People searching for halal BBQ in Los Angeles usually end up asking the same question: who actually smokes the meat over wood? In Artesia, Ribs 'n' Kabobs does. We smoke beef back ribs, short ribs and brisket over hickory, low and slow, and everything we serve is 100% Zabiha Halal and HFSAA-certified.
Ribs 'n' Kabobs is a family-owned, HFSAA-certified, 100% Zabiha Halal BBQ and grill restaurant at 18925 Norwalk Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701, serving Los Angeles County, Orange County and the rest of Southern California since 2014. Whether we are the best is your call to make. This page is the map: what we smoke, which ribs and sauces you can order, and where to read more on each one.
Why is halal BBQ so hard to find in Los Angeles?
Most smokehouses run pork through the same pit as the beef, and certified Zabiha brisket is hard to source in the quantities a smoker needs. That is why most halal restaurants in Southern California grill kabobs rather than smoke ribs, and why we are one of the very few halal BBQ houses in the region. The full story is in why wood-smoked halal brisket is rare in Southern California.
How do we smoke our BBQ?
Real BBQ is smoked, not grilled, and there is no way to rush it. Three things define the way we cook.
Hickory wood. Hickory is the only wood in our smoker. It gives beef a deep, slightly sweet smoke that stands up to a heavy rub. Lighter woods get lost on a beef rib; hickory does not.
Low and slow. A low pit temperature and a long cook are what turn a tough cut into something that falls off the bone. Our brisket spends about 12 hours in the smoke. Ribs are done when the meat pulls cleanly from the bone, not when a timer says so.
A house dry rub. Every rack and every brisket gets our house rub before it goes in. Over the hours the rub and the smoke set into the dark crust that pitmasters call bark. The recipe stays in the family.
Which rib cuts can you order?
Ribs are the plate the restaurant is named for, and there are more ways to order them than most people expect.
- Back Ribs. Three pieces per order. Leaner and tender, the classic rib plate for one.
- Short Ribs. Four pieces per order, thicker and richer, for anyone who wants more meat on the bone.
- Dino Ribs. Half-cut short ribs served with two sides. The biggest bone on the table and a full meal on its own.
- Whole Rib Cage Dry Rub. The whole rack with our dry rub and no sauce, by special order. Ask ahead if you want one for a family dinner.
- Ribs Platters. 10, 20, 30 or 40 pieces, made for a table, a party or an office.
Every one of them comes out of the same hickory smoker. The difference is how much meat you want and how many people you are feeding.
Which sauces come on the ribs?
Back Ribs, Short Ribs and the Ribs Platters come in five sauces, and the sauce changes the whole plate.
Hickory Smoked BBQ is the classic, the one to order first. Spicy and Spicy BBQ add heat, one plain and one on top of the BBQ sauce. Korean BBQ is sweet and savory. Tikka is where our two halves meet: hickory smoked beef ribs with a South Asian sauce, a plate you will not find at a Texas pit or a kabob shop. On a platter you can split the pieces across sauces, which is the easiest way to settle a table that cannot agree.
Where does the brisket fit in?
There is no sliced brisket plate on the regular menu. The brisket, smoked for about 12 hours, comes as Brisket Burnt Ends (an appetizer), Loaded Fries with brisket and BBQ sauce, the Drip Beef Sandwich, and the Brisket Weekend Special. Burnt Ends are the quickest way to taste it.
What should you order on a first visit?
Back Ribs in Hickory Smoked BBQ with Brisket Burnt Ends to start covers the best of the smoker in one meal. For a cut by cut breakdown with sides and group orders, read smoked beef ribs vs brisket.
Is Pakistani BBQ the same as American BBQ?
No, and we cook both. The ribs and brisket come from the hickory smoker, low and slow. The kabobs, from Beef Seekh Kabob to Chicken Koobideh and the Grandma Recipe Lamb Seekh Kabob, are hand-mixed and cooked fast on a lava rock grill. A Kabob Platter of 1 to 5 skewers next to a rack of ribs is the easiest way to try both, and the differences are laid out in Pakistani BBQ vs American BBQ.
Which sides go with BBQ?
The sides cover both halves of the menu: BBQ beans, grilled corn, mashed potatoes, garlic bread and grilled asparagus on the American side, and basmati rice, naan, paratha, pita, hummus and green salad on the other. BBQ beans and grilled corn are the classic match for ribs. Naan works better than you would think with Tikka ribs. Finish with gulab jamun, kulfi, a loaded brownie or cheesecake, and a mango lassi or chai if you have room.
Is every item on the menu halal?
Yes, all of it. Ribs 'n' Kabobs has been HFSAA-certified since the restaurant opened in Artesia in 2014. HFSAA, the Halal Food Standards Alliance of America, requires hand slaughter by a Muslim, no mechanical slaughter, no cross-contamination and traceability from the slaughterhouse to the kitchen. The full standard is published at hfsaa.org, and we explain what it means for our kitchen in our HFSAA certification post.
In practice that means the ribs, the brisket, the wings, the burgers, the tacos and the samosas all come through the same certified supply chain. There is no pork and no alcohol anywhere on site, so a rack of ribs here is halal in exactly the same way a kabob is.
Are there daily specials?
Yes. Tuesday is Taco Tuesday, Wednesday is Wings Wednesday, Thursday is Tandoori Thursday and Friday is Fish Friday. On weekends the specials change to bigger plates such as haleem, goat biryani and rib eye, along with the Brisket Weekend Special. We are closed on Mondays.
Can you cater BBQ for an event in Southern California?
Yes. We cater weddings, office lunches, graduation parties and backyard gatherings across Los Angeles County and Orange County, with live BBQ stations and onsite grilling, buffet service or plated meals. Give us at least 24 hours notice for any catering order and 4 to 6 weeks for weddings and large events. There is no minimum to order, though a minimum may apply for delivery, which covers Artesia and nearby cities such as Cerritos and Norwalk.
Visit us in Artesia
We are a few minutes from Artesia's Little India on Pioneer Boulevard, with the 91 freeway just south of the city and the 605 just west, so the drive from Long Beach, Anaheim or central Los Angeles is a simple one. Guests come from across Southern California for the ribs, and plenty of them stay for the kabobs.
Ribs 'n' Kabobs, 18925 Norwalk Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701. Directions and the quickest way to reach us are on the contact page.