Rudy’s Country Store & Bar-B-Q

Ordered via postmates. I’m a straight forward bbq girl– just in it for the meat, especially moist and fatty brisket. I’m not into all the fixins and the sauces– just pure unadulterated meat.
I got a few pounds of the moist brisket, beans, corn, potato salad, and banana pudding. The brisket was pretty good and smokey. It had a good amount fat, just wished it was a little more tender though. The beans were ok, but nothing memorable and wouldn’t order again. The creamed corn was awesome– the corn still had a snap, was super creamy and buttery. The potato salad was decent and the potatoes were cooked just right. The banana pudding was just meh– wouldn’t order again. The bbq sauce was tasty with a good balance of sweet, spice, tang, and smoke– good for dipping bread in since I’m a meat purist ;)

Great BBQ at a reasonable price. I got the moist brisket and some cream corn which were both delicious. Rudy’s always delivers, and this location is the best Rudy’s I’ve been to.
I think the moist brisket is a bit of a specialty they serve and it tastes amazing. Although the quality doesn’t quite compare to places like Franklin’s BBQ, there isn’t much of a wait and even if there is a line, it moves quickly. In addition, the sides I’ve tried are all decent and the cream corn is especially good.
The employees I found to be especially friendly. They’re all charismatic and having the «cutters cam» to watch them slice the bbq is a nice touch to the aesthetics.
Overall, great atmosphere and great food at a convenient location. I’ll definitely be back.

This was my first stop when I touched down in Austin! I had to start my trip with some BBQ so I checked myself in… no wait coming here around 3 pm. The lady taking my order at the counter was so friendly and helpful. She let us sample whatever meats we wanted to try and the warm sides. I picked the moist brisket (from toe per Unilocalers) sandwich, baby back ribs half rack, spicy sausage creamed corn and potato salad, banana pudding. LOL. Don’t worry I shared all that! They have onions and pickles to put on your brisket sandwich. They give you two pieces of white bread if you want a sandwich. The meat of the brisket is top notch, hands down the best I’ve had! Oh man the quality!!! I was just trying to savor every bite! I actually really liked the wonder bread (the simplicity adds to the taste) but my fiancé thought it would’ve been better with a different type of bread. The baby back ribs were very complex… crispy on the outside, smokey, and fall off the bone on the inside. I really enjoyed the potato salad as well… just the epitome of a perfect potato salad with the right amount of tanginess. The BBQ sauce wasn’t my favorite and I felt like it was a bit vinegary for me. Can taste lots of ketchup. But it’s just my preference… I like a kick and a bit more smokey. I can definitely recommend everything I tried here! I’m sure going to try other BBQ places but this set the standard high!

This was my first visit to Rudy’s and I couldn’t be more happy. When we went to the counter, they asked if we had been there before. When we said «no», they introduced us to the kitchen as newbies from California and provided samples of some of the meats and sides to try. It was super nice and it definitely helped us make our selections.
We decided on the extra moist brisket, turkey, and St. Louis ribs. All were amazing and the BBQ sauce is delicious. But to make things even better, we had the banana pudding and chocolate pudding. These two items are a must-​have to end your meal. The place is casual with long tables to be shared by all and paper towels for napkins. In any case, I would invite just about anyone here for good eats and a good time!

Great spot right off 360! Wanted to give the BBQ a try here and loved it! Shout out to Joe our cashier who was extremely kind and walked us through the options as it was our first time. Got the brisket, jalapeño sausage, and ribs of which all were moist and juicy!
Best potato salad! Not too oniony or mustardy… just right! Don’t forget the banana pudding! Extremely delicious and fresh and full of bananas!

We beat the line here! We were greeted with «Rookie» song (apparently, they do this for all first timers) and customer service was great. We got samples of their BBQ and sides before making decisions of what to order. I ordered the Brisket extra moist and Yummy! It just melted in my mouth, licking my finger good! My son loved the jalapeño sausage links with Ruby’s BBQ sauce as well. Not too spicy… so, here it goes, if you can’t wait in line at Franklin’s or at Salt Lick, you cannot go wrong with Rudy’s BBQ!!! Actually this was most preferred by locals in Austin (my coworkers). Who knows their BBQ more than the locals, right? Wish I can bring back a slab to California! Thanks Rudy’s for satisfying our Texas BBQ cravings!

So here is my bold statement. I actually don’t like any of the hyped up BBQ places in Austin such as La BBQ, Franklin’s, Black’s, etc. The lines are always too long and I’m usually disappointed in the quality of the brisket. Rudy’s is always consistently good, there are never long lines, and the service is fantastic.
I took my girlfriend for the first time and she had such a blast! She was totally in love with the décor, the insanely large portions of everything, and how friendly everyone was in contrast to the hyped up bbq food trucks.
The moist brisket was well marbled and the baby back ribs were super juicy and flavorful. I can’t really say that for La BBQ, Franklin’s, or Black’s unfortunately.
Honestly, Rudy’s has been making great BBQ for the past 20+ years. They know what they’re doing and they know how to produce in scale unlike some of these small food trucks that are seemingly overburdened by the sudden media attention and mass crowds begging for their inconsistent brisket.

My cousin, a San Antonio local, introduced me to Rudy’s Country Store & BBQ on visit back in 2009. It is stomp in your boots, finger lickin’ and lip smackin’ good BBQ. This is always on our list of must-​eat-​at places when visiting Texas.
You might be surprised to pull up to a roadside gas station for BBQ. Let me assure you that it’s clean, delicious and worth a stop. They have Rudy’s scattered about Texas and they’re all just as good in my experience. Don’t miss out on the BBQ and head on inside.
The How To’s:
You will stand in line and place your order at the counter (note: meat is ordered by the lbs and served on wax/​butcher paper).Don’t be shy and ask for a sample to try some of their BBQ. If this is your first time, tell em’ you’re a newbie and they will great you with open arms and shout your hometown in their style of a warm welcome. Now, don’t forget to grab your prepackaged sides in the cooler while your browsing over their menu in line. They have banana pudding, coleslaw, potato salad and other fixings for you to select.
You will then carry your meal in a milk crate and pick your picnic table with a pile of complimentary white bread. Pop a squat and throw some of their BBQ sauce on that meat and dig in with a smile on your face.
We ordered:
½ a lbs of Extra Moist Brisket (My husband LOVED this and wish we ordered more)
1 lbs of St. Louis Style Ribs
Large Container of Coleslaw
Small Container of Banana Pudding (I’m a sucker for banana pudding)
A pile of white bread — compliments of Rudy’s BBQ
2 fountain drinks — unsweetened iced teas (they also have sweet tea– welcome to the South, honey)
Final Verdict:
My favorite BBQ spot when visiting Texas. Go there and get your BBQ on!

Yes, «rookies» are known as first timers and we get free samples at the counter! Friendly staff.
We sought out this BBQ place on our first night in Austin as we were at a Rudy’s in San Antonio 7 years ago, loved it and have been talking about it ever since.
Things were different at this location but not necessarily in any bad way.
We tried the baby back ribs, brisket and the turkey with beans. The turkey was a stand out but my fave will always be ribs. Very nice spice rub to them. We skipped out on the white Wonder bread. Had a Lone Star beer and they have a very nice Mexican bottled mineral water infused with lime. I bought a couple of those to go after the meal
Serve yourself pickles and onions!
I wish the BBQ sauce was spicier or that there were more choices of sauce. And that it was served warmer. But other than that, it was a great choice to come here!

Date of service: Feb 4, 2015
Meal: Dinner, eat in
All Ratings out of 10:
Quality of food: 9
Food to Spend Value: 8
Quality of Service: 7
Overall Rating: 8
I love Texas BBQ, and Rudy’s is pretty high up on the list. I unfortunately missed them my first visit to Austin this year, so I made sure they were my dinner choice on my first night on my second visit. It had been years since I had been to one, and I was happy to see that they were still as great as always.
Rudy’s is old school BBQ and isn’t fancy at all. They self-​proclaim themselves as the «Worst BAR-​B-​Q in Texas», which is tongue in cheek for «Our BBQ rocks!». Ordering consists of the following. First, you figure out what meats you want and how much (by the fraction of a pound), which gets delivered to you on butcher paper. You then literally pick out your sides, which are mostly in styrofoam containers. Along the ordering line are a variety of drinks, both alcoholic and not, in glass bottles for you to choose from, including many «old school» sodas. They will also give you some amount of bread based on the amount of meat you order, and various condiments, including their famous spicy BBQ sauce, is all available in the dining area. Don’t let the simplicity of all this fool you though… this is true Texas BBQ.
On this night I decided to get some brisket and jalapeño sausage, with creamed corn as my side and banana pudding for dessert. The brisket was super moist and flavorful with the smokiness you would expect. The sausage made my taste buds dance with its bold spiciness. The creamed corn was also very good and not like what you get out of a can. It was fresh with a sweet creamy taste and went very well with the meat. Before digging into my pudding I decided I wanted more meat, so I went back up and ordered some smoked turkey, which is not something I can find in the Seattle area often. It was also delicious with a moist, smoky flavor (but milder than the brisket and sausage) and was a great meat to finish with. The banana pudding was a perfect dénouement, having both a perfect texture, great balance of pudding and cookies, and a really great flavor.
The quality of the food is sky high at Rudy’s, as I would put their meat up against the best of the best. The sides are also good but not as good as the meat (common in Texas BBQ). The prices are pretty good for what you get, and the service is just fine though not fancy, but it doesn’t need to be. Rudy’s is known for long lines at peak lunch and dinner times, so you know they’re doing something right. Their sauce is also delicious and, like many Texas BBQ places, carries their own signature with a bit more spice than most. You can also buy it to go, which I highly recommend. You really shouldn’t have any reason not to go to Rudy’s, unless you are a vegetarian (I pity you), don’t like BBQ (are you crazy?), need your restaurant ultra fancy (you snob!), or just don’t like delicious meat (what can I say?).

If you’re in Austin, please make it a priority to visit Rudy’s! We were visiting my cousin, who lives in Austin. She took us to all of her favorite places but Rudy’s was the first! It was by far, the best bbq I’ve ever had!
It is such a fun dining experience. Rudy’s looks like a barn. It has large picnic benches, with picnic tablecloths. It is community style seating. A sheet of wax paper is used as a plate! The meat is cut and your meal is your prepared, while you are ordering at the register. My favorite part was the old time hand washing station. You also get a sticker, saying I have clean hands! I still have mine :).
The food is mouth watering! You can smell the bbq from outside. Thankfully we had a large group so I was able to sample a bit of everyone’s food! I ordered the smoked bbq turkey. It was perfection. I still think about it. My absolute favorite thing from Rudy’s has to be the cream corn. My cousin that lives in Austin ships it to Buffalo for us, for family parties. We loved it so much! We also bought jars of the Rudy’s bbq sauce to bring home.
Absolutely, 100% check this place out! You will not be disappointed!

Being from Georgia, I’m quite familiar with pulled pork. So I knew I wanted to try out some brisket.
The Food:
Love that they give first timers samples of the meats! I’m so glad they did because I never would have tried the smoked turkey, which was by-​far the best thing I had there. So moist and such great flavor. The creamed corn was really tasty — very sweet and thick, almost like a pudding. But I felt like I was eating a super fatty dessert, so I recommend splitting a small with someone. The baked beans were savory — not sweet at all. I love sweet baked beans so these weren’t my favorite, but my boyfriend really liked them. On to the brisket — this is why I’m giving it a three star. It was pretty dry and not super flavorful like I was anticipating. I looooove BBQ and was so surprised at my disappointment. I’ve had much better brisket at other BBQ joints in Texas, Georgia and Alabama.
The Service:
They were so friendly and even with a long line, it went really fast! You get served your food right on a tray at the register, pay for it, and walk to sit down.
The Atmosphere:
It’s attached to a gas station, but it’s very large and feels like a casual restaurant. It’s community style seating on big, covered picnic tables.
Overall, I would definitely try Rudy’s again just to see if I got a bad cut of meat, but it isn’t quite as good as others led me to believe it would be.

I was torn about not visiting Franklin’s Barbecue on my Austin trip, but Rudy’s kept coming up in the reviews. Since I did not want to waste several hours of my precious vacation waiting in line — seriously, very few things are worth waiting that long in line — I headed to Rudy’s instead. This location is pretty close to downtown, but you may miss it driving down the road. Look for the Shell Station sign. It is a gas station too, but the restaurant area clearly dominates the interior.
The very friendly staff quickly introduces you to the ordering procedure and may offer some samples if you need them. Ordering is rather simple, tell them how much of each meat you want and order any sides. You pay by the pound and grab a beer from the ice chest if desired. I sampled the lean and moist brisket, but ended up choosing the cutters choice instead. Their famous creamed corn seemed too good to pass up. Everything was put on butchers paper in a plastic crate for dine-​in options.
Wow. This brisket was simply amazing. The texture and flavor was excellent with no need for any sauce; it just covered up the great natural taste. I should have tried more of the options, but I needed to revive my interest in brisket after a lackluster experience at the Salt Lick. The creamed corn was good, but very rich.
The dining area is huge with an outdoor covered patio. The place quickly got crowded with the after work crowd. I cannot confirm if this place is better than Franklin’s, but the line was MUCH shorter with excellent meats. Thank you Unilocal for the recommendations. Fortunately Rudy’s is a chain so maybe their other locations will help scratch my itch!

Complete your life with the «worst BBQ in Texas» at Rudy’s! Basically a gas station restaurant (I mean that alone is pretty bad), Rudy’s even admits that it’s the worst from its exterior sign and interior neon lights. Why eat at the «worst» though? Well, how else can you truly appreciate the «best» BBQ if you never tried the other spectrum, right?
If you walk in the restaurant, you will order at the counter with the «mean» cashiers, who will ask you if you are a first-​timer who is sucker enough to come to Rudy’s. If you say yes, the cashier will promptly yell at the other people behind the counter about your newbie-​ness and everyone will yell to greet you. Talk about embarrassing newcomers. Meanwhile, the cashier who will instigate this public embarrassment will present you few various meat samples plus a small sample of creamed corn for you so you know what you will get yourself into.
For the «worst BBQ experience», I highly recommend getting ½ lb of extra moist brisket along with a small portion of creamed corn (~$ 11). Like the name suggests, the brisket’s extra moistness makes this BBQ meat so alluringly «bad», but with Rudy’s special BBQ sauce blend, it becomes the ultimate BBQ experience! The creamed corn especially with a light touch of black pepper is an especial complement with its nice creamy taste and texture that matches with the heavier taste of BBQ meat.
However, whatever you order, you will definitely see for yourself why Rudy’s is the «worst BBQ in Texas»! The meats are simply too «bad» to miss out.
DISCLAIMER: I hope you can get the sarcasm. The food is absolutely phenomenal!
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tl;dr version:
1) «Worst BBQ in Texas»
2) Extra moist brisket + creamed corn = Ultimate BBQ experience