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Dec 9, 2025
Red Eye Barbecue brings Central Texas-style ribs to hidden Roseland pop-up
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Bob Costarella found his calling in a smoke-filled pit in Central Texas. Now he's bringing that Hill Country sensibility to Sonoma County. But don't ask for brisket.
A rib man through and through, the Petaluma native has a lock on spice-rubbed, bark-crusted pork and beef ribs that would do a Texan proud. Working out of a Peruvian deli in the heart of Roseland, he's also got a following for his jalapeño-cheddar sausages, pork belly, peppery chicken and beef cheeks, a tender cut favored by chefs.
Wearing a Stiles Switch BBQ cap, striped apron and gloves, Costarella slices into a glossy hunk of beef cheek -- his "baby brisket," named for its supple texture and deep, meaty richness -- and your knees go a little weak. This is red-ringed, smoke-perfumed, unapologetic barbecue that doesn't require a lick of sauce to justify itself. The sides keep pace.
The catch: It's available only on Saturday afternoons.
A longtime cook who spent years searching for his true calling, Costarella worked in cafés, bistros and fine dining before detouring into the cannabis industry, all while continuing to nurture his passion for cooking.
"I was cooking from The French Laundry cookbook for my grower friends," he said. Around that time, his barbecue obsession took hold, launching a 10-state pilgrimage to the South's most iconic smoke shacks.
Most of it was really underwhelming," he said - until he reached Taylor, Texas, a suburb of Austin, and discovered Central Texas-style barbecue. The genre favors quality meat cooked low and slow over oak; sauce is an afterthought, not a requirement. "It was just so good and so unpretentious," he said.
He apprenticed under famed pitmaster Lance Kirkpatrick at Stiles Switch BBQ. In the barbecue world, your mentor matters almost as much as the meat on your smoker, with styles and secrets handed down through generations. Kirkpatrick apprenticed under the late Bobby Mueller, a James Beard Award winner whose Louie Mueller Barbecue is often called the "Ca
