R & K Barbecue

R&K has come a long way from their humble beginnings operating out of a little trailer — kudos to them for that.
The first thing I’d like to say is that there are some friendly folks working here. Maria was super nice and kindly offered us a sampling of their oxtail and also the chilly. The cook (I didn’t catch his name) also came out to see what we thought about the oxtail and he was friendly fella as well.
Both the oxtail and chilli were pretty delicious and if our to-​go order wasn’t as large as it was, we may have added on some of each of these two items. Oh well, that just means we’ll have to come back again to enjoy larger portions of those.
Over the past 2 recent visits, we’ve taken home sliced brisket, sliced chicken breast (because they ran out of the ½ chicken), a couple of sliced beef sandwiches, baked potato with all the trimmings plus pulled pork, potato salad, cole slaw, okra, and mac & cheese, and fries.
My favorite items were probably the chopped beef sandwich and loaded potato, plus potato salad as far as side dishes go.
Sadly, the sliced brisket was a little disappointing. It wasn’t so tender and that was harder to mask because they sliced it pretty thick and not thin. The flavor of the sauce helped amp it up a little bit but I’m a huge fan of brisket and it didn’t meet my expectations on this day.
The chopped beef sandwich was a little better but still not quite as tender and juicy as I would have liked. The «overloaded» potato, however, was pretty darn good… and HUGE! The pork topping was juicy and plentiful and the whole thing was a meal and then some in and of itself.
I love the sweet & tangy balance of the potato salad and it was as creamy as I like my potato salads to be. The cole slaw, too, was crunchy and tasty enough.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the okra or mac & cheese but those aren’t items I normally order anyway so don’t want to knock them too hard because of that. They just didn’t wow me but others may find them to be just fine if they usually like those items.
Again, as good as the food was, the service and friendliness really impressed me even more. They also have a hot plate station packed with plenty of soul food items to choose from and they rotate the items. Check out my pics for a breakdown of what’s available. I’ll definitely need to try this on a return trip to R&K.

What a pleasant surprise it was us to visit R&K BBQ today. We were greeted promptly by the owner, and allowed to try a sample to help us decide what to order. We ended up with the Michael Harris sandwich and a type of stew that consisted of steak, sausage and chicken. (My husband says it’s a soup).
The sandwich came with super tender brisket and a savory, robust sausage.
The stew was the kind that sticks to your ribs.
In addition to the BBQ features, there were also some soul food offerings, including the stew, cabbage, oxtails, okra, etc.
And we got tea cakes for dessert! It seems making tea cakes is becoming a lost art, so we had to try them. They are pretty good.
My husband and I have made a pact to support non-​chain business. R&K’s, with it’s prompt, kind customer service and delicious fare, is a place we will continue to support. I’m looking forward to trying other items in the menu.
Check out R&K yourself!

I’m from Arkansas, and in the 7 years I’ve been in Houston (or Texas for that matter, spent some time in Dallas) I just have not found good barbecue like I’m used to. You can find meat with so much smoke that you burp it up all day anytime in this great state. But just good solid barbecue, no, I’m sorry. Back home I’m used to Memphis style barbecue with not too much smoke and seasoned perfectly with a good dry rub and a nice sweet, tangy, and spicy sauce on the side. Baked beans, not ranch style beans, great slaw and potato salad.
I’ve had a lot of barbecue here, from Goode Co., to Otto’s, to Pappa’s, to my uncle’s, to the little spot in Kashmere gardens off 610 and service road and Hirsh, to R&K just last night. And trust me, if you are an Arkansan or a Memphian looking for good ribs, slaw, barbecue baked beans and Kool aid! This is the place! The ribs are seasoned perfectly with baked beans that are very tasty with not too much sauce and it has meat in it. Slaw is sweet and tangy, and did I say the ribs were seasoned perfectly AND tender!
Let’s talk about the Kool aid real quick! Sweet as Kool Aid should be, but not a cup of syrup like some folks make. And in a huge cup! I just moved in the Northshore area and R & K’s is just one of the many great places I’m looking forward to going back to. Oh, and it was Spic and Span clean! Most barbecue joints (even the big boys) are not. The price is what you would expect from a barbecue establishment. Not cheap, but worth it. :)

This place was really good… I have the pork chop plate with greens and black eye peas… it was good. I enjoyed it… and ronald was great with answering all my question over the phone… it was good…

This place was amazing. We had a huge group and they were super accommodating to us even though we had not made a reservation. Here is the break down:
Appearances: Nice but not fancy. It’s a BBQ joint that you come here for the food.
Service: Above and beyond! They are some of the nicest people here and they offered us free food along with trying some pork rinds.
Quantity of food: The meat section is absolutely to die for! It’s so amazing and so delicious. I can’t believe this place doesn’t have better reviews.
Be careful though it’s a lot of food! The drinks only come in giant size so if you order a drink… It will be a lot of liquid!

Honestly one of my favorite places to come for some good bbq! I usually get the chopped beef sandwich with fries and I’ve had their beans… AMAZING! Has a great flavor, perfectly cooked and seasoned to perfection each time I’ve gone In (countless times). & of course the guy that runs the place is very nice and personable

Good! The BBQ was not the best that I have ever had, but it was good. I found it to be full of great flavor but a bit tough, especially the links. I also had the pulled beef and it was good, but again a bit tough. The potato salad was great, the hostess recommended to me and she was spot it, try it. Its not in the best neighborhood, but probably a good spot for lunch. Plenty of food and good value.

Brisket was not smoky enough. Sauce was too runny and had too much Rosemary. Beans had little flavor and too much Rosemary. Good portion of meat for the price.

I paid $ 14 for a plate to wouldn’t satisfy a five year old smmfh!!! I will NEVER go in that place again!!!

Some of the best bar-​b-​q! Simple and so delicious! The bar b q sauce is sweet and spicy and has a good smoked taste. So much better than papas BBQ in my opinion

There was a green fly flying around my table not the regular fly but the big green type WTF to that.

Well, is you have a wisdom tooth and it needs to come out, and you have no insurance, come to this place and order some ribs. These ribs are so tough they will yank that tooth right out. with no problems!!!

Nothing fancy, just really good BBQ in a friendly, neighborhood diner atmosphere.

«You a barbecue connoisseur,» asked my soon to be momentary mentor?
«I like BBQ,» I responded with a nod. My cover was blown.
This isn’t a part of town where you ask a lot of questions, and I’d been hard pressed to segue to them smoothly. It’s hard to conversate with a man that’s working phone orders, a drive-​thru window, refills, and the counter. But that’s what Ronald’s been doing at this corner of Greens Bayou & Normandy for 17 years, and it’s obviously still hard work. A testament to that toil is how R&K has grown over the years from the most modest trailer (parked behind the building now), to the high-​walled classic food truck, and now to the corner spot of the very building that he parked in front of for 13 years.
So there in front of the long white formica counter, I tried to coolly suppress a sense of bbq pride in front of a real pro. His three meat plate had been both interesting and delicious. Interesting in that the brisket was tremendously lean and slightly overcooked, and the sausage had been cooked past prime as well. To top it off there was sauce on all three meats of the plate. Yes, even the one baby spare rib had sauce. But it was all fantastic when mixed with the thick sauce with a smoky sweet flavor. And while that was one of the smallest spare ribs I’ve ever had, it was excellent. That’s likely not coincidence. The sausage was a dry beefy link that brought to mind the charry finish I love on my grilled kielbasa. The link had that good of flavor, that even though it was borderline smoked to death, a kiss of sauce brought it completely back to life. The brisket was unique in that it was almost like the flat was smoked alone and then maybe lightly braised in its own juices. It consisted of a thick slice of beef completely ringed with a light bark, gentle smoke ring, and very beefy flavor. Again, it was renewed in the bath of savory sauce. The sides consisted of a very creamy mustard potato salad, and sweet baked beans. Both are made from scratch and decent, but neither particularly stand out in my mind.
Now listen, this was an hour before closing time on a Saturday, so it was reasonable to assume this wasn’t his finest. Yet there was a steady stream of customers, not too mention the large crowd of sharply dressed ladies who lunch.; clearly people have been coming here for a reason.
That reason lies behind the sparsely decorated fluorescent front of R&K, the pit room. Gawd Dayum! Dude’s got side by side double door barrel smokers from Klose, a wood splitter, and three or four chords of nothing but oak. It’s a serious setup and one that can generate a lot of quality smoked meat.
I plan on heading back that way soon to give Ronald a fair chance by getting there at lunch time next time. If you’re cruising by the Normandy exit on I-​10 come lunch time, you might want to do the same.