**Correction** This location is Coppell, just north of DFW airport. Not Grapevine.
I know this site is dedicated to the cooking of our own que, but sometimes, it's just more practical going to a restaurant. I have a circle of friends who live in 5 different areas of 4 states: St Louis, KC, Bloomington (IN), and Cleveland are the out of towners and then there are 4 of us in the DFW area. We all travel to see each other 3 times a year, and in 11 years, we'd never taken the gang to a legit BBQ joint. We've been to Tim Love's Woodshed a couple times, but that's more high-falutin'. So I suggested we make the trip to a good TX BBQ joint and Hard Eight was the consensus converngence of location, size, ease of access, and being open on the day/time needed. So we went there on Friday.
I've made comments here in the past that I'm not a an of brisket. Largely because I almost never have had good brisket. It's always dry, crumlbly, flavorless and disappointing. The few good ones I've had were home-cooked. So usually I judge a BBQ joint by its pork ribs, pulled pork, and turkey.
We went to Hard Eight and were immediately enticed by the aroma of smoke that wafted through the parking lot. Smelled legit. I was kind of surprised by their serving method. They have already cooked all their food for the day by noon, for the most part. Makes sense for BBQ, you really can't "cook to order." But instead of storing their meats in a cambro or similar device, they are all displayed on a pit that is being heated the whole time... essentially continuing to cook the meat while the "pit master" carves the meat to order as you walk by (you pay by the pound for meat, regardless of what kind of meat it is.)
I opted for brisket and sausage and a pork rib for my entree. Since none of us had ever been there before, the pit master handed out chicken poppers to everyone which were pretty good. They also had shrimp poppers, but I passed because I didn't see how logistically a bacon-wrapped shrimp isn't over cooked by the time the bacon is cooked. Anyway... the reason I chose the brisket was because I could see as the pit master was carving the brisket, it was juicy and tender and had the "wiggle" that an overdone hunk of meat doesn't have. Otherwise, I would have passed. It was the best brisket I've ever had. Recall though that my personal bar for good brisket is very low. It was juicy, tender but toothy, just the right amount of fat. The burnt end was decent as well. The sausage... well... one sausage is pretty much like another. I like it, but comparing one joint's sausage against another is like comparing the tap water from restaurants in the same city. The pork rib, sadly, was very disappointing. It was overcooked, lacking in flavor and fell apart as I was trying to eat it. My very first batch of pork ribs was many times better than it was, and I've improved my results since then. I suspect they were going for "fall off the bone" when cooking and it continued to cook while it was sitting in the pit display. Unfortunate. Red Hot and Blues has better ribs, sadly.
Sides: The mac and cheese is one of the best I've ever had. It was outstanding. Cheesy and thick, but there was no glopped congealed cheese on top, and no wallpaper-paste sauce that has no hint of cheese flavor. The pasta was shell-shaped and not overcooked. It stayed al dente. The pinto beans (unlimited and free) were very good. Not the best I've had, but the best I've had from a restaurant. The fried okra was average. Tasted good, but I wouldn't get it again. I didn't try the fries, but they looked tasty. Crisp but not burned.
Dessert: Blackberry cobbler was quite tasty, but not in my top 10.
Price: Overpriced, not worth the amount/quality of food I got. My bill, including a beer and a tip was over $27. I had less than half a pound of meat on my tray, the mac and cheese was 2.79, so was the cobbler.
Overall: decent brisket, great mac and cheese, but overall not worth the money I paid. Probably won't go back unless someone else specifically wants to go.
I know this site is dedicated to the cooking of our own que, but sometimes, it's just more practical going to a restaurant. I have a circle of friends who live in 5 different areas of 4 states: St Louis, KC, Bloomington (IN), and Cleveland are the out of towners and then there are 4 of us in the DFW area. We all travel to see each other 3 times a year, and in 11 years, we'd never taken the gang to a legit BBQ joint. We've been to Tim Love's Woodshed a couple times, but that's more high-falutin'. So I suggested we make the trip to a good TX BBQ joint and Hard Eight was the consensus converngence of location, size, ease of access, and being open on the day/time needed. So we went there on Friday.
I've made comments here in the past that I'm not a an of brisket. Largely because I almost never have had good brisket. It's always dry, crumlbly, flavorless and disappointing. The few good ones I've had were home-cooked. So usually I judge a BBQ joint by its pork ribs, pulled pork, and turkey.
We went to Hard Eight and were immediately enticed by the aroma of smoke that wafted through the parking lot. Smelled legit. I was kind of surprised by their serving method. They have already cooked all their food for the day by noon, for the most part. Makes sense for BBQ, you really can't "cook to order." But instead of storing their meats in a cambro or similar device, they are all displayed on a pit that is being heated the whole time... essentially continuing to cook the meat while the "pit master" carves the meat to order as you walk by (you pay by the pound for meat, regardless of what kind of meat it is.)
I opted for brisket and sausage and a pork rib for my entree. Since none of us had ever been there before, the pit master handed out chicken poppers to everyone which were pretty good. They also had shrimp poppers, but I passed because I didn't see how logistically a bacon-wrapped shrimp isn't over cooked by the time the bacon is cooked. Anyway... the reason I chose the brisket was because I could see as the pit master was carving the brisket, it was juicy and tender and had the "wiggle" that an overdone hunk of meat doesn't have. Otherwise, I would have passed. It was the best brisket I've ever had. Recall though that my personal bar for good brisket is very low. It was juicy, tender but toothy, just the right amount of fat. The burnt end was decent as well. The sausage... well... one sausage is pretty much like another. I like it, but comparing one joint's sausage against another is like comparing the tap water from restaurants in the same city. The pork rib, sadly, was very disappointing. It was overcooked, lacking in flavor and fell apart as I was trying to eat it. My very first batch of pork ribs was many times better than it was, and I've improved my results since then. I suspect they were going for "fall off the bone" when cooking and it continued to cook while it was sitting in the pit display. Unfortunate. Red Hot and Blues has better ribs, sadly.
Sides: The mac and cheese is one of the best I've ever had. It was outstanding. Cheesy and thick, but there was no glopped congealed cheese on top, and no wallpaper-paste sauce that has no hint of cheese flavor. The pasta was shell-shaped and not overcooked. It stayed al dente. The pinto beans (unlimited and free) were very good. Not the best I've had, but the best I've had from a restaurant. The fried okra was average. Tasted good, but I wouldn't get it again. I didn't try the fries, but they looked tasty. Crisp but not burned.
Dessert: Blackberry cobbler was quite tasty, but not in my top 10.
Price: Overpriced, not worth the amount/quality of food I got. My bill, including a beer and a tip was over $27. I had less than half a pound of meat on my tray, the mac and cheese was 2.79, so was the cobbler.
Overall: decent brisket, great mac and cheese, but overall not worth the money I paid. Probably won't go back unless someone else specifically wants to go.
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