El Camino Real: Close But No Cigar

By: Ben Kessler, posted Mar 11, 2009 at 9:15 am

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El Camino Real: Close But No Cigar

When we first heard about El Camino Real opening in the former location of Deuce in Northern Liberties, we were excited for the south of the border inspired Texas barbecue and Mexican menu. Philadelphia is severely lacking in the smoked meat department and here at the Unbreaded offices we sure love us some barbecue brisket. Owned and operated by Owen Kamihira of the wonderful Bar Ferdinand just across the way, El Camino Real is perfectly decorated and noisy just like a higher end watering hole. The menu is divided into two subheadings – Mexico and Texas with sandwiches only offered on the latter (although isn’t a burrito a sandwich?).

The Wagyu Brisket and Beef Short Rib sandwiches are both slow cooked in the smoker over applewood and served on large slabs of Texas toast with a choice of regular or spicy house barbecue sauce on the side. The brisket was thickly sliced and succulent, but lacked that smoky character and slow cooked flavor. The short rib came sliced slightly differently, in thicker yet small patches and seemed a bit more robust in flavor, but the meat was surprisingly overcooked and tough to the bite. Both sandwiches suffered from collapse due to the overly soft bread, which quickly turned into an even bigger disaster after soaking up the immense amounts of sauce we used to add flavor to the bland meat. The sandwiches did arrive literally minutes after our order was placed and it’s questionable whether or not the meat was sliced to order, or sitting in a warming tray. The fries were crispy and tasted fresh but were far too over seasoned for our taste.

It would be unfair to rate El Camino Real as a whole based on the sandwiches, simply because there are so many other offerings on the menu. Unfortunately for us, the sandwiches did not impress nor did they satisfy our hunger for Texas barbecue. Next time, we’d go for the burrito.

Get your sandwich on:

El Camino Real
1040 N. 2nd Street Philadelphia, PA 19123 (Google Map)

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  • http://www.postschadenfreude.tumblr.com jtramsay

    Yeah, this place sounds so disappointing, despite reports to the contrary from Phoodie and Philly Weekly. Even if I set aside the number of foodies, amateur and otherwise, who've been disappointed, my friends have had horrible experiences, some of which resulted in comped checks!

  • http://www.postschadenfreude.tumblr.com jtramsay

    Yeah, this place sounds so disappointing, despite reports to the contrary from Phoodie and Philly Weekly. Even if I set aside the number of foodies, amateur and otherwise, who've been disappointed, my friends have had horrible experiences, some of which resulted in comped checks!

  • http://www.phillygrub.com phillygrub

    I'm really sorry to hear this place isn't cutting the mustard. I've been dying for some BBQ, especially pulled pork or brisket. Can anyone suggest a better place?

  • http://www.phillygrub.com phillygrub

    I'm really sorry to hear this place isn't cutting the mustard. I've been dying for some BBQ, especially pulled pork or brisket. Can anyone suggest a better place?

  • https://unbreaded.com Ben Kessler

    I've been hearing great things forever about Sweet Lucy's on State Rd. in Northeast Philadelphia. Planning on getting out there soon for an Unbreaded review.

    More here: http://www.sweetlucys.com/

  • https://unbreaded.com Ben Kessler

    I've been hearing great things forever about Sweet Lucy's on State Rd. in Northeast Philadelphia. Planning on getting out there soon for an Unbreaded review.

    More here: http://www.sweetlucys.com/

  • oxjox

    I'm in love with the brisket here. I've never had meat that actually melted in your mouth. Everyone I bring here doubts that anything could be so divine yet they all walk out praising it just as much as I have.

    Now, I can't argue that it lacks that southern smoked flavor, but I don't think that's what they're going for here. For that, I hit up Abner's in Jenkintown. I haven't had the sandwich here either. The bread doesn't look all that appetizing to me.

  • oxjox

    I'm in love with the brisket here. I've never had meat that actually melted in your mouth. Everyone I bring here doubts that anything could be so divine yet they all walk out praising it just as much as I have.

    Now, I can't argue that it lacks that southern smoked flavor, but I don't think that's what they're going for here. For that, I hit up Abner's in Jenkintown. I haven't had the sandwich here either. The bread doesn't look all that appetizing to me.

  • http://www.foodaphilia.com e

    I think El Camino is just fine. I'm not partial to the bread they use for their sandwiches, but it's very traditional to serve BBQ on texas toast. I can't rave about the brisket, or any of the food, besides the onion rings with smoked ketchup. As far as Sweet Lucy's is concerned, their food is banging! Monday's used to be (and perhaps still are) all you can eat night for under $20. If you're less of a glutton, than all their perfectly smoked meats are available in platter and sandwich form, you just have to be willing to get up 95 a bit before you can chow down.

  • http://www.foodaphilia.com e

    I think El Camino is just fine. I'm not partial to the bread they use for their sandwiches, but it's very traditional to serve BBQ on texas toast. I can't rave about the brisket, or any of the food, besides the onion rings with smoked ketchup. As far as Sweet Lucy's is concerned, their food is banging! Monday's used to be (and perhaps still are) all you can eat night for under $20. If you're less of a glutton, than all their perfectly smoked meats are available in platter and sandwich form, you just have to be willing to get up 95 a bit before you can chow down.

  • http://www.foodaphilia.com e

    I think El Camino is just fine. I'm not partial to the bread they use for their sandwiches, but it's very traditional to serve BBQ on texas toast. I can't rave about the brisket, or any of the food, besides the onion rings with smoked ketchup. As far as Sweet Lucy's is concerned, their food is banging! Monday's used to be (and perhaps still are) all you can eat night for under $20. If you're less of a glutton, than all their perfectly smoked meats are available in platter and sandwich form, you just have to be willing to get up 95 a bit before you can chow down.

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