Choke Canyon Bar-B-Q

Reviews 7

RI

Richard Spears

Ive travelled the state in search of great BBQ. Ive sampled Franklins brisket in Austin, Blacks brisket in Lockhart, and the Salt Lick, ... so I may be a little biased in comparison. Ive also cooked in brisket competitions around the state, so I know a little something about brisket and ribs. I dont expect much when I go to a place like Bill Millers because its... well, its Bill Miller fast food BBQ. I was out on my motorcycle yesterday enjoying the good weather. Ive gone past Choke Canyon many times before, and thought Id give it a try. The atmosphere is good. Lots of TVs, all tuned to ESPN. The music is country. Nice. Some of the cooks are yelling back and forth in the kitchen in Spanish. I order a combo plate with brisket and ribs. With a drink, it comes to $16. Thats a little pricey, but if its good, its worth it. The brisket is sliced thin. I mean really thin. Like less than 1/8" thin. Its lean. Theres no smoke ring. No crust. I guess they dont dry rub their brisket, and not much smoke. It is tender, but its dry. Very dry and tasteless. No smokey flavor. This needs some sauce. Their cajun sauce is pretty good. I got three ribs. I should say I got two ribs, and the rack end tip. Most places dont serve the rack end tip. I wouldnt. Its mostly bone and cartilage, and the tough part. Theres not much meat on these ribs. No crust. No smokey flavor. What did they do, bake these ribs? I like a pork rib where the meat is sliding off the bone. Nope, its not tough, but sure not sliding off the bone tender. The ribs are dry too. Maybe they left them in the warming pan too long, but it dried them out. For sides, I got fried okra and creamed corn. A lot of BBQ joints have been adding creamed corn to their menu. I think they want to compete with Rudys who does BBQ well, and has some truly addictive cream corn. After my first bite of Choke Canyons creamed corn, I almost spit it out. Theres something thats giving it an extremely bitter taste. I dont even want to guess what the bitter taste was, but not what I was expecting. I had to send the corn back. The cashier politely gave me a different side of green beans. The green beans were good, simmered in a spicy stewed tomato mixture. My overall opinion is that they spent a lot of money on the building, and the atmosphere, but didnt spend enough love on the meat. Id put the brisket and ribs right up there with Bill Miller BBQ... which is fine if youre not appreciative of the art of BBQ. But then again, Bill Miller doesnt charge $16 for a plate of mediocre BBQ.

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JU

Justin Fincher

Portions are small. Chicken is dry. They close early. They "ran out" of whatever you order past a certain point. I recently went in at 8:51PM. They shut the Open sign off after I was walking up and noticing that I was walking up to a legitimately open restaurant before. No one apologized and said they were closed. They said they just ran out of chicken strips (which is what I just ordered). She didnt look, or check on the prep for tomorrow. I get it. I worked in restaurants for a long time. I wasnt trying to be a pain. But dont lie to your customers. The kitchen staff was hanging out in the Parking lot counting the seconds until 9. Looking back, Im sure the frier was just drained and it wasnt possible. Sad. These kids are learning to do the bare minimum. Be honest: "We juust turned off the frier. Apologies." Not interested in going there any more. We tolerated the quality of food due to necessity of its location. Ive learned that I cant depend on them to serve me and my family. Brisket is dry. Smoked chicken is small. Sides are stingy. Sauce is KC Masterpiece, Stubbs or something else way too sweet and UnTexan. Okra is cooked too high and painful to eat. Chicken strips are a generous portion, but they run out of it requires them to work. Usually dirty tables. Nice TVs. Go figure.

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RO

Robert Russell

We went in and got an order of 4 different meats with creamed corn, coleslaw, and fried okra. The brisket was dry and had a bad taste like the lighter fluid has not burned off before the meat was put in the smoker. The rest of meat had the same taste. The creamed corn was watery, and coleslaw had no flavor. The peach cobbler was raw. The fried okra was good, but that was the only thing. We took the food back and were told that we had to come back, because the manager leaves at 7 pm and he had to do the refund. Upon returning he argued with about the BBQ. He said everyone loves their food. I explained to him that my wife is a graduate chef from the CIA Hide Park and the food was not good. We had BBQ from coast to coast and this took the award for some of the worst.

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JA

Jaime Phalen

Ill preface by stating that Im a transplanted Texan and not a huge fan of BBQ. With that out of the way, this is BBQ to get excited about - really! Esposa and daughter brought home combos featuring turkey, brisket, pulled pork, and ribs. The turkey and ribs were excellent: juicy, tender, and bursting with flavor. The turkey was especially surprising. Both we well above average. The pulled pork was juicy and tender, but no better than other BBQ joints. The brisket was a bit tough and dry, but still flavorful. That turkey though, damn good! Topped it all off with some of the absolute best BBQ sauce Ive had anywhere: tangy, very spicy, and a bit salty! The green beans seriously kicked my ass. Potato salad was average. Overall: VERY GOOD. RECOMMENDED.

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Raquel Gamon

We went there on Fathers Day, I was very disappointed, we drove 45 to go eat there, I invited my family, 13 adults 2 kids, they didnt any brisket or chicken left, so we ordered ribs,because thtas what my dad wanted also turkey, well 3 of the ribs plates were ok, the turkey was good but mine and my dads ribs were hard, dry and cold!! We send them back and they gave us another ribs plate and they were exactly the just warmer, and the waiter said, we dont have anymore ribs!! So my dad and I ate only corn, okra and fries!! Very disappointed!

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CO

Coach G Moore

Dateline : 09-22-2016 Re-Review ... Super Friendly Management Excellent Staff ... Super Friendly ... Staff "Really" Cares about What You Like ... Foods are Very Consistent ... Wi-Fi available ... Live Music ... Check website for Times A Great Place to unwind from work ... Got to Try the Ribs ... YUM YUM Great Texas Bar B Q Fantastic Real Smoked Turkey Breast ... Excellent for To Go ... Chicken Fried Steak with a Wienerschnitzel "twist" !!!

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Christy Garcia

Staff is courteous manager is combative. I always get the chicken from here which is good but this time it was obviously not fully cooked. All we eat is BBQ at many different places so we know our meats. Manger basically told me I was wrong instead of rectifying the situation and wanted me to drive back when we no one can get gas right now or send him a photo. I rather not come back. What happen to customer service?

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