On Saturdays in Santa Rosa’s Roseland neighborhood, a trailer and smoker parked outside a corner deli are quietly turning Sebastopol Road into a slice of Central Texas. Pitmaster Bob Costarella, the force behind Red Eye Barbecue, runs a pop-up that leans into low-and-slow cooking, serving Central Texas-style ribs and beef cheeks that routinely draw early lines. Preorders tend to disappear by midweek, but a steady walk-in crowd still shows up for hefty plates and sides. Costarella keeps the focus on bark and smoke rather than sauce, relying on long cooks over oak and fruitwoods, and the operation runs during midday hours on weekends until everything is gone.
As reported by The Press Democrat, Costarella brings a Hill Country sensibility to Roseland, with low-and-slow oak smoke and sauce-optional plates that let the meat speak for itself. The paper notes that he sometimes finishes beef ribs over applewood sourced from a nearby Martinelli orchard. It describes his beef cheek dish, labeled “baby brisket,” as arriving in a beef tallow bath with dill pickle–artichoke salsa verde and garlic chips, and adds that his smoker typically sits out front of the deli while weekly specials rotate through the menu.
Red Eye Barbecue lays out the prices and preorder rules: pork ribs are listed at $26 for a half rack and $47 for a whole, prime beef ribs at $38 for a half rack, and the beef cheek at $25, with sides like roasted potato salad coming in at about $6. The site notes that preorders are accepted until 5 p.m. Thursday for Saturday pickup, though walk-ins are welcome as long as there is food left. That mix of online ordering and curbside pickup lets the pop-up move large cuts efficiently even without a permanent kitchen…