Tarzana's El Paso Barbecue Now History

Above, El Paso Barbecue in Tarzana today. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A forty-year institution in Tarzana is now history.

El Paso Barbecue ceased business on February 26. The furnishings inside are now gone. The only thing left hanging on the walls inside was the Hopalong Cassidy movie poster that featured George Reeves in the credits.

Above, the Hopalong Cassidy movie poster. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Today, my cousin Ralph and I went to lunch at Vip's Cafe in Tarzana. Afterwards, we headed over to CD Trader to rummage around. El Paso Barbecue is only two doors away and I noticed a "For Lease" banner in the restaurant's window after we parked. I then looked towards the entrance and saw the owner of the restaurant, Teddy, and walked over to him. He saw me and yelled, "Armando!" (My mom and I had been regular customers since 2000.)

Above, El Paso Barbecue in 2015. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Teddy told me that they lost their lease and he decided to retire now instead of waiting one or two years from now, as he originally planned.

I asked him if he is going to spend his days fishing and his response was, "No, just playing golf!"

We said our good-byes and parted ways. I then spoke to the head waiter. He is now looking for work. He worked at El Paso Barbecue for 35 years. As he is a nice guy and a good waiter, I gave him my contact information so he could use me as a reference.

Meanwhile, workers were cleaning out the restaurant and one was removing the tropical fish from the big fish tank that was mounting in one of the walls at a booth.

I will miss El Paso Barbecue. To me, they had the best barbecue beef briskets and steaks.