Barbecue that feeds the soul—that’s what CJ’s BBQ Smokehouse is all about, according to owner Christopher Patterson.
Even though he grew up in California, Patterson said he inherited his parents’ Southern tastebuds.
“I grew up on Southern dishes like collard greens, cornbread, black-eyed peas, catfish, seafood gumbo—just different flavors that are kind of unique to the South and not so much California,” Patterson said.
And it’s those tastebuds that inspired Patterson to open a barbecue spot, an homage to his parents’ classic Southern recipes—but with his own twist.
CJ’s BBQ, located at 1005 Monterey St. in Downtown San Luis Obispo, opened in January and is Patterson’s second Southern barbecue joint in the state. His other restaurant’s in Oxnard, which he’s operated for 22 years.
His Oxnard location is a successful “fast-casual” dining experience, Patterson said, and a friend inspired him to open this new, sit-down location in SLO due to a lack of local “soul food.”
But Patterson said it’s been a slow start on Monterey Street, and the restaurant has had to let many of its staff go due to lack of business, but when a random busy weekend night comes along, they don’t have the staff to support the rush. He said it’s been quite the rollercoaster.
That’s why Patterson brought on Sharruss Humlicek, a restaurant professional with 29 years of experience and a SLO local whose primary goal is to incorporate CJ’s BBQ into SLO’s food culture.
“People and food are my passion. I love to get out there and promote. I love to make a big deal out of great food. When somebody has a really great food product, it makes it really easy for me to do my job,” Humlicek said. “So, I’m here to focus on customer service and creating a space that people want to come and hang out, … that type of thing, where this is going to become a staple for the locals.”
Humlicek said Patterson’s use of flavor could propel CJ’s to become that local staple.
“We don’t really have a good barbecue spot in San Luis Obispo that has stayed. Anything that we have had in the past hasn’t lasted,” she said. “But [Patterson’s] flavor profile of his foods, and the consistency of it, is huge.”
Some of Patterson’s personal favorites on the menu are the gumbo, based on his mother’s recipe; collard greens; candied yams; and peach cobbler with ice cream—he noted that each pie they serve at his Oxnard location is homemade by his mother, and he hopes to eventually serve these pies in SLO.
Patterson said he wants this new location to be successful for his mother, who still works as a hairdresser.
“I would love for her to retire, and even if she just retires and starts doing pies,” he said. “Yeah, she makes all the pies, …and she also makes a lemon pudding cake that we sell down there.”
Patterson said one of his most notable recipes is for collard greens, a dish he hated as a child. Starting with his mom’s recipe, he said he tweaked it in a way to make his inner-child happy.
“I used smoked turkey instead of ham hocks,” he said, and laughed when reminiscing about his first time cooking the greens and how much they reduced in size.
“When I made my first pot, I made this big old pot full of collard greens, and it shrunk down [tiny]. It lasted about two hours,” he said with a laugh.
The menu at CJ’s is extensive, Patterson said, and includes pulled pork sandwiches, blackened salmon, burgers, cornbread, chicken wings, and beef ribs with an inferno sauce so hot you’ll think you have a fever.
Pair that inferno with a lemonade and you’re good to go, Patterson said.
“For those wings—lemonade,” he said. “Eat that. Drink the lemonade when it gets to a point where you can’t take [the heat], and calm it down.” Δ
Staff Writer Libbey Hanson is contemplating trying CJ’s inferno sauce. Send best wishes to lhanson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Mar 13-23, 2025.