The Great BBQ Review Thread

[sharkey]

What about coopers I keep hearing about in llano?
Is that the same coopers that was in round round many moons ago?

Tried to eat there and like it and just don't. It is a big cycle ride place to go. Around DFW, Hard 8 is my pick. I hear Pecan Plantation is good and need to try it


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[HKSig]

The Good:
Truth in Brenham. 2990 US-290, Brenham 77833. Across from the bowling alley.
Good brisket, good beef ribs, good turkey, sausage OK.

The Bad:
Nathan's in Brenham. 1309 Prairie Lea St., Brenham 77833. Not that you'll need the address.
The word BBQ I've ever had. Sausage was OK; everything else was bad. Crunchy brisket; cooking temperature was too low or too high, or maybe the microwave wasn't feeling good that day.

 

[Moonpie]

So far Cooper’s(both in Llano and New Braunfels) has been a big ol plate of blah to me. Been several times to both and its just meh.
Black’s is pretty good. I like their Q.

 

[jimbo]

B&B Smokehouse

2627 Pleasanton Rd, San Antonio, TX 78221
https://www.bbsmokehouse.com/

Before our range day, we decided to grab lunch at B&B Smokehouse. None of us had been there before, so this was truly a first-time experience.

We go there at 11:00 and beat the after-church rush.

At least three of us (Moonpie, easy rider, me) got brisket or brisket and sausage. My sides were pintos and potato salad; add a drink and it was about $15 for the 2-meat combo.

Pics or gtfo, so here it is:

View attachment 143519


Beef. Good smoke ring, think bark. They offer lean, moist, or ‘deckled’ which is what they call the point. I took a chance and said give me your best cut. Sauce is served on the side, as it should be. To add to the good smoke ring was a good smoke flavor that wasn’t overpowering. Brisket was fine to damn good for the price point. Sauce was a little spice and covered the beef taste, so I don’t recommend dipping.

Sausage. Damn good sausage. They only offer one version of sausage. As you can tell, a serving is pretty healthy. Sausage didn’t need sauce, either. Crisp casing, firm texture, nice flavor.

Sides. Homemade. The pintos run a little peppery, but won’t set you on fire. The potato salad was very good, too. Nothing bad to say here at all.

Overall, a good example of what a bbq joint should be.

I agree, I was there last week

 

[HKSig]

So far Cooper’s(both in Llano and New Braunfels) has been a big ol plate of blah to me. Been several times to both and its just meh.
Black’s is pretty good. I like their Q.

Try Hays County in San Marcos. 1612 South IH-35, San Marcos 78666.

 

[HKSig]

So far Cooper’s(both in Llano and New Braunfels) has been a big ol plate of blah to me. Been several times to both and its just meh.
Black’s is pretty good. I like their Q.

I liked Cooper's in New Braunfels OK; the brisket was a little heavy on the bark, so I wouldn't ask for outside again.

Is Black's (in New Braunfels) open yet?

 

[toddnjoyce]

Bar-B-Cutie
San Antonio, TX

Looks pretty.
Tasted like shit.

 

[Moonpie]

Bar-B-Cutie
San Antonio, TX

View attachment 146647

Looks pretty.
Tasted like shit.

 

[kosmostx]

Corkscrew BBQ in Old Town Spring (N. Houston) https://www.corkscrewbbq.com/
Tejas Chocolate Craftory in Tomball http://tejaschocolate.com/
Roegels Barbecue on the west side of Houston (outside the loop, inside the beltway) http://www.roegelsbarbecue.com/
Truth BBQ in Brenham https://www.truthbbq.com

All of these are exceptional and on par with each other. I generally only eat brisket and sausage. Based on that I'd put Corkscrew and Truth tied at the top, Roegels next, and Tejas last. That said, you can't go wrong with any of them. Roegels has the most peppery rub. Tejas has lots of house-made chocolate for dessert, Truth has great cakes, Corkscrew has a damned good cobbler. They all do specials like pastrami, beef ribs, pork belly, etc.

Here in Huntsville we have a handful of places, but only two are worth a crap. Bennie J's is the best of them, True Texas BBQ in HEB is 2nd. Everything else is meh at best. Yes, that includes the church and McKenzie's. Bennie J's also does home cookin' type specials (Tuesdays alternate between meatloaf and beef tips, Thursday and Friday they get a big crowd for fried catfish).

Hard to go wrong in Lockhart. We hit Smitty's, Kreuz, and Black's one day on our way home from a funeral. All three were worth going back for.

Stopped in at Hays County BBQ http://www.hayscobbq.com/ in San Marcos in July at the recommendation of a couple of friends who know 'cue. Good stuff. Close to the 4 at the top of the post.

All I've been to lately in Austin is Franklin's, and it was everything I'd heard. Same friend that recommended Hays Co. rotated between Valentina's, Micklethwaite, La Barbecue, and Stiles Switch before he got too fat and moved from Austin to New Braunfels. Also heard that Salt Lick has added beef ribs to their family style meal.

I'm hungry after thinking about all of these places. Might have to fire up the egg this weekend.

 

[benenglish]

Here in Huntsville ... Everything else is meh ... that includes the church ...

Sad to hear. I used to consider them worth the long drive but I haven't been there in many years.

 

[toddnjoyce]

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[sharkey]

View attachment 146648

They had one here in Grapevine. Meh.

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[toddnjoyce]

Blackboard Bar-B-Q
Sisterdale, TX

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View attachment 147477

Well, started this on my phone and can't figure out how to edit on my laptop. First world problems. Let's get this review started.

If you're expecting a barbeque joint, just don't. The folks at Blackboard are good people, even if they are Yankees who "got here just as we could". Blackboard falls into a category I call imposters. Why? Well, it's a sit-down, table service, order off a menu place. They offer 2 types of brisket; both are cutter's choice of either Angus or Wagyu. They also offer two sausages, ribs, and a few sides to include Luckenbach Lollipops, which is a serving of 3 fried boneless half quail with a spicy mayo sauce.

We ordered a 1/2 lb of Wagyu brisket, a link of wild boar sausage, the Luckenbach Lollipops, mac 'n cheese and cole slaw. If you don't know what Angus or Wagyu is, they're beef breeds. AngUS is American, Wagyu is the American import drunken Japanese beef. I've never had Wagyu before so I went for it.

Beef: Deep beef taste, like a dry-aged ribeye followed by a beef fat shooter. I wanted to love it for the beef taste, but was confused by the texture and greasiness. The bark was okay, seems to be a powdered dry rub and stuck out because of intense flavor. Probably some coffee in there somewhere. No smoke ring, but good smoke flavor; not sure how they made that happen, but I appreciate the effort.

Sausage: Wild boar or polish are the choices. We went for wild boar. Good news is they use a hot gut casing. Bad news is the wild boar left me thinking 'sure tastes commerical'. That's not unusual in the wild game restaurants though. Probably closer to free range hog than feral hog. Mixed with Jalepeno bits and high temp cheese, the taste was good, but a bit greasy.

Luckenbach Lollipops. Good fried quail. Glad I didn't have to pick bones out of my teeth. Made it easy. Sauce was good.

Mac 'n Cheese: Fancy mac n' cheese. Pretty good overall, diced smoked ham or leftover rib mixed in. Bread crumb topping.

Slaw: Would've preferred a potato salad, but this is what they have. Got a taster. It's....different.

The rest of the story. Suace is serve yourself as is the tea, water, and P, O, and J. Now with all the rest of the food fancy, it's 5-gal pickles and Jalepenos and strangely, pickled red onion slices.

Price: With a shiner, 2 glasses of wine (for my wife) and carrot cake, we ate well for $60. Kind of pricy, but not that bad overall. On par price-wise with Salt Lick.

Will go back, but stick to AngUS beef ($6/lb cheaper) and would try the Polish sausage. You can expect to meet the owner while you're there. He's a full-up trained chef, she's a hoot. Worth the drive if you're in the Boerne/Bandera/Fredricksburg area.

ETA: Thanks to MikePotts for mentioning this place.

 

[vmax]

It should be against TGT law to post a BBQ review without a picture of the BBQ being reviewed

Just sayin

 

[ZX9RCAM]

It should be against TGT law to post a BBQ review without a picture of the BBQ being reviewed

Just sayin

While I like to look at pictures of others food, I don't like taking pictures of my own in a restaurant, so I can't complain.

 

[deemus]

Sad to hear. I used to consider them worth the long drive but I haven't been there in many years.

I was there last week. It was decent, but we ate there. If you get to-go it's not as good. I don't remember them covering it all with sauce. They put a bunch on the meat. I usually don't eat sauce if the Q is good.

 

[mroper]

Is Black's (in New Braunfels) open yet?

Yes it is open I had it first week of August just sandwich it was darn good

 

[kosmostx]

I was there last week. It was decent, but we ate there. If you get to-go it's not as good. I don't remember them covering it all with sauce. They put a bunch on the meat. I usually don't eat sauce if the Q is good.

Good to hear that it was at least decent. I should have qualified my comments on it with the fact that I haven't been there in at least 15 years, but in that time I haven't had anyone tell me I'm missing out by not going. I don't remember them putting sauce on the meat either. Used to be squeeze bottles on the tables. Wonder when that changed. Did you try the sausage? Is it still a really fine grind? It used to be almost like a hotdog grind.

 

[deemus]

Sausage and ribs were good.

 

[deemus]

On my recent forced vacation, we drove by a convenience store in Buckholts. It's on Hwy 190 about 20 miles west of Cameron, and 30 miles east of Belton.

Ol' squirrel bladder had to pee, again, so we stopped. It was a old looking store with old gas pumps out front, the only one I'd seen since leaving Cameron. Not much in Buckholts, so it won't be hard to spot.

When I got out I smelled smoke. I've learned to not assume BBQ after a trip to Belize, where I was disappointed to find out they burn a lot of land. When we went inside they had Q for sale behind the counter. I rarely pass up Q so I bought some.

Some guy had a pit behind the store and they sold it at those typical small town gas station food counters. Had three orders ahead of me so I got to see it. I got fresh off the pit brisket.

I bought sausage and brisket. Brisket was really good. The guy knows what he's doing. Bought lean and moist brisket. Both were tasty. It was an unexpected pleasure out in the boonies. definitely worth the stop.