Where is this place?? We were on a road trip and one of our car-mates suggested stopping by this little gem. Â The food was excellent, the people who worked there were SO sweet. Â Their meat was tender and juicy, loved the baked beans, and their fries put my poor stomach stretched past it's limits but they were SO worth it!
Review Source:If you're reading this on a smart phone while on I-64: It's cheap and it's good. That's all you should really need to know.
I write this review because I find it often difficult to navigate the cross-country interstates without a fast food stop, simply because the independent places right off of the interstates tend to be some of the worst restaurants in the country, and Yelp reviews for small towns are just never reliable (if you don't believe, look up some small town Applebee's). Even the chain joints are the lower examples of their brand name, but at least there's a little consistency. That said, I think it's understandable that I'm being a tad lenient with the rating here.
On the same level though, this is very good. In fact, it's better than some of the stuff I've had in Texas even. Growing up on that stuff, I've become very wary of any barbecue place, because there are just so many bad ones. And not just out of Texas: I had some pretty terrible stuff in San Antonio just last week. But this was the best choice I was given on my awkward back route in the effort to avoid the Louisville bridge mess caused by the I-64 closure. It was either this or a meal at Kroger.
I had the sliced beef sandwich and a pecan pie. Why did I not go for the "pork bucket?" Well, that's just a personal question... The beef was not too dry nor too fatty, had an excellent color, and a good balance to the flavor. The bun was your standard hamburger bun, the kind that come $0.99 for 10 but, if you've ever been to a place in Texas, then you'll know that's actually how it's supposed to be. Fancy buns are for yankees. The pecan pie was delicious. Seriously. It had been in the fridge for a couple of days, but the filling was just so good that it made me want to finish it before my wife came back from the bathroom.
And per the bathroom, be careful with it: she almost got trapped in there.
But the big thing for me was the sauce. I was told the red bottle was regular and the clear was "mod" (Kentuckian for "mild"). I didn't try the mod sauce, because the regular was just awesome: a little bit of a kick, not ketchup thick but also not too runny, and enough of a spice overtone to wipe away any trace of its tomato base.
The TV in the main dining room had Discovery on (every place in Texas I've been to that had a TV had it on Fox News), so we got to watch a nature show about aquatic life. Kind of mesmerizing, really. The cashiers freaked out a bit when the cash register stopped working and couldn't be used to subtract 67 from 75, but they banded together and did the equation on a calculator. But they were nice.
If this were in Texas, I would actually come here again. It's no Salt Lick, and it's not Luling, but it's close to par with County Line. And that's really saying something. I don't know that they'd get 5*, but I think any place that can pull this sort of stuff off in small town Kentucky deserves those 5 stars.
So how did the meal conclude? A guy on a bike pulled up and puked in the parking lot. But why would you want it any other way?
This place was recommended by the guy at the "Welcome Center" just across the Kentucky border so we dropped in looking for some "Burgoo" and other classic Kentucky barbecue- Well the place advertised itself as "Texas barbecue comes to Kentucky" - hence the name... so no Burgoo but they did have barbecue Longhorn Stew which was similar and approached barbecue heaven.. Â the place looks like some out-west saloon with a heavy door that looks like it was salvaged from a fallout shelter. Â Order at the front desk and take it all to another room and chow down. Â We had the pulled pork sandwiches with an amazingly creamy perfect cole slaw and come great seasoned curly fries. Â The inside is as funky looking as the outside but the whole package is perfect ambiance and food combined. Â Look close- its a bit hard to find tucked away in a little business strip mall off the road.
Review Source:I moved to Shelbyville in June 2009 when my wife and I got married (she already lived here). I love good barbecue and have had some of the best in Louisville, Owensboro, and Memphis, TN. My wife told me someone at her work suggested we try Ken-Tex so we took the family up there a few months ago and gave it a try. I tried a meast sampler with pulled pork, brisket, and ribs with sides of beans and potato salad. The wife and kids got pulled pork sandwiches with side of mac and cheese and chips.
The ribs were tasty. Slow cooked over hickory, these ribs were tasty, juicy, and "slide off the bone" tender, just the way I like them. Unfortunately, the ribs were the exception of the meal. The brisket was tough and dry and the pulled pork was dry with little flavor. The sides tasted like they came from a can. In fact, the person who took our order stated the beans were from a can when I asked, "Are the beans cooked from scratch in the smoker?" The tableside sauce was nothing special, either.
My wife and kids didn't like the pulled pork sandwiches, so we took them home for me to take to work for lunch the next couple of days. The next day I tasted the leftovers and opted for something from the vending machine. :-(
I guess there's a reason I had never heard of this place. I have a hard time understanding how the others from Chicago and elsewhere gave this place such high marks. Either our experience was very unusual or the other folks have never had good barbecue. No matter...when we're in the mood for some good barbeque we'll head a few miles west.
Sorry Ken-Tex.
If there is a Heaven, and God does exist, he opened up Ken-Tex BBQ just for me. OK, My personal version of Heaven would actually be BBQ from Ken-Tex, Bourbon, the Cubs winning the World Series on a giant flat screen and Phoebe Cates (Circa 1986) would be my scantily clad server. Alright, back to the topic at hand.
I have no idea how my wonderful wife found this place, but I'm thankful that she did. This is some of the best BBQ that I have ever experienced. Ken-Tex doesn't give a very good first impression. It's a little shack of a building that looks like it would tumble over on a strong sneeze. But as soon as you walk in, the lovely smell of Charred meat smacks you in the face like a hammer. It also helped that the guy behind the counter was slicing up the most delicious looking brisket that these eyes have ever seen right in front of me. It looked just as good as it tasted.
I ended up ordering the sampler platter which consists of three different meats and two sides. For my meat portions, I went with the Beef Brisket, Pork Brisket and Pulled BBQ beef. The portions were huge and all three were delicious. I barely touched the sides of seasoned fries and baked beans. The meats were literally playing a symphony in my mouth. It was pure bliss.
The main things that you should know about Ken-Tex is:
1. There is nothing healthy on the menu!! If you are a Vegan, Vegetarian or on a diet, please drive further down the road.
2. The place is a Hole in the Wall. (Just the way I like it).
3. Don't eat anything for at least 10 hours before your visit. The portions are huge, and trust me, you will want to devour every tasty morsel.
4. This place is in the middle of nowhere!!. But if you are in the Louisville-Lexington area, it's well worth the trip.
Here's the bottom line on Ken-Tex. If you are looking for atmosphere, please go to some snooty, high class place in another county. But, if you are looking to taste some of the most amazing BBQ in the world, a visit to this joint is a must. The food is amazing, and staff is friendly and you will be served enough meat to sate the Buffalo Bills offensive line.
So, basically, if you like barbeque, you are going to want to come here. Â And when I say "want" I mean get your ass off the sofa and come here - like...now. Â
Ken-Tex is nothing to look at, in fact, there really IS nothing to look at. Â There is a giant steel door that *BOOMS* whenever someone comes through it, the first room where there is a counter you order and pick up your food at (on plastic trays) and a second room with some random tables and chairs, a TV, and paneled walls. Â Ambiance? Â Fahgettaboutit. Â
But, as much as I love my ambiance, there is something to be said for incredibly, amazingly, fantastically delicious food that makes nothing else matter. Â And Ken Tex brings it, and brings it hard. Â
I ordered a two meat sampler, which included brisket and pulled chicken. Â I was given a side of coleslaw and baked beans. Â The baked beans were just OK and I hardly touched them. Â The coleslaw was easily the most delicious slaw I have ever, ever had. But the meat! So succulent, moist. Â Perfect amount of seasoning. Â There is extra sauce at the tables (one is hotter than the other supposedly, but they tasted very similar to me) which definitely enhances the overall taste. Oh and you can order your meat "with fat" or without. Â (Thankfully, because I hate the fat!)
If you are driving between Louisville and Lexington, or headed out to a bourbon tour, you definitely want to make a stop here and check it out. Â I know we will be back again!
Absolutely terrible. Stopped here on a road trip with the family. I am a fan of small BBQ joints, but this was not good. I had the chopped pork sandwich. The meat actually tasted too smokey, I think they may have added a lot of Liquid Smoke in the sauce. If not then whoever is cooking the meat needs to learn that more smoke does not equal better. Sauce was mixed into the meat and tasted like something out of a bottle.
My sides were baked beans and green beans, and they were both straight out of a can.
My wife had a turkey sandwich. The turkey was served cold. It was straight up pre-packaged deli turkey, and not even good turkey. She also had cole slaw which was also premade and bad.
The kids had grilled cheese sandwiches. Not much wrong with those I guess, a bit overtoasted.
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