Grill Master: Joe Wilcox and the Bull Pen dynasty
Joe Wilcox and the famous Bull Pen burger. Wilcox has been a familiar face at Bull Pen since he began working there four decades ago. Photo by Tom Sanders. Joe Wilcox has ruled the kitchen at the Bull Pen in Redondo Beach for the better part of 40 years, but if you ask him if he’s considered the executive chef of the place, he shrugs. “I’m just Joe,” he said. Wilcox is in his seventies, and twinkling eyes and a joyous smile suggest a life well-lived. The Bull Pen has been a Redondo Beach institution since 1948, when it was founded by the late the late Cliff and Mona Miner. Their children now own it. It has hopped locations twice, finally landing at its current RivieraVillage spot in 1978. Wilcox has been an integral part of the journey. He started as a busboy when he was in high school. One day a cook was a bit worse for the wear and Wilcox found himself manning the grill. “I wasn’t a cook, I was just a teenage busboy,” Wilcox said. “After that, I just sort of stayed and learned. It was just one of freak things.” “The cooks were all short-order cooks, really fast. I learned from them. They just threw me in there.” Though Wilcox has done brief cooking stints in other kitchens, he…
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