Bonnie’s Kitchen Texas-style BBQ is now open

Bonnie’s Kitchen’s husband-and-wife team of Jung Jae Park and Bonnie Kim. (Photos by Bea Cabrera)

Bonnie’s Kitchen located along Beach Road is your new go-to-place to satisfy that true Texas-style barbeque craving. Equipped with meat smokers, thongs, tasty marinade, best choice cuts of meat, and the right kind of restaurant ambiance, owners Park Jung Jae and Bonnie Kim will surely delight your taste buds and will make you say “Howdy!”

“We opened three weeks ago… we used to own a dive shop right at this location but since no tourists are coming due to the pandemic, we have to make a decision to change our business. We studied the market and we know that local people love barbeque and we pushed it further by doing it Texas-style since there is nothing like it on island yet,” Park said.

“Honestly, I did not know anything about Texas-style barbeque. I only had perseverance and the commitment to learn. For many weeks, I studied the art of Texas-style barbeque through YouTube and cookbooks. There was a lot of trial and error for sure but it was a learning process and when we were ready, we opened Bonnie’s Kitchen,” Park added.

Park said that the process to achieve the true Texas-style taste is not easy. “The difference between regular barbeque and Texas-style is that the first has a simple process—put meat over charcoal and cover it until it’s grilled. Texas-style is a special process wherein I start at 5am to prepare the meat, then steam and roast the meat many times until it’s perfect.”

Bonnie’s Kitchen is located along Beach Road beside Dong Boo Store.

“Texas-style takes over five hours to prepare the meat and steaming the meat is an important part of it so the meat does not get dry… Our portion is very filling and every order is complimented with our savory side dishes like pasta and coleslaw,” he added.

Their specialties include Bonnie’s Meats Plate-Smoked BBQ Pulled Pork, Smoked BBQ Ribs, and the third is a combo of the two that comes with side dishes eaten with a bun, rice, or French fries and all are below $14. They also have smoked sandwiches, fried chicken, Korean BBQ, and assorted choices for the sides.

The Smoked BBQ Ribs definitely had fall-off-the-bone goodness and marinated in a sweet and spicy sauce partnered with plain rice that gets heightened with the tang from the coleslaw. The pulled pork was outstanding and one of the best on island. Lastly, the chicken barbeque was delicious as it was juicy and tasty. Get the table facing the ocean and let it complete your special Texas-style barbecue adventure.

Bonnie’s Kitchen accepts special orders of smoked chicken and BBQ spare ribs just give them two hours advance notice. They serve barbecue sandwiches only from 9am to 11am, lunch from 11am to 3pm, and dinner from 5pm to 8pm. For more information or for advance orders, call 287-8225.

Bonnie’s Kitchen’s specialty is Texas-style pulled pork.