Well this is the best in the area because there isn't anything else around. It is well nothing to be excited about. Just a BBQ stop along the freeway, That has a lot of big billboards and a cute name, The food is so tender that if you have no teeth, you will still be able to chew it. The sides are uninspiring. Nothing catches my eye or palate. Oh well it's drive on for me.
Review Source:ATTN: Vegetarian giving this review, go get ready for an opinion other than on the meat. Â
This is on my must stop list on the way home from South Texas. The coffee here is better than Starbucks! Â The free WiFi is a welcome beacon in an area with crappy cell service. The cornbread salad it unique,tasty, and a MUST try. They'll even let you try it for free!
The staff has never been anything but friendly and I've see all types of folks enjoying the fare served with a smile. Makes me almost not care that country music is playing inside.
We have been traveling in and out of Texas regularly for 11 years now and I can't even count how many times I have seen the billboard advertising this place. Â Nearing the end of a long roadtrip from IL to TX, after 11 years, this was the final stop for a hungry lunch crew (the fam).
It was a charming little mom and pop joint and we were happy with all of our food, which was a nice selection  of BBQ faves and some yummy looking desert choices, too.
I must offer up some extra kudos to their fried okra. It was SOOO good! Â Really, it was! Â We actually went up and placed another order because we were fighting over it. Â I would stop there again just for that...and a chance to try one of those yummy looking deserts.
This place has spent a pretty penny on billboard space off of the I-35 in the Hillsboro vicinity, so it is easy to think "hmm, I need to try that place" when you're on a jaunt from Austin to Dallas. Â So, after 10 times of going down that line of thinking, I finally stopped this last time. Â I should've kept on truckin'. Â Once again, my theory that restaurants that have cutesy names either for their establishment or menu items usually come up short has held true again. Â I hate that. Â I so wanted this place to be good, as I travel up this stretch of road quite a bit. Â Tragically, it is not. Â My ribs were grisly, my brisket was dry, and even their sauce - the masker of meat mistakes, wasn't good. Â Bummer.
Review Source:I really wanted to like this place, I've driven by it dozens of times over the last 3 years as I make my monthly or more trek to Dallas from Austin.
I ordered a plate of ribs, turkey and brisket.
Turkey - was the best meat of the 3, moist and flavorful.
Brisket - was ok, no specific smokey flavor or bark stood out to me, was on the drier side.
Ribs - were inedible. Â When they were pulled out of the warming oven I noticed they were almost black. Â They were over cooked and the sugar in the rub had burnt making the outer crust inedible. Â They would have probably been great if pulled a little sooner from the pit.
I also had a buttermilk pie slice from their bakery and thought it was great, so plus 1 star, maybe 2. Â I'll return again, but only to pick up a slice of cheese cake to bring home.
Great friendly service though.
Another mediocre Texas BBQ spot. Food had no frill or thrill to it.
My husband and I stopped over for lunch on the way back from getting Pastries at Czech Stop. This Place is Cafeteria style. You order your meat and you pick 2 sides you want if you order a plate. They have Brisket, Pork, Turkey, Ribs. My husband ordered Turkey Poorboy and I ordered Brisket Sandwich. 1st of all, they use scale to weight the meat (They shouldn't do that in front of customer) Make me feel like they are cheap on meat. Which is the case because both of our sandwiches had only few slices of meat on it. Meat was smoked but did not have much flavor to it. In fact, Turkey looked like they just took Round Turkey meat from Deli and put in the smoker. They used hot dog bread for poorboy sandwich which is smaller than regular poorboy sandwich bread. Needless to say we won't be going back.
Little brother and I went on a trek for some BBQ off of I-35 and this happened to be the first place that came up after Italy, TX. We were actually willing to drive as far as south to Austin, but that'll be later for sure.
If you're in a car drive slowly into the parking lot as the huge pot holes will make you bottom out. Trucks and SUVs, you should have no problem.
Onto the food! I had a combo plate with brisket, ribs, and sausage. The brisket tasted just fine, except the texture of it was really lean and I had to cut in pieces using their plastic silverware (I know it's a convenience for food establishments to have plastic silverware, but it annoys the shit out of me). The ribs seemed pretty decent as well. I gently tugged at the meat rib meat with a fork and it all came off with super ease. The sausage tasted really familiar and was lightly peppered. I was meaning to ask them where they get their sausage, but they were pretty busy during their lunch rush.
As for the sauces, they offer a mild version which I did not try and they have a spicy version that I did try. I'm thinking their mild sauce is very weak sauce if their "spicy" sauce is supposed to be spicy. Wasn't spicy at all! I didn't even finish my bottled Dr. Pepper. Spicy Sauce = No heat. You spicy weaklings, go on and have at it. My brother noted that the sauces tasted very similar to the way that Bartley's BBQ (Grapevine) makes theirs.
Sides? Well, I didn't think very highly of my bbq beans and potato salad. I totally could have skipped on it and I would have been satisfied with just the meats.
We also got an order of Texas Trash. Think Frito Pie but with chopped beef and bbq sauce. They also offer you shredded cheese and sour cream which they scoop on generously. When we mixed it all together it sure did look like trash, but it tasted freak'n awesome. Â I have to note that if your order anything else with your Texas Trash, eat the Texas Trash first as the frito chips get soggy really quick. I think this was the most popular item on the menu since there were countless people ordering this.
When we were eating, I overheard some of the workers speculating that this location may close soon. I dunno, it might be just that. I hope this place stays. I love to get me some more of that Texas Trash soon!
I stopped on the way back to Austin from Thanksgiving holiday to get out of the ridiculous traffic. Â I had always seen it on the way back from Arlington, but never stopped. Â Nothing really impressed me here, but all of the meats were done fine. Â Solid, reliable BBQ in an extremely convenient location. Â It definitely gets my vote because its the best BBQ joint I've found between Austin and Dallas, but that's still not saying much, compared to FW BBQ and Austin area BBQ.
Review Source:This place came highly recommended from a friend who travels a lot. Â I wasn't disappointed. Â The bbq is tender, smoky, and full of flavor. Â The sides are a terrific complement to the food. Â Everything is fresh, hot, and not that expensive. Â
My friend gave me the best advice on roadside food. Â "Follow the trucks." Â Boy was he right. Â The truckers know all the best places to eat. Â So now, when I travel, I look to see which restaurants have the most trucks stopped. Â Up in Smoke always has at least 2.
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