Where There’s Smoke . . .

You’ll probably catch the scent of smoldering red oak when you’re still in the parking lot at Woody’s Bar-b-que. This is a real wood barbecue, and there’s a big woodpile out back behind a chain-link fence.

But despite that woodpile and the encouraging smell, and the fact that this plain place is related to the famous Woodie’s in the Crenshaw District, its food, I’m sorry to say, often lacks real barbecue character. The chicken and the beef links are quite good, for instance, but the amateurish baby back ribs and bland chicken links could definitely use some retooling.

I do like the rib tips. These are the ends of pork ribs, slowly cooked in smoke until almost black, the meat crunchy and just a bit dry. Try them with the sweet, complex hot sauce, flecked through and through with red pepper flakes.

But some of the meats are downright disappointing. One of the most basic things in cooking baby back ribs is to remove the thin membrane on the inner side of the rack so the smoke will fully permeate the meat. These ribs still had the membrane on, a rookie mistake. The beef ribs are tender enough, but mine had a chemical scent like lighter fluid.

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Only the chicken gets top marks all around. It’s good and smoky but manages to be tender and juicy at the same time. The spicy Louisiana hot beef link is excellent, too. I might just wish it were cooked on the barbecue. Mine was clearly poached in sauce.

Among the side dish choices that come on the dinner plates, I’d pass over the mealy, overcooked baked potato and limp, clearly frozen French fries. The nicely tart cole slaw shot through with celery seed and the creamy potato salad, made with bite-sized chunks of potato, are much better.

If you’re willing to pay a little extra, there are premium side dishes, the best being string beans and potatoes. The vegetables are stewed with lots of bacon to a subtle softness. The kitchen also does a respectable take on collard greens, if you like that smoky bacon flavor with your greens.

Desserts include a buttery peach cobbler, served bubbling hot, and 7-Up cake--a glazed, lemony pound cake where the lemon juice and some of the sugar in the recipe come from the famous soda.

Woody’s has promise, and certainly the right connections. But unless they kick up the funk here, it’s only competing with Tony Roma’s across the street. And that, I fear, is not its best game.

BE THERE

Woody’s Bar-b-que, 16624 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. No alcohol. Parking lot in rear. MasterCard and Visa. Dinner for two, $23-$42. Suggested dishes: string beans and potatoes, $3.29; rib tips with corn bread, $7.79; half barbecue chicken, $10.99; 7-Up cake, $2.99. Call (818) 990- 7721.