Houston Barbecue Company

Reviews 7

ER

Eric Collins

Best Texas Hill Country BBQ in the area. The homemade sausage and brisket are my favorites. I have been going there ever since he opened. I simply dont understand all of the negative reviews here. Granted, most of them seem to be posted at the same time, by the same anonymous coward, and one of them says their waiter gave them bad service...um, they dont have waiters. Were you confused and reviewing the wrong place maybe? One reviewer says the sauce is East Coast. Hardly. Carolina sauce is mostly vinegar, almost clear with a little extra rub and spices, usually some meat drippings added. It has almost no color and is there to give very little flavor, the goal being to just enhance, not actually flavor the meat. It was made specifically to go with pork, and they put it on everything else. Houston BBQ has an authentic Texas hill country sauce, it is still vinegar based, but has a lot more mustard, and pepper flavor, a bright orange color with some real kick to it. Texas is about the only place that cooks mainly beef brisket, and that is what the sauce is designed to go on, and then we put the sauce on everything else. Now, about brisket. There is a dry end (lean), and a "wet" end (fat or marbled). If you want to make sure you get what you want, just tell the cutter you want it wet or dry. If he doesnt understand what you mean, then you are not at a real barbecue joint, get the chicken or ribs instead. And on sides...in general, side items at Texas BBQ joints are almost always just average. Why? Robb Walsh, the food writer, thinks it is because if you go back to BBQs origin, it was cattle drives cooking tough cuts of meat to make it more tender. Then, it was mostly butcher shops selling cooked meat to workers. Brisket, on butcher paper with a couple of slices of bread. Cattle drives didnt have side items, and neither did early Texas BBQ joints, and since then, it has kind of stuck. Also, its always the same items, beans, cole slaw and potato salad. At least Houston BBQ makes theirs in-house. Most BBQ places in Texas dont even try, they just open the Sysco Foods can and warm it up. That is starting to change, but that is what Robb Walsh thinks, and it makes sense to me.

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Ms. B

I agree that this place probably wont be around for too long! I came in & got a take-out order - a 2-meat combo for $15 bucks!!!! The meat portion size was a JOKE! He cut two small slices of brisket and gave me two rib bones with very little meet on the bone -$15.00 is WAYYY TOO MUCH to pay for that small amount of food!!! I couldnt belive the portion size we got! With those prices and portions sizes it cost a small fortune to feed a family of 4! The food wasnt that great either! The brisket was tough & dried out. The ribs were ok. I showd up around 8pm and there was a huge pan full of cooked meat! You can believe they are saving & re-serving left-overs the next day - they are NOT THROWING THE MEAT AWAY each night - especially with the skimpy portion size we received an hour prior to close. I would recommend Gaitlins. They have "THE BEST" barbecue in Houston despite their long lines! You wont have this problem at Houston Barbecue, no long lines there! Now I see why! Smh

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Natalie Arceneaux

The aroma of wood smoked meat hits your nose right before you even open the door. This is the proper entrance into a BBQ joint. The baked beans and potato salad are amazing! I judge every BBQ by their ability to do brisket and their brisket is moist without being super fatty. At many BBQ places, you order a pound of brisket and get 1/2 pound of fat because they dont know how to smoke the leaner pieces of meat while keeping the moisture; so, you end up with a bunch of fat. And Im not if fan of let the meat be meat motto. Put some seasoning on my meat. They get THAT! Their meats are well seasoned, especially the chicken. The value for the amount of food you get is great. Ive visited the restaurant three times already. This weekend, they are catering an event of mine. I couldnt ask for better unless me or my dad were at the pit!

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JE

Jenny Diaz

BEST BARBEQUE IN TOWN. if you know barbeque, then you shouldnt have a problem here. The homemade BBQ sauce is definitely my favorite, different from anything I have ever tried. Food is delicious, super juicy and with a pinch of smoke, way better than Poppas BBQ, Rudys, all those other places. I see a lot of complaints about what other people received but the staff literally prepares everything for you right in front of you. You watch them cut your meat (WHICH IS SUPER COOL) and weigh out the portions which is explained easily in the BIG menus right in front as well, so I dont really see how anybody could leave unsatisfied when you have an opportunity to say whether youre okay with what youre receiving. I personally love this place, very texas home feel. If anybody is comes across this place I totally recommend it.

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Christopher Bartlo

Ive been going to Rudys over the years while visiting family in Houston and we decided to try a different place then the normal chain. Now, weve been to Houston BBQ under the old owner a year ago and didnt enjoy the experience. Plus the nickle and dimming was just over kill. That being said, I saw in the reviews that they changed ownership and thats good enough reason for me to check it out again. Im not sure who is running this now, but about freaking time! Great service, pricing was reasonable (no more nickle and dimming), and more importantly the food was amazing and different which I loved. It was a great change from the norm at Rudys. Nothing against them, but the change in style was a great welcome to the area. Recommended for sure if you havent been back in a while.

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A

A Private User

I am a regular at the coffee shop next door, so I suggested to my husband that we check this place out for dinner. I asked for 4 ribs and a side of pinto beans, and my husband got the brisket and coleslaw. The total? $27. Really? The bbq was alright, definitely not the best Ive had. Could have had a way better meal for that amount. The atmosphere was just depressing, dark and musty. Not sure how the health inspectors keep missing this place, because as others have mentioned the condiments are just sitting out in open air, and the sauce bottles on the tables are all old Texas Pete bottles... but none of them have lids. Although it is close by, we definitely wont be going back, but instead making the trip down 6 to our fav bbq joint!

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k s

OVERALL: DISAPPOINTING EXPERIENCE. Expected better BBQ for being in Houston Texas: 1) BBQ brisket was overly fatty. Asked for dry/lean. The bbq had as much fat as meat. 2) Portion was small relative to other BBQ restaurants. 3) Employees were not friendly. 4) Draft beer was really good at reasonable price. They need to get their act together if they want to stay in business. We were there at 6:30pm and the place was almost empty. They are close to my house. We would go there at least once per week if #1, 2 and 3 above were better. Were not going back. After our experience, they are losing about 104 (52 x 2 of us) orders per year. Same for the other couple that was with us. Gils BBQ, further down on Eldridge, is better.

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