Blazin’ Bayou BBQ (Post 2021.11)

Posted on 19 March 2021 by Ed's Eats

Pulled pork sandwich from Blazin’ Bayou BBQ Stand — *A delicious pulled pork sandwich from Blazin’ Bayou BBQ stand at the Marina Farmers’ Market.*

Place: Blazin’ Bayou BBQ

Category: Barbeque

Yelp: N/A

Location: Mobile (My visit was at the Marina Sunday Farmers’ Market, 215 Reservation Road, Marina, CA 93933)

Date of visit: 2021 March 7

On Sunday, March 7, 2021 I headed to the Marina Certified Farmers’ Market https://www.everyonesharvest.org/marina-certified-farmers-market/ that is held every Sunday from 10am to 2pm at 215 Reservation Road, Marina, CA. I didn’t go in search of a farmer or even produce (although I did pick up some vegetables) but I came in search of southern-style barbeque. The reason why I headed to the farmers’ market for barbeque was that Haley left a comment on a previous Ed’s Eats post that recommended it.

Before going on to the part about Blazin’ Bayou BBQ, a quick word on the Farmers’ Market. It was pretty small and there were only three actual farm stands. I assume they get a few more farmers in-season. The ones that were there though had a nice assortment of produce including some things you don’t find in a typical supermarket. ’I didn’t see any fresh meats for sale. There were a number of craft vendors and an assortment of food vendors including a taco truck, a sushi truck, kettle corn, and others food vendors. It probably isn’t worth the ride from a distance if you are just going there for vegetables but if you are in the area it is worth a quick stop.

Blazin’ Bayou BBQ specializes in southern-style BBQ. They had smoked pulled pork, smoked brisket, smoked ribs, and Louisiana Hot Links on the menu. They also had a crawfish boil special (at least I think it was a boil, I didn’t the special on camera so I may be wrong but I know it was crawfish because I almost got that instead of my sandwich because I haven’t had crawfish since moving away from Alabama).

*Blazin’ Bayou BBQ Stand at the Marina Farmer’s Market.*

Although all of the menu items were tempting, I decided to go with the pulled pork sandwich which is probably what I get most of the time when it is available from a BBQ place. The brisket really looked good though! The pulled pork was delicious. I’d say it was in the top 10% of pulled pork sandwiches I’ve had and I’ve been to a bunch of BBQ places. It was definitely the best pulled pork I’ve had in California. It was tender and flavorful. Blazin’ Bayou BBQ put a large amount of meat on their sandwiches which is nice but the sandwiches are not inexpensive. I think it was either twelve or thirteen dollars for the sandwich. The amount of meat made it worth it, but as I said it is not a cheap sandwich. As far as service goes, the staff were friendly and made my sandwich right away so no complaints there.

Overall, I was quite pleased and I will definitely get food from them again. Besides the Sunday farmers’ market in Marina according to the website, as of this writing, Blazin’ Bayou BBQ also goes to Moss Landing near Power Plant Coffee on the weekends. However, as with all mobile food vendors, it is always good to check with them to be sure before driving there. Thanks for the recommendation Haley!

Marina Donuts & Bagels (Post 2021.3)

Posted on 18 January 2021 by Ed's Eats

*Boston Cream Donut from Marina Donuts & Bagels.*

Place: Marina Donuts & Bagels

Category: Breakfast

Website: n/a

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/marina-donuts-and-bagels-marina

Location: 266 Reservation Rd Marina, CA 93933

Date of visit: 2021 January 9

On Saturday, January 9, 2021 I went to Marina Donuts & Bagels for coffee and, shockingly, a donut and a bagel. I have to admit to being skeptical about the bagels when I saw the sign and decided to give the place a try because outside of Montreal, Ottawa, and New Jersey/New York I have not really found many good bagels. I had a little higher expectations for the donut because there are good donuts here in California.

I decided to sample a donut and a bagel to see how much I liked their namesake products. I went with a Boston cream donut and a buttered toasted poppy seed bagel. I also got a coffee. The coffee was better than expected but it wasn’t like going to a fancy independent coffee shop but it definitely could compete with chain coffee shops as far as flavor.

The Boston cream donut was stuffed full a lot of Boston cream—much more than you normally get. The cream was very tasty as was the donut itself. The chocolate frosting was also delicious. It definitely tanks with the best Boston cream donuts I have ever had and would highly recommend it. As with most (all?) donut shops they had plenty of other choices so perhaps I’ll try a different kind when I return but it will be very hard to pass up their Boston cream donut.

Poppy seed bagel — *A toasted and buttered Poppy Seed Bagel from Marina Donuts & Bagels.*

As you can see in the photo, they are not at all stingy with the poppy seeds. Do not get this bagel if you do not love them! As I said I was skeptical going in due to the fact I never had anything better than a satisfactory bagel in California. I am no longer a skeptic! The bagel was good enough that it could have been a New Jersey bagel! (Not a Montreal or Ottawa bagel, however because they are a bit different). I will definitely go back next time I am in the mood for a bagel.

They also had muffins and some other breakfast pastries and they sell bagel sandwiches. One pastry that caught my eye was the cinnamon roll but I wanted to stick

to the donut and bagel for the review. I also noticed they had a bagel hot dog. I might try that next time as a hot dog stuffed in one of their bagels must be good.

The process of ordering and getting my food was fast and friendly but seemed a bit chaotic to me with multiple people behind the counter taking parts of my order. While it seemed chaotic to me, the chaos did not cause a delay or any other issues with my order; it was efficient and it did not take very long to get my items. I guess everyone that worked in their just jumped in to serve people as quickly as they could as the place was quite busy. They obviously understand the chaos much better than me as a first-time customer!

As you probably guessed from the review thus far, I will definitely be back. I’m actually thinking I could go for one of their bagels right now!