Bunk Moreland said:

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Brisket was reasonably tender but way over-salted and otherwise bland and too fatty. At Fargo's they always ask the customer their preference (lean or fatty), but not so here, and even so, it was way too fatty, about a third fat-to-meat.

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They asked us "lean or moist" and we heard everyone else being asked the same question who ordered brisket.

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Order the lean next time.

Every single brisket is different, but sounds like they should have trimmed that one a little better.

Been twice and couldn't get in cause the wait was too long.

Tried Cooper's last night- have been several times to the one in Llano. First impression is WOW, great set up and location. Plenty of room, parking, and when the weather is nice the outdoor area will be great. Didn't have much of a line (went early) so didn't try anything at the bar. Sadly I have eaten pork chops, pork loin, and pulled pork this week so did not have my go to chop. We had brisket, beef ribs, pork ribs, jap/cheese sausage, and regular sausage- all meats dipped. Sides were Jap/Bacon mac & cheese, and green beans. Pinto beans and fixins as well. Meats were all good- really enjoyed the Beef Rib, Brisket was good (not Snows or Truth), Pork Ribs were good (I am not a sweet sauce person), sausage was nothing to write home about. Sides were fantastic.

Only real complaint is we wanted cobbler, but wanted to eat first. Rather than join the long line (it was to the door for meat when we left) we opted to try cobbler another time.

I would give it 8/10. Employees were aplenty and all very nice and attentive. Everything was clean and new, including bathrooms. We definitely be back for some cocktails and more food!

They're missing out IMO on soothing the wait line time AND making more sales

I think I'd be selling cocktails and cups of draft in the wait line.

Maybe a few "gimmes " of a bite of sausage on a toothpick to go with it. Even give up those little bitty end ribs

If the line is THAT long, you can more than afford to do the gimmes

Oh, they were offering to sell beer and mixed drinks in line!

Good call Koldus on cobbler- didn't realize they did that!

Well went today for the 2nd time tried the ribs again and also tried the moist brisket Unfortunately the ribs were tough and salty like the first time. The moist brisket was over half pure fat, what wasn't fat was pretty good but still quite salty. I had 2 beers with my meal while watching the Aggie game total 37.00 with no sides except the "free" beans. I wish them the very best, and I like an occasional BBQ meal but it is not for me.

What does not check out ? I am very happy in BCS

Koldus131 said:

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Buy your cobbler at the checkout but tell them you want to come back and get it after you're done with food. Just hold on to your receipt and show it to them when you're ready. I do that in Llano and did it at the CS one last weekend and it always works like a charm.

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Why cant you just get cobbler at the same time as your food? What am i missing?

Will it not fit on the tray?

Nevermind.

went last night and the food was decent....brisket was a little too salty but the chicken and jalapeno cheese sausage was great. Pork ribs were ok. They were out of Beef ribs.
The setup is absolutely horrible and what will keep me from going back. a lot of employees( look like managers) just standing around doing absolutely nothing while two only employees served the meat and one served the sides.. The taking your meat and wrapping it makes no sense and adds to the wait time. The whole process just took forever and cannot get a beer in the food line...have to pay for food and go to the bar and get a beer or any drink.
So aside from standing in the line before ordering the meat (15 minutes)..once the process of actually ordering took place, getting meat, getting sides, going to bar to get a beer, getting silverware, beans, pickles, onions, BBQ Sauce and bread it was a good 20 minutes before finally sitting down and eating.

Can you sit at the bar and order food or do you have to go through the line?

You have to go through the line

they dont offer any food at the bar. When I asked the manager if they sold beer through the food line, he blamed TABC and their "stupid" laws according to him. If I had a flaw with my business as big as this, Id at least be a little apologetic to the customer for the inconvenience instead of acting as if it wasn't a big deal, rolling your eyes and blaming someone else. Its unfortunate this business will survive in BCS simply bc its the new thing and we dont have a ton of good BBQ options. But not many good things to say about this place.

91_Aggie said:

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I think a small, inexpensive change they could do is have "paper" menus that you can get as soon as you walk in so you can read through it while waiting in line.

The menu could explain the process of you will order meat first, then order cold sides, then order hot sides/dessert, then get all your food on a tray, then pay, then you can get beans, pickles, onions, silver ware.
Could even explain how the Bar beverages work. Or how the bar works, i.e. you can't sit down at the bar and order food from there.



having the list of all meats and sides on the menu would definitely help people who are new or the ones who can't decide quickly (aka my wife ) when presented with many options at once.

Mad taco does this. Fuego's does this. Blue Baker Does this. Any place that makes you order at a counter should do this (as opposed to sit down with menus with waitstaff).

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I'll add to this. Just make the paper menu a tray cover.

Ate BBQ out of town the other day. Place was packed. Waited in line 30 minutes or so. Spent about $18. I thought, no way a place like this would survive in College Station.

techno-ag said:

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Ate BBQ out of town the other day. Place was packed. Waited in line 30 minutes or so. Spent about $18. I thought, no way a place like this would survive in College Station.

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They stand a good chance if they have forks and sauce!

Went a few weekends ago (Miss St weekend). Stopped in after leaving the game and got meat to go.

Stepped out of line to order a beer at the bar, my nice line-neighbor held my spot. The beer lasted exactly the time it took me to get through the line and pay.

Brisket was really good. Turkey was really good. Sausage (regular) was pedestrian, would not buy again. Maybe the jal/cheese sausage is the ticket. Curious how the ribs and chicken will be on my next visit.

Sides were passable, the free beans were actually the best, imo. Besides those, got potato salad, mac & cheese (regular), and green beans. They're close to Mom's and I thought they were pretty quick/efficient. Will be back and hope they succeed!

Went with some friends over the weekend, here are my thoughts:

• Brisket--pretty good but way too salty (as others have said). $2-3 per pound lower than other BBQ places. A little greasy which is not the same as moist. Committed the cardinal sin of slicing the meat with the grain rather than against it.
• Pork ribs--also pretty good; comparable to those from Hard 8.
• Sausage--unremarkable. Looked like it had been boiled rather than cooked in pit.
• Sides--only one I tried was the free pinto beans, and they were excellent. This might have been the best thing I ate there, weirdly enough.
• Atmosphere--place looks nice and they installed a nice bar area. Bottleneck at slicing/weighing station but that's fixable.

Overall, not bad but the group I went with gave it a 'meh'.

I keep reading this salt thing and it makes me think.....

I saw somewhere that the owner was saying they do a high heat, quicker thing as opposed low and slow. Well, if they're not doing the tried and true low and slow to break down the connective tissues to achieve tenderness then they must be compensating/substituting salting to try to get there.

I'm not saying I know anything about what they're doing, but it seems this might be what's going on.

Went on Friday with a friend for lunch... He tried the Cooper's in Austin, last year and he told me it was one of the most disappointing BBQ meals he's ever had. But, he was willing to try the Aggieland location to see if his previous experience was an outlier.

The line was about 15 minutes long..
My friend has Celiac's disease and usually has to ask a bunch of questions when figuring out what he can or cannot eat. The manager on shift, was a bit arrogant or had a chip on his shoulder regarding his knowledge of Celiac's. He kept mixing up Starches and Corn as Gluten, and when my friend suggested very politely, that he do some more research on what is Celiac's.. the manager insisted that he already knew and that he's responsible for training the employees on how to handle it.


I ordered the Jalapeno Sausage, and my friend ordered the Pork Ribs.

The Jalapeno Sausage was good, and it added some heat to the flavor. Like others have said, the sauce adds flavor but it doesn't take anything from the meat.

The Pork Ribs, were ridiculously tough. I sampled a small piece, and I had to pull quite a bit just to get the meat to fall off the bone.


If you want Pork Ribs, I would probably recommend CJ's still.

We went last night about 6:00. Line was only about 5 minutes long. Wife got the pork chop; I got turkey. Both were good. We shared coleslaw and green beans; we really liked the cole slaw; green beans were good, but were slightly salty to my palate. The pinto beans were good. And I had to try the pecan cobbler. It was awesome.

We will definitely come back.

I agree with you on the ribs last, Friday I got 3 huge fall off the bone ribs and 2 sides at C&J for 11 bucks I won't order ribs at Coopers again

If it's any consolation, Cooper's has been way more crowded than Kruez ever was and this thread has been much more positive than the initial Kruez thread. As long as the overhead is reasonable I think they'll be fine, even once the newness wears off.

I think their stuff is a little too salty but that's just me being nitpicky, it's pretty freaking good overall. It's one of the best bbq options in town and miles better than C&J's, J Cody's, Rudy's and the like.