Texas Bar-B-Que House

Not sure how this place stays in business. BBQ was not good. It would be just okay if you didnt live in Texas, but we are in texas, and thus can be snobs about BBQ. Brisket wasnt very flavorful and a bit dry. Sauce was okay, but defentily needed to drown the meat in it to make it edible.
Mashed potatoes had that ting of instant potatoes you get in a school cafeteria. Beans were okay.
Would not go again since too many other good bbq places in this town.

I don’t know why this place is getting a bad rap. Staff is friendly, portions are large, the tea is sweet. Is it the best BBQ in town, No. But I would come here again, as parking is easy and the staff make you feel comfortable, and the food is decent. I got the loaded baked potato. Reading from the other reviews I knew what not to get. Here is a reviewer telling you order the baked potato, but prepare to be stuffed and not finish the meal. Time for a nap…

Took the wife here for lunch as a tester before I took one of my clients. Thank god. From the street the place looks like it has that quintessentail BBQ smokehouse rundown and tattered look. The kind of look you only get from years of great BBQ. Au contriaire. The look was actually the most hopeful part of this place. The brisket was dry, somewhat cool, and obviously not from that day’s smokin. I’ve had brisket the next day after a good ol fashioned in-​law cookout that tasted much fresher than that. Before yall get to thinking I’m just a negative guy, I will say that the Parking situation was plentiful, and free (although rough) but when you don’t have to pay for parking in the downtown or EaDo area, that’s a plus. The BBQ Sauce itself was tangy, and quite delicious. The only other thing saving this review from a one star burial in my opinion. Price was decent, but frankly not good enough to put up with quality issues. Potato salad was so so, and the ribs… well, lets just say from the combo plate, the one’s we got weren’t exactly fat, juicy, and fall off the bone. The owner was there, or at least I took it that she was. Very friendly, very helpful, and the rest of the atmoshpere is not quite different than you see in the pictures. Clean enough for a BBQ spot, and quick enough to get something on the fly if you’re in a hurry, but don’t be expecting a lot from this place. Set your expectations low. Very low if you’re actually a BBQ fan who knows anything about it.

Burgers was pre-​cooked and burnt around the edges. Fries were burnt. Carrot cake very dry!

The staff here is nice but the food is so hit or miss. I have had good brisket here and also I had the mess they called brisket I got here today. There is no consistency here and better BBQ nearby so why visit here? It’s not the cheapest and most certainly not the best.

I was picking up tix at BBVA and this place is right across the street. I’m always looking for good bbq so I stopped in for lunch.
This place has its own lot so parking is easy. Its a friendly mom and pop operation.
I got the two meat plate with brisket and sausage but they also have a variety of non-​bbq items like burgers, chicken fried steak and catfish. The format is cafeteria style (like Luby’s)…grab a tray and tell them what you want and pay at the end of the line.
Overall the brisket was just ok. I asked for wet or loose outside cut which is usually the more fatty portion of the brisket with lots of the flavorful bark. The brisket was pretty dry and the flavor did not penetrate too much. The bark had more of a char and hardly any seasoning. The sausage was good but nothing memorable to mention. The cucumber salad side was very good.
Looking around the restaurant, all of the other customers dining in had ordered non-​bbq items… maybe that’s the secret.
The service was good and very attentive. They gave me drink refills at the table even though it is cafeteria style.
Until next time… stay sexy fellow Unilocalers!

I received Dynamo tickets that included a free meal here this past Tuesday. It was Cinco de Mayo, so I wasn’t particularly thrilled to be having BBQ, but I couldn’t pass up a free meal and an opportunity to try the closest BBQ joint to my place.
I gave this place a nice objective visit, considering the terrible reviews. The service itself was very professional and friendly. It was pretty busy and the fries we received were undercooked. We had them sent back and there was no issue at all when we brought it to the manager’s attention. I normally don’t send food back, but they were too hard to ingest.
My party and I ordered the chopped beef sandwich. It wasn’t bad by any means, however it didn’t hit the spot. The sauce was more like gravy as someone mentioned before. The experience here wasn’t bad at all, but the food was highly underwhelming. Let’s just say I’m happy this meal was free.

i am a fan. i wish they were open more at night. but food is great. i love link and rib plate. sauce, beans and pot salad… no complaints. folks are siper nice.
now, i do not come here in game days… that might change things, i do not know.
keep up the good work. and the grilled chix salad the other day was FAB. loved the chix!

Not good.
We are here because it’s close to the BBVA stadium. The service was poor, the wait was forever and then they rushed us. The place wasn’t even full.
They were rude and not helpful.
The food was edible but not tasty. From our group we had the chicken tenders, hamburger, ribs and brisket.
Lastly, there’s a sign on the door that said «Today’s special is chicken fried steak sandwich.» So we get up there to order it, and she says, «oh I’m sorry, I don’t have that today. Only Monday through Friday.» So I went outside to check the sign to see if I was missing something. Nope! Just a terrible sign.
Won’t be back. Would never suggest it.

This place is awful, I went because someone at work told me the greek salads were really good, so i ordered the greek salad to go. when i got back to work and stuck a fork in my salad out comes a ladies gold ring, when i took the salad back and wanted a refund they had the nerve to ask if i wanted something else and they wanted the ring back They were not apologetic at all. I want to let everyone know beware of the greek salad.

The place was good and the bad reviews are not accurate. They must have changed management or something. I really enjoyed my food.

8÷15÷14 12:17 — I am starting to notice a trend here. Houston Greeks are really bad at Texas BBQ. They took over the restaurant back in 1983. The joint dates back to the 1960’s. They serve both BBQ and home style meals.
I scored Texas Bar-​B-​Que House a 71 out of 100. This is Bum Steer BBQ.
Smoke: Mesquite and Hickory. An ancient Oyler is beneath the smoke stack. Owner says its the «original» and dates back to 1946. She claims she has the «papers». I think she was implying this was the original in Houston. Not sure exactly what she has. She may be mistaken about the date. The patent for Oyler was filed in 1968. The first pits were named Lean-​To Smokehouse Ovens and built by the inventor Herbert J Oyler. Mr Oyler died in 1973. Since she has «papers» one can assumed this was a purchased item. She may have an original Lean-​To Smokehouse built by Herbert J Oyler and that would be very very cool.
Brisket: Fair. An ¹⁄₈ in smoke ring beneath a thin bark. Overcooked and crumbled under the fork. Could not detect a rub, the only flavors were beef and smoke. Very dry. Use the sauce.
Ribs: Good. Served one spare rib cut into two halves. Nice pink smoke ring beneath a bronze bark. Bite required some tearing and ate tough of tender. There was a fabulous black pepper seasoning. Great smoke and great flavor. No sauce needed. Best item on the plate.
Sausage: Fair. You cant really taste filler but you can recognized its texture. This sausage had a lot of filler. It had mild spice flavor and very little after taste. Smoke was very mild also. Use the sauce.
Sauce: Very Good. A thick tangy sweet dark red sauce that can cover up some bland meats.

This is probably the worst BBQ I’ve ever had in the great state of Texas… and I’ve had a lot. I got food poisioning from eating what in retrospect was probably horsemeat.
Not sure how this place stays in business with pricey downtown real estate, but the owners should probably take note and visit a real BBQ joint in town to get a taste of what they’ve been missing.

Fatty meat, not good quality and service is horrible. Live so close its bot even funny and I would be willing to drive to go get better bbq.

One star for the sausage… delicious. Cold, but delicious. A second star for the personal greeting I received at the door and the cashier filling my water cup for me… great customer service. However, a three-​star demotion for the quality of food and price. A two-​meat plate with two sides costs $ 11 + tax and tip, but I was able to finish my whole plate. Compare this to portions I am accustomed to receiving from other BBQ establishments where I, more often than, not get enough meat to serve two people. Also, they do not have hot BBQ sauce in their condiment line like other places, so whatever they put on your plate for you is what you get. I went here for lunch at 12:30pm on a Friday it was pretty empty… surprising for downtown. Apparently, there is a special baked potato on Thursday, but I doubt I will return even for that.
This review is based solely on my personal experience and reflect my personal opinions. Your experience may be completely different.

Thought it might be decent. Wrong.
Accept that you’ll first be dealing with homeless wandering around in front of the place asking for money. And this was midday… can’t imagine what it’s like at night.
The chicken they gave me was both cold and burnt at the same time. How is that even possible? I tried to talk to the manager about it who claimed I’m trying to scam her with an old trick. Like I could possibly chill the inside of my dish. This is what gets people really sick. I tossed it and left. Probably best to move my car anyway, or just eat the burger place in the GRB park.
There’s probably a reason the parking lot was sparse, even at lunch. Blech.

The best thing about running around this neighborhood to drop off Unilocal fliers in the muggy Houston weather? The smell. Fajitas, burgers, banh mi, Cajun … aromas coming from each direction. Ahhhhh.
I pulled into Texas Bar-​B-​Que, and for one quick second, I thought it was closed – completely empty lot – until I saw the bright red «open» sign. I could have easily sat down and jumped right into a full baker, but on a time crunch, I ordered the sliced roast beef sandwich on a giant, sweet bun to-​go. I couldn’t enjoy it in the car, in fear that I’d be on sloppy mess, so driving home was sheer torcher. The beef was tender, topped with a few onions and the necessary tangy pickles. It could have used a bit more sauce and maybe some jalapenos, but I didn’t request. That and my Diet Pepsi (no Coke products) was a bit more than $ 7.
I chatted with the gentleman working the register, and he informed me that lunchtime on Thursday is their busiest. «Packed house,» he said. Folks from the area come by for the rib eye special with a baked potato, two sides and choice of roll/biscuit/(japeno) corn bread for $ 13. Hmmm. I guess I’ll have to try that next time, along with a loaded baker… and the pies-​by-​the-​slice I noticed.

Is there anyway to appease you Unilocal gods? My first ever 1* review and that conveys «Eek! Methinks not.»? There are many ways I could characterize my one star experience and none of them would evoke the displeasure of a Victorian-​era mouse. I would give myself two stars if I was ever caught «eek”-ing at the table. The only thing to keep me from giving myself one star would be be the unwillingness to «eek» again.
I arrived here after my intended target was unexpectedly closed. So I headed down the road to this classic red building. And there the big sign greets you: «Texas Bar-​B-​Que.» What’s not to get excited about? I’m ready for BBQ so good it’ll make my stomach explode from delight. And then later while recovering in the hospital, my head will explode when I remember how good it was. Even with the firm understanding that no body parts would combust from smoked ambrosia, it was still highly disappointing. My original thought was to give this place 2*‘s, but this place was so much worse than Baker’s Ribs.
Somebody who was walking behind the counter said hello when I first came in. Then for the next 5 minutes I stood in front of 3 people behind the counter who all seemed to intently ignore me. Right before I walked out, I had the unfortunate opportunity to place my order. Here the menu has 1, 2, and 4 meat plates. But nowhere does it tell you all the meats. Additionally, WTF happened to the three meat plate? Your 4 meat is $ 11.95, but my 3 meat plate was… more? Huh?
I asked the guy behind the counter if he had any brisket with the fat still on. Because since I walked-​in the joint, the most pathetic over trimmed brisket had been sitting on the cutting board. Not a fleck of bark, smoke ring or fat was on it. It had all been trimmed off. He answered yes and as I moved on to ordering my sides, I thought I saw him reach for a another piece. Either way, it blew like quality control @ a balloon factory. Tasted just like a pot roast, was tender, but lacked any discerning flavor.
The ribs were decent. A little overcooked, not smoky or seasoned, but c’mon they’re ribs. You have to be sad sombitch to make bad ribs. The sausage was disturbing. They had been sliced so long ago that the meat was darker than the casing. I think they had been steamed or boiled or something besides fire+grill+smoke. Oddly enough the sausage has got some good flavor, but it’s clear they don’t make it, so…
The sides. Potato salad has been totally blended and you pick up flavors of celery and green bell pepper. Needs salt badly. The beans were quite adequate. They were probably the 2^nd best things on the plate.
The sauce should be feared. It is more of a gravy than a sauce. I don’t really want to go any further.
The sweet tea was neither sweet or tasting of tea.
Lots of parking, neat building. Helpful Heimlich maneuver posters.
So… yeah. Be wary of BBQ places that advertise their pitas, greek salads, and meat loaf on the sign.

i found texas bar-​b-​que house leaving thelma’s one day. i was doing research for the houston chowhounds bbq smackdown and poked my head inside to see what was going on inside. it was around 2:30 or 3 pm so the place was practically empty. i did speak to the owner who was very cordial and even gave me a tour of his kitchen to show me his pit. it was very large and impressive.
we weren’t very hungry but did sample some brisket and sauce. there was no detectable smoke ring and the meat itself didn’t have much smoke, but it was very tender. my friend said it was the best brisket he ever had. the meat was a tad fatty which i enjoyed too.
the missing smokey flavors makes the brisket here more reminscent of a good roast and less like texas barbeque. if you like less smokey bbq like my friend, then you’ll like what’s being turned out here. i would definitely come back here to eat a full meal. and the potato salad here is excellent. it’s not chock full of relish like other versions so it’s more savory than sweet.

At best, mediocre barbecue close to downtown.
There are only two reasons this place doesn’t sink to one star.
The chicken is okay. It has a decent flavor and is very moist, unlike so many places that allow the chicken to dry out. But when I go to a barbecue joint, it’s not the chicken I’m worried about.
The other plus is that they allow you to park in there lot and walk to the ballpark for Astro’s games, but it’s really not that close so I don’t consider it a true parking alternative.
I really can’t understand why they don’t put any sauce on the table.
As far as I’m concerned, don’t waste your time with this place. There are much better places to spend your money on barbecue in this town.