathes Big Bear Lake a Technicolor show of orange, yellow and red light.

    Unfortunately at this time of year, the sun goes down before most appetites work up, what with night arriving at 5 p.m. or so. B’s Backyard Bar-B-Que offers up the most killer lake views imaginable, and the most intense sunsets, but if guests show up at the normal dinner hour in December, all they’ll gaze upon out the windows is a wall of black.

    Even without the magnificent views, B’s remains a popular dining destination in winter, so you know the food lakeside has to be good. Large portions of hearty comfort food, be it the signature barbecue selections, steaks, chicken, fish and more assure guests leave with enough fuel in their bellies to stay warm on a cold night. Speaking of staying warm, the completely-renovated building really keeps guests toasty, even on chilly nights.

    B’s Backyard is a nice comfy place that’s completely unpretentious, despite the lakeside location. It’s a family kind of restaurant where children are welcome, prices are modest and the food is the kind of stuff your next door neighbor might prepare for a backyard barbecue. Which is how the restaurant actually got its start, owner John tantalizing down-the-hill neighbors with the smell of barbecued beef and pulled pork wafting into the air, as he and wife Julie held parties for a hundred guests.

    Walk inside and the aroma of Kansas City barbecue is everywhere. The enormous 3,500 lb. wood smoker, direct from the KC Masterpiece Smokehouse in Missouri, is the star of this show, able to hold up to 1,400 lbs. of meat at one time. “The most we’ve had in it is about a thousand pounds,” John said. “Usually it’s about one-third filled with pulled pork.”

    Indeed pulled pork is a specialty, as the Gorziks have demonstrated since opening B’s. It’s slow cooked for 16 hours and emerges from the kitchen hot knife-through-butter tender and flaky. A fork full tugs into tender strings of meat that are super moist and flavorful. Enjoy it on a sandwich for $10.95 or as part of a meal with choice of two sides for $15.95.

    Wife Sandy and I were anxious to take my mom and aunt to B’s over Thanksgiving weekend on their first visit to Big Bear in over a year, and we all opted for pulled pork—Sandy went with the sandwich, the rest of us with the meals. Mountains of meat were the reward each of us enjoyed, mom and Aunt Jo intrigued by the two homemade barbecue sauces for dipping, especially spicy that’s sweet with a kick.

    Pulled pork is such a specialty at B’s, it even stars in the baked beans that come as a side dish. A full pound of pork, plus a pound of real bacon, goes into every batch, and the result is beans swarming with meat, some of the best you’ll ever try.

    I actually couldn’t make up my mind between pulled pork or beef brisket, so I chose to not choose by ordering both in a two item combo plate ($22.95). Two small casseroles arrived stacked high with meat, and the brisket, flaky and swimming in its own natural juice, proved at least as tender and tasty as acknowledged favorite pulled pork. For a real winter appetite, choose three items for just two bucks more at $24.95.

    There are lots of things that set B’s apart, starting with “Devil” chips. These are the restaurant’s own homemade potato chips that are absolutely out-of-this-world, so named because the entire staff has a “devil” of a time staying out of them. “We slice our own potatoes,” John said, “about 500 lbs. a week made from scratch.”

    —by Marcus Dietz

    B’s Backyard Barbecue is at 350 Alden Rd., off the boulevard just east of Knickerbocker. Call (909) 866-5400.