As excerpted from the Ventura County Star –

“… The Best news about Marshall’s Bodacious BBQ is that you can see the food on the grill outside the storefront on Ventura Blvd. Between Victoria and Johnson Drive in Ventura.

As important is the fact that owner Marshall Schmidt has a 20 Year Track Record dealing with meats and food preparation. He has put his background to good use.

Customers ordering at the counter get a good look at everything being prepared freesh for that day. It really is a case of what you see is what you get. What we saw looked good!

Marshall’s also does a steady business in take-out. In fact, all of the items are packaged for take-out, whether you ceat it there or whisk you order way.

The barbecue specialist does a big business in sandwiches and sides. But we plunged into the dinner specials because they each came with a green salad, garlic bread and two sides, giving us a chance to sample almost everything.

The Tri-Tip was quite good; flavorful, not overcooked and resembling something that actually comes from the barbecue pit.

With it we chose potato salad and chili beans. The former was a smooth old-fashioned style, with a dill kick. The beans were exceptionally good, mildly spiced and generously laced with crumbled ground beef.

Most barbecue specialists swear by their sauces. Marshall does too, and with good reason. It was the sauce that ultimately led him into the barbecue business.

His sauce comes in spicy or sweet and is available for purchase by the bottle.

We sampled both. The spicy wasn’t too fiery and the sweet didn’t numb our teeth. Rather, they both were middle-of-the-road, but delicious accents for the food.

We peeked at the grill as we left and found the chef hovering over a huge pot of chili beans and a sizzling bouty of ribs, chicken and pork. It’s enough to make you want to return…

(Reviewed by Rita Moran – Ventura Star)