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Barbs-B-Q in Texas - two videos on one of the hottest joints in Texas
These videos came up on my YT feed. I enjoyed watching and learning about this newish spot, and seeing this young lady and the team having success. Texas Monthly and…a James Beard nomination for best new restaurant! If any of you Texas peeps get the chance to visit this spot, let us know! I searched the site to see if anything was posted recently and didn’t see these videos but did see a mention of Barbs-B-Q from last year. So thought I would share. Enjoy!
We all went to Barb's during the San Marcos, TX Meat-Up a few weeks ago. Barb was cutting the meat. It was my favorite BBQ restaurant we went to. KG BBQ and Terry Black's a close second (for me). The brisket was perfect and the lamb chops delicious. But that little trick of a tad of lime zest over the pork ribs was memorable. I'm planning on doing pork ribs this weekend and need to try the lime zest again.
hoovarmin in the second video BBQ Story, the 15’ mark shows her getting the ribs going. Dry cook and then sauced when she wraps for the hold. The first video shows her serving these and they are glistening, so from the sauce and then hit with the lime zest. Definitely going to try that zest trick!
You know I'm going to disagree a bit here with my good friend TB (which is ok I assume). First the place was too small and the wait was ridiculous, and I'm used to waiting in line at Texas BBQ joints. That played into my personal experience and opinion I'm sure. That said, the food was good in my opinion but I expected more. KG's ribs and especially lamb were WAY better seasoned and smoked. It could be the Middle Eastern flavor profiles aren't for everyone so that may be one reason.
That said, that's why we continue to seek out these places and look for the next best craft barbecue joint. It's a lot of fun and belt busting as well. I have a mini-crawl setup for early June; Bar-A-BBQ, the original Truth and LJ's BBQ (all Top 50 joints) all within a two hour round trip from my house. Stay tuned, will report back on my findings
Thanks for posting barelfly, I did see those as well.
We had the massive chopped brisket sandwich and green spaghetti side and they were both good. I did like the lime zest added to the pork ribs. Very small seating area, maybe 30 people.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
I enjoyed Barb’s. I think Troutman is right on his account of the wait, and the size of the place, but I felt pretty chill anyhow. Those didn’t bother me. I liked the ribs, the brisket was good, and my side of green spaghetti was something that made me laugh to myself, it was a delightful new combination of flavors for this Pennsylvania guy.
That being said, there is a disconnect between the feel of Barb’s and the business they are actually doing. It feels like a coffee shop in a small college town, or a hippie vegan restaurant (no aspersions, I like those places too), where people come in and park mid afternoon and check their email; but they are turning bbq on a much larger scale. Looking in one direction, I don’t think they could scale up to the size of Terry Blacks; looking the other direction, they are probably surviving on folks like me, who are tourists and don’t know that the wait is ridiculous. Continuing to do that is insulting to their clientele; you know that the customers are being put out, and you don’t invest in pleasing them physically as well as gastronomically? If business is going good, adjust your scale to accommodate it! (Or: as nice as Aaron Franklin seems to be, this is why I’m not going there.)
I’m not going to bother ranking the places we ate; Blacks Original’s San Marcos location was unfortunate, and Valentina’s was bad. All the others were wonderful. Missing Austin and LG’s, Interstellar, etc, and not eating at Kreuz, is one reason I have to go back. Hell, I’d go there just to eat sausage and sides all week, then come back another time to eat brisket and ribs, then again for all the offbeat stuff that folks are fusing together, the Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, etc.
I didn’t eat there, me and a few others got tired of the wait and left for Terry Black’s. The line at Barb’s moved at a glacial pace. Mosca beat me to my description of the place. I felt the same way, there was no “BBQ Joint” atmosphere/furnishings…it reminded me of a tiny mom and pop coffee shop. I’ll take other people’s word for how good the food was, but I won’t be back myself. There’s way too many other places around with just as good or better food….and an atmosphere.
Last edited by Panhead John; May 24, 2024, 06:53 AM.
I suspect that the folks at Barb's have more of a technicians pov at this point in their growth cycle, and less a business person's view. Terry Black's is the complete opposite. Here's a vid interview with one of the Black brothers that shows a more business focused approach in addition to product quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0UGl4Q0Va8
Yep! We ate at Barb’s-B-Q at the Meat Up, too! Great food, but what I was maybe most impressed with was the joy and Yep! We ate at Barb’s-B-Q at the Meat Up, too! Great food, but what I was maybe most impressed with was the joy and congeniality of the staff. The green spaghetti was a pleasant surprise. You can read some reactions at the last Texas Meat. of the staff. The green spaghetti was a pleasant surprise. You can read some reactions at the last Texas Meat.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
The videos were great - neat to see some of the back story of Chuck and the spot having success like that in the first year. And given what has been said recently about the other BBQ place that just went under, perhaps being a smaller place on weekends only is how they get their feet underneath to start out. Only a year in running their business if I’m not mistaken, seems like they aren’t biting off more que then they can chew at this point.
That all said, I’m jealous of you all out in this area having all this to choose from. Pretty neat to see the videos and then the photos and write ups from you all during your visit last month! And I will be making that pasta they showed as well! looked good!
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