Maple Block Meat Company

As always, one of the few barbeque spots on the DineLA roster is offering a pretty solid deal for lunch and dinner, all centered around Texas-style meats and sides. The lunch offering keeps it simple with a trio of brisket tacos done up with salsa verde on corn tortillas and paired with house chips and salsa and an agua fresca. Come dinner, you get your choice of either tri-tip or free-range half chicken—both of which are peach-wood smoked—along with one of the joint’s signature sides—perhaps creamy slaw, vinegar slaw, or mac and cheese. Dinner ends with smoked chocolate bread pudding, which sounds like maybe the most ingenious dessert we’ve ever heard of.
The deal: $15 for tacos, chips and salsa, and a drink at lunch; $35 for a dinner entree, side, and dessert
What to order: Tacos, chips and salsa for lunch. Half-chicken, creamy slaw, and smoked chocolate bread pudding at dinner

Gone are the days when you used to have to drive across town for BBQ; Culver City has its own meat temple dedicated to long-standing American barbecue traditions. Wood-smoked meats are prepared using classic smoking techniques, so you’ll find juicy brisket, fall-off-the-bone pork ribs, and house-made sausage links. Lunchtime is for scrumptious sandwich and BBQ combo plates, while they get a bit fancier for dinner, showcasing small plates like Lettuce Wraps filled with super-tender, smoked pork shoulder, and Chicken Wings accompanied by fermented hot sauce. Leaving without trying the Buttermilk Biscuits—flaky vehicles good for sopping up leftover meat juice, but also just as delicious smeared with whipped honey butter—is an absolute crime.