A Guide to the Best of Southern California : FOOD : Pig Out

THIS IS THE best barbecue I’ve had west of the Mississippi: juicy links on Wonder Bread ($2), baked beans (70 cents to $2.40), pork barbecue with slaw on the bun ($3.38) and giant slabs of tender pork ribs ($13.25). More often than not, there are loyal customers waiting outside the door of the red-and-white diner.

You can’t dine inside, because that’s where owner Harry Neely, born in Memphis, Tenn., hickory-smokes the pork for 4 to 5 1/2 hours a day; the beef, 17 to 18. “Barbecue is commercial in Los Angeles,” Neely says, “but I make it the way they do in Memphis--slow and good.” Be sure to leave room for the homemade sock-it-to-me cake ($1.60).

Jay Bee’s House of Fine Bar-B-Q, 15911 S. Avalon Blvd., Gardena; (213) 532-1064.