For Cali BBQ, West Dundee’s newest entry in the dining game, it’s all about the tri tip and the sauce

The sign for Ricardo Gasca’s new Cali BBQ restaurant on Route 31 in West Dundee will be going up soon, but that hasn’t stopped him from launching the business he’s wanted to have for decades.

“It’s been my dream to open a restaurant of my own since when I was back at Elgin High School,” Gasca said.

But the years in between took him down a different path. He headed off to college, ended up launching a counseling career, got married, started a family — the dream was put on the backburner.

Then, four years ago, Gasca and his wife, Erika held a quinceañera party for their daughter’s 15th birthday. Erika’s cousin, Juan Ramirez, attended and brought with him some of the barbecue sauce he serves at his restaurant in Santa Paula, California, about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

“It really caught my attention and awakened my taste buds,” Gasca said.

And it reawakened the dream too.

About a year ago, Gasca decided to check out Ramirez’s Best BBQ restaurant in person.

“Everything was delicious. It reaffirmed that I wanted to open a restaurant,” Gasca said.

What sold him was the barbecue sauce, which he describes as having just the right amount of spiciness and not being overly thick or sweet, as many traditional barbecue sauces can be, he said

So, working with Ramirez, who has been in the restaurant business for about 25 years, Gasca set his sights on opening a place of his own in the Elgin area.

He signed a lease in late July for the building at 551 S. 8th St., which had been Maxwell’s Hot Dogs for more than decade before short runs as Kabob Kitchen in 2018 and Jimmy’s Chicken & Ribs in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic left it empty for two years.

Gasca said the building was in good shape but it took time to put in the ventilation and sprinkler systems required for a barbecue restaurant as well as adding walls, painting and doing other things to make it his own. Come spring, he plans to add an outdoor seating area, he said.

“We changed the glass by the counters, too, so customers can see all the steps in the assembly and preparation of their orders,” Gasca said.

They opened earlier this month, and are awaiting the arrival of the Cali BBQ sign before holding their grand opening, he said.

As for the food, he’s using his cousin-in-law’s sauce, which is available in mild, spicy and a half-and-half mix, he said. Meats are prepared on grills using mesquite charcoal.

“We’ve been told we’re the only approved indoor charcoal-grilling restaurant in West Dundee,” Gasca said.

He’s serving chicken, beef ribs, pork ribs, hot links and a quintessentially California cut of beef, the tri tip. According to the Steak School website, a tri tip is a triangular cut of beef from the bottom of a sirloin.

All menu items at the fast casual restaurant are handmade and prepared from scratch, he said. Sides include coleslaw, avocado, fries, chili beans, baked beans, garlic bread, potato salad, steamed vegetables, and a unique macaroni salad made with cilantro.

Ramirez, who’s been traveling back and forth from California to help Gasca get launched, said he considers his take on tri tip his signature cut and what puts the “Cali” in the restaurant’s name.

Gasca’s wife and 23-year-oldson, Anthony, have joined him in the business, and daughters Ashley, 19, and Abby, 15, are supporting him as well.

While this is Gasca’s first foray into the restaurant business, he knows the key to success quality and trying to keep food prices affordable for customers.

“We play by the rules, and we don’t cut corners,” he said.

Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.