I may go at 10 am
Texas Monthly 2017 Top 50 BBQ Joints
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Last: 3 yr ago by agfan2013
Update, on a Thursday, got there at 9:50 AM and there were 20 people in line. The doors opened for business around 10:20 and I was eating by 10:45. All in all a wonderful experience. Every thing we had was great. Highly recommended.
CDub06 said:
The Top 25 New Barbecue Joints in Texas are here.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/top-25-new-barbecue-joints-texas/
Surprising they found Butter's. It's literally a food stand on a street corner in Mathis. MATHIS.
Mathis has always had good bbq.
Butters is great.
Old Smolik's is good.
New Smoliks is trash.
FWIW: was told butters was looking to move to orange grove. Not sure if their new notoriety will alter that plan.
Old Smolik's is good.
New Smoliks is trash.
FWIW: was told butters was looking to move to orange grove. Not sure if their new notoriety will alter that plan.
I hope not. That'd add a few more minutes to my drive to get it.CDub06 said:
Butters is great.
Old Smolik's is good.
New Smoliks is trash.
FWIW: was told butters was looking to move to orange grove. Not sure if their new notoriety will alter that plan.
is coopers still opening a spot in College Station? If so I hope it's better than my last experience at the New Braunfels one.
Yes, and it's going to be huge. They'll have a huge overhead (think $80-90K per week just to break even.) I guess we'll see how they do...
There are so many places in the state that make their name on being an experience. Salt Lick is the first one that comes into my mind, but Coopers has that feel as well. The food is good, but the BBQ game has improved so much elsewhere, that I'm surprised these places still bring in the numbers they've produced in the past. If Kreuz struggles in BCS, I wonder what makes Cooper's think they can do better.
Due to its size, my only guess is that Coopers hopes to get a good amount of meetings / events there. The framing is mostly up now. I'm sure they want to be open before football season.
JCRiley09 said:
There are so many places in the state that make their name on being an experience. Salt Lick is the first one that comes into my mind, but Coopers has that feel as well. The food is good, but the BBQ game has improved so much elsewhere, that I'm surprised these places still bring in the numbers they've produced in the past. If Kreuz struggles in BCS, I wonder what makes Cooper's think they can do better.
That's my thought. After Kruez closed down, I was surprised Coopers decided to go ahead and build. Price wise, they are about the same, and the same ordering style.
The townies idea of a great bbq place is one that serves a chopped beef sandwich, side, and a drink for $5.
where are you getting that number?
Industry experts. 
seems impossible. Assuming $15/order, even if they're open 7 days/week, that's 700+ customers per day just to cover overhead.
That's kind of the thought... not sure how attainable that number is. The other number I heard was that the space will be nearly 40,000 sq ft, which is HUGE. (I added a 0 by accident. Sorry.)
now I'm just being trolled.
wadd96 said:
That's kind of the thought... not sure how attainable that number is. The other number I heard was that the space will be nearly 400,000 sq ft, which is HUGE.
Yeah. No. That's 620+ ft per side.
that's like 9 acres?wadd96 said:
That's kind of the thought... not sure how attainable that number is. The other number I heard was that the space will be nearly 400,000 sq ft, which is HUGE.
Oh, you didnt hear? It'll also house a Buc-ees and an Amazon distribution center which should help offset the $5 million a year in overhead.mathguy86 said:wadd96 said:
That's kind of the thought... not sure how attainable that number is. The other number I heard was that the space will be nearly 400,000 sq ft, which is HUGE.
Yeah. No. That's 620+ ft per side.
$80k per week seems pretty nuts for overhead.
I think you added an extra zero to the overhead as well
Rates are rising and the solid gold pits require some pretty expensive riders on the umbrella policy.Lt. Joe Bookman said:
$80k per week seems pretty nuts for overhead.
brisket will be $200/lb.
RK said:
brisket will be $200/lb.
Wagyu or Kobe?
I heard the old kreuz location rent was somewhere around 30-40k per month and thought that was ridiculous, 80-90k a week seems even more so.
Speaking of expensive briskets to cover rent.... they just revamped their online store.
https://www.truthbbq.com/truth-general-store/truth-brisket
Truth might be my favorite bbq place in the top 50. But there is no way in hell I'd pay $230 for brisket that averages 5 pounds. I'll do the math for you, it's $46 a pound. You can order online from snows for $90 and I saw killien's was around $100 for whole briskets. I wonder how many of these they actually sell. I'd rather go get 4 or 5 prime briskets myself and smoke them.
Speaking of expensive briskets to cover rent.... they just revamped their online store.
https://www.truthbbq.com/truth-general-store/truth-brisket
Truth might be my favorite bbq place in the top 50. But there is no way in hell I'd pay $230 for brisket that averages 5 pounds. I'll do the math for you, it's $46 a pound. You can order online from snows for $90 and I saw killien's was around $100 for whole briskets. I wonder how many of these they actually sell. I'd rather go get 4 or 5 prime briskets myself and smoke them.
Shipping is included in the price, but it's still a lot of money.
Snows shipping to Cal was only $50 for second day air. It was $140 all-in for a brisket
I can see just the dirt they are building coopers on was over a million. Then add the cost of the huge building, whatever the square footage is. They are in it for millions. Even with our low rate environment, just servicing the debt would be 30-40k a month. Maybe they are renting it, but that would only push that rent number higher. Thats not even getting into labor, advertising, food cost, and etc. I think making good bbq can be considered an art. Unfortunately, being a good artist doesn't necessarily make you a great business mind.
GIG 'EM
I think most folks would spend their money smoking a brisket on their own, but that time and effort isn't free. My guess is that folks buying a Truth brisket are looking to impress their guests with what they can spend money on. If I need a pre-cooked brisket, I'd probably buy from A&M Rosenthal Center or HEB for a fraction of the Truth cost.
I don't necessarily agree with your assumptions, although I'd agree that you are not the target audience here.
Many people don't buy things like expensive meat from obscure producers to impress people. They do so to have the best possible product. The type of people that could buy this also may buy it because they don't live in an area where good bbq is being produced, or they don't have the time/energy/equipment/know-how to do it themselves. Or they are shipping it out as gifts. Or they could even be sending it to a dinner/client meeting they are having out of town and don't feel like flying with it. And most people that will buy this probably don't have an HEB nearby, nor an A&M Rosenthal Meat Center, so that isn't an option for them. All kinds of reasons other than trying to show off money.
But $230...good Lord!
Many people don't buy things like expensive meat from obscure producers to impress people. They do so to have the best possible product. The type of people that could buy this also may buy it because they don't live in an area where good bbq is being produced, or they don't have the time/energy/equipment/know-how to do it themselves. Or they are shipping it out as gifts. Or they could even be sending it to a dinner/client meeting they are having out of town and don't feel like flying with it. And most people that will buy this probably don't have an HEB nearby, nor an A&M Rosenthal Meat Center, so that isn't an option for them. All kinds of reasons other than trying to show off money.
But $230...good Lord!
I could definitely see an expat Texan living in Yankeeland buying these for a taste of home, but still, there is a lot of things Id rather put $230 towards besides frozen brisket.
Stopped by the new Truth location this week for the second time, and i don't know if i'll be back other than to take anyone else who wants to try em. Paid $30 for a 1/2 lb each of brisket and pork ribs, one side, and a fountain drink, and i wasn't crazy about the product for the price for the second time. The leftovers admittedly came in clutch later, but it seemed like they skimped a bit and rounded the weight up rather than just charging me for the exact amount. Maybe i'm wrong, but the lady who ordered a $9 brisket sandwich ahead of me seemed to get a better value. I usually order a la carte/by the pound but will have to re-think my approach it seems.
Why didn't you get the two meat plate?
That's pretty common at these places.
There are a couple places in Houston where it's a better deal to get the sliced brisket sandwich and toss the bun.
There are a couple places in Houston where it's a better deal to get the sliced brisket sandwich and toss the bun.
I stopped getting plates a while back because i typically don't want two sides and would seemingly get better value ordering by the pound at other places. Plus when i go somewhere like Truth, i will want more for later. I certainly don't expect anyone to charge me for just a half pound if it's over, but i understand why they'd want to keep it straightforward and not deal with nagging customers who complain about it not being the exact price on the board. The black eyed peas were really tasty, by the way, and the turkey looked great. Next time, whenever that is.
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