Just to put it out there. This is not the original Hatfield's that was rated in Texas monthly. It is only blackjacks beer-garden and a feeble effort on BBQ service. Hatfield's the real McCoy is now located on Market street about halfway between business 35 and the 35 Bypass. I will do a review on it next but for the record it rocks and if you want the real thing head a couple miles south west of the impostors!
Review Source:I will start off on a positive note and say that if you like pork ribs, you are safe here. They were perfectly cooked and came off the bone easily but only when bitten into. The Texas Monthly article said they cook on indirect heat but there was a clear absence of smoke at work on the ribs and instead it had the taste of coals. Either way, the ribs were good. Not great but good. I also had beans and baked potato salad, both of which were pretty good. The brisket was terribly undercooked. Not just a little bit. They missed the internal sweet spot by about 15 degrees. There was also an absence of flavor in the crust and there were chunks of unrendered fat from being undercooked. Texas Monthly claimed that they smoke their briskets for 18 hours. This is clearly not the case here. Yes, everyone has off days. I've had briskets miss the mark before. Only difference is that I would NEVER serve them. There may be a rumor about some behind the scenes issues and Kenny Hatfield not being there anymore. The sign out front said pitmaster George so there is probably some truth to the rumor. A true pitmaster would never serve meat that misses the mark by 10-15 degrees. Also, a supervised kitchen would not put out rock hard, undercooked "baked" potatoes. Hell, if the potatoes weren't done, a trained staff would have informed the customers or take it off the menu board. Epic "Top 50" collapse here, folks. Do yourself a favor and keep driving if you're in Rockport. On a side note there was some brisket that was fully cooked. It just happened to be added to the beans. Also, service is SLOW SLOW SLOW so don't go there in a hurry.
Review Source:In my quest to try all Top 50 BBQ restaurants I visited Hatfield's last week. Â I had the brisket, pulled pork and potato salad. Â Here's the lowdown:
Pulled pork - Decent but nothing great. Â Some tough pieces but mostly tender. Â Just nothing out of the ordinary.
Potato salad - This was the best thing here. Â It's more like a loaded baked potato salad. Â Unfortunately, it's not good enough to make up for the meats.
Brisket - This is what truly matter and Hatfield's fall way short of even being decent. Â We ordered the moist/fatty brisket but even this was not very flavorful and was pretty tough. Â We threw away the last 4 pieces after continually questioning why we were still eating it. Â Big letdown.
The atmosphere is pretty neat but again it cannot make up for the poor quality BBQ. Â I wouldn't go back for seconds.
I came here a while back with some family. The atmosphere is nice and it has an open patio(covered) overlooking a little area with picnic tables. I had the brisket, with potato salad and a glass of iced tea. I am picky about bbq, and loved this brisket. It was juicy and flavorful. The food came quick, and the employees were friendly. If I remember correctly they have a variety of beers since the place is referred to as a beer garden! My family and I have been back a few times! Despite the heat it's definitely worth checking out!
Review Source:When Texas Monthly Magazine came out with their "50 Best BBQ Joints" issue and Hatfield's was the ONLY one in the area that made the list, I HAD to check it out.
Fortunately, I'd missed the massive rush of others who, I'm told, had to wait FIVE HOURS for their order because there were so many who visited on the weekend. Â Nope, 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon is the PERFECT time to go.
Hatfield's is a TINY place - it's basically a BBQ shanty with a bar and a smoker "wing" attached to the back. Â There are about 10 tables to sit "inside" (more like covered patio dining) and a bunch of picnic tables under oak trees outside. Â So, don't be expecting air-conditioned comfort come summer 'heat-o-thon'. Â But, I wouldn't let that detract me from coming here.
The brisket is amazing and the sausage (that is made just down the street at the local meat market) is excellent! Â Both have a great, smoky flavor and are very well seasoned. Â The bark on the brisket was KILLER! Â Very tender, moist meat. Â Can't say enough.
The beans are another standout. Â VERY flavorful with bits of brisket and (if you're lucky) a piece of sausage - my bowl had it, my dining partner's did not. Â Darn the luck! Â But, again, great beans.
The potato salad was also good, even though it's not made there and is a little heavy on the mayo, it still had a good flavor.
Also got to sample a pork rib. OMG!! Should've ordered those! BUT, let me tell you, there's MORE than enough on a 2-meat combo plate to satisfy ANY hungry appetite. Â I ended up bringing HALF of it home, there was that much. Â But, it's going to make for some wildly delicious tacos later on.
Service is top-rate. Â There's a smile to greet you and to check on you while you're dining. Â While there's no real table-side service, that's okay. Â There's plenty of attention being handed out to cover whatever you need.
I do want come back to Hatfield's but will probably have to wait until the "fame" dies down a bit - and, hopefully, they'll have expanded to add a dining room by then.
The potato salad was very very good and I am alway leery of potato salad because I am partial to my own. The servings are huge! My husbands brisket was much better than mine which was a bit dry. Â The root beet float as excellent. Â I wish our table had napkins or wet ones and the wait for the food was pretty long considering. The staff is very friendly. Will go back to try all the beers and maybe just a sandwich
Review Source:Saw this new entrant on the Texas Top 50 BBQ joints (Texas Monthly), and just happened to be heading to Corpus the next weekend. We drove over to Rockport to check it out.
So the building is actually the BBQ spot and a beer joint. Some covered seating and several picnic tables outside, with a nice stage for a band. They had a bluegrass band playing music while we were there. Â
Order meat by the pound or plate. They have beans, potato salad, and several homemade deserts. The day we went, they also had crawfish and shrimp (although that was being cooked by a third group).
I got the Ribs, Brisket, and Sausage. I list them in my order of how I liked them.
All the meats had a good smoked flavor. I posted pics of all my meats. Ribs were plenty thick, and the meat came right off the bone. They really nailed the brisket that day as well. Sausage was OK. Beans and potato salad were great. Got a piece of chocolate pecan pie for desert, which was also darn tasty.
All in all I see why this place made the top 50. My gut tells me on a ranked top 50, this place is in the 25-50, portion, but if you are in the area, there isn't any better BBQ for a 100 miles.
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