Mike Cotten’s BBQ

Yes, it is good tasting barbeque. Paid $ 28.78 for 1.8-pound rib (why do I pay for the bone?). The meat literally fell of the bone. Way more than I could consume. Service killed me. I must have been asked 10 times how things were going. Nice to have attentive service but for a 45-​minute meal, the number of times my table was visited by the server made me to check my fly and assure my shirt was being worn the right side out.

My husband and I heard about this new bbq place in Portland. Needless to say we gave it a shot. Giving it a 3 star was a hard one but the cotton candy was the real reason for the 3 stars. Both hubby and I got the 2 meat plate. The food was lack luster. The mac and cheese was decent but the chicken was dry and bland. Would I go there again… maybe for the cotton candy and amazing service but not for the BBQ. So far the best BBQ spot this side of the bridge is Mac’s in Gregory TX.

Place is absolute garbage. Got the brisket nachos and the cheese was hardly melted. The cheese didn’t complement the brisket well either. Tried some of my colleagues chicken and it was as dry as the desert. Would never came back here again.

This place was nice! They have a nice bar and seating! The staff was nice although they could’ve laid a little off on rushing to clean up the table. The brisket was really good! I’m am not a fan of the BBQ sauce at all. Bland and ketchupy! No thanks! Price was reasonable for what we got! I would love to try the ribs. Thank you!

I went with the brisket sandwich, on white bread, with a bag of lays potato chips. Not sure if they have any other kind. Probably not. This place isn’t perfect but I don’t think I have ever had a better meal for $ 6. The sandwich came with about a half lb of brisket. 3 dill pickles, a half of a pickled jalapeño, some diced white onions and a ½ Oz of homemade bbq sauce. Forgot to mention that the waitress brought out cheese and crackers for a treat. Much better than you wold expect for the price.
Unfortunately a few negatives. The brisket flavor was great though a little dry as was telling bread. The other plates going around looked great. The homemade bbq sauce was good but they sure were chinchy with that. Literally a half ounce was all I was given. The bbq sauce on the table was typical store bought sauce and not an enjoyable flavor. Ask for extra on the homemade. The service was good to the point of overkill. No fewer than five servers asked if we needed assistance… some will think this is a good thing. Better to be over served than under. I guess the only other negative was the general atmosphere. It’s a bbq place. Cheap furniture with red and white patterned table covers. Nothing wrong with that when it is good bbq. However there is an attempt to be upscale when it just isn’t necessary. Hostesses in lovely dresses, that sort of thing. The dichotomy of elegance and hometown ho-​down is not quite «pulled off». Don’t get me wrong. Best $ 6 meal you’ll find.

Been here several times (5+ times, but my husband has been here more than me). The protein itself is always good; however, the last time I went, we ordered fries. The fries did not taste deep fried, it tasted baked AT BEST. Kind of hard but not crispy… anyway we asked the waitress how the fries were made and she said deep fried. We told her we were just curious because the texture tasted different, and she said some of it may have been old but not a lot. HUH? She was very nice, and it’s not her fault, but all of it was old. None of it tasted like it was freshly deep fried. Because we live in Portland part of the year, it is simply a convenient place to to go — and we will continue to eat there when we don’t feel like going into town, but I will not order anything other than the main dishes. Also the staff has always been polite, I’ve never encountered any rude or bad service here.

We go to Mike Cotton’s frequently and the service and the food are outstanding every time!!! Mike has graciously agreed to let us have our Texas Tech Alumni gathers there to watch the Red Raiders play football! The full bar is awesome! They have great daily drinks specials and they have put a whole new twist on some margaritas!!! We are so very glad that Mike & Katie picked Portland to open this awesome BBQ restaurant! Stop by and check it out… you won’t be disappointed!

Finally! A BBQ joint with a FULL bar! We went to Mike Cotten’s and enjoyed every single aspect of our experience. The drinks were delicious, the food was perfect, and service was incredible! I ordered my sausage burnt and normally when I ask this I either get funny looks or told that isn’t possible, but when I asked at Mike’s they told me I could most certainly have my sausage burnt and warned me it would take a little longer than usual. With cheese and crackers in one hand and a margarita in the other, I didn’t mind the wait one bit! It wasn’t a long wait at all, though. Everything was so good and they brought us more sauce and refills of water without us having to ask. A+ service and food!

My family and I visited this place while in Corpus Christie for the weekend. I have to say that we were very happy with the quality of food and the service from our waiter. He was great and very knowledgeable about the menu. My husband had the brisket cheese fries, an appetizer on the menu and the portion was so big that he couldn’t even finish it. I had the smoked brisket potato and WOW!!! it was great! My kids all enjoyed their food as well. My daughter loved that they had cheese and crackers at the table to snack on before our meal. The décor of this establishment was very country and we loved it! My daughter was wishing that we lived in Portland so that she could work there. :) I will definitely eat here again and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some excellent BBQ.

Love everything about Mike Cotton’s!
Great food, great service!
Love the extra touches of cotton candy for the kiddos and sparklers for birthdays.
The brisket nachos are my favorite, though the portion seems to have shrunk lately. :-/​
They have two types of bbq sauce — one more of a standard type and the other chunky with bits of tomatoes in it — and both are great!
They also have the best side salad ever, with green olives and radishes! Yum!
Overall very good! :)

The table was dirty then the waitress took our drink orders the food was there before we got our drinks which was almost a half hour later and then when they brought out the food, come to find out they were out of macaroni and cheese which my little girl ordered and didn’t even asked if she wanted a substitute for it. So I gave her half my poor boy. That was the most tasteless pieces of meat I ever ate… You want real Bbq go 5 miles down the road

The people giving this place anything more than a single star are most likely drunk… Over priced, small portions and a very odd layout.
I haven’t met a person here in Portland with a positive experience. Sad times bro. Was really excited to have something different in town besides 3 sandwich shops, 3 fried chicken joints, 3 Mexican joints, 1 crappy pancake place and two chain restaurants.
You had the opportunity to serve a needy community and you forgot you didn’t know how to BBQ.

Very good BBQ brisket spot in Texas! The restaurant is clean, nicely decorated, and they have an excellent staff! The wait staff were helpful and offered an awesome ice cream and fruit dessert for my grandfather’s special day!

Had lunch with the wife there today. The brisket was tender and flavorful. And the pork was terrific too. This is the BBQ joint this town has been needing for quite some time!

The bbq is delicious great place good peeps but prices are too high I say. but still a new place and best bbq in town so far

Yuck. Dirty tables & food was not good. Pulled pork sandwich tasted like it was from a can. Hubby got lean brisket sandwich it was full of fat and was cold.

My wife and I love BBQ and try to visit any that we travel past in South and Central Texas. Our hometown Portland recently gained a new one — Mike Cotten’s BBQ — and we started going there most Saturdays.
I like the lean brisket — nice cuts, good flavor, and still moist. Jalapeño sausage is also really good. The ribs are tasty too. Draft beer is on tap and mixed drinks are available — great place to kick back and enjoy a cold one and big plate of BBQ.
Since the aroma of smoke doesn’t engulf me when we go in to eat like some of the old time BBQ places we’ve tried, I wondered if the BBQ was cooked there or brought in. Mike assured me that it was smoked right there on the spot and big smoke stacks run up through the roof. No doubt the strip center doesn’t want a bunch of smoke blowing through the big parking lot!
Low and behold, two massive «Southern Pride» state of the art smokers in the back produce all their BBQ. They are wood burning and fired with big mesquite logs, pretty impressive. One was full of chicken and the other had brisket being loaded in. The pit-​master watches over this production like a proud daddy. I’d be proud of it too if I had one in my place!

A very confused place that is apparently trying to live off a name that people who grew up in the area remember.
The confusing:
The part of the building that has «BBQ to GO» on the outside, thats a dining room. The place that you are supposed to order from — you can not see it walking in the front door, and there is no signage to let you know that you need to go there to order. No BBQ sauce. No smell of BBQ in the neighborhood or building — so they are not cooking the food there
I tried the 3 meat plate with brisket, pork and sausage link.
The brisket was dry, lacking any flavor of a rub, smoke or sauce
The pork — really confused on this, I received some kind of end piece, something that seemed more rolled and formed rather then an end of a shoulder or but. Again, no rub, no smoke, no sauce
The sausage — the only saving grace, good flavor — but you serve it in a whole link form? Not cut, and the utensils given can’t cut through the casing?
But good news, they were having a special on margarita’s that night… margarita’s and BBQ?
No thanks, to many other good options

AWESOME BBQ! The brisket and ribs are to die for! Full bar, with delicious margeritas! Fantastic customer service. I will definitely go back and recommend to others!

I was one of the first to walk through the door of the new Mike Cotten’s BBQ restaurant. Nice BIG place with a full stocked bar and plenty of seating scattered throughout. I ordered a 3 meat plate which had really tasty Brisket, a yummy rib, and big «regular» flavor sausage link, plus pinto beans. The BBQ sauce is thick but quite good. Most of the plate didn’t need it. A friend had the chopped beef sandwich and really liked it. Can hardly wait to come back and try more of the offerings like pork and chicken and jalapeño sausage!
One side of the restaurant has a take out order section, quite handy for those who don’t have time to pull up a chair to sit and eat.
UPDATE: Been back 3 more times since their opening and each time has been delicious! Hubby and I LOVE the jalapeño sausage — not hot, just nice and spicy. I tried the giant «dinosaur» beef rib today and it’s now my favorite! Outside edge nice and crusty, inside moist and flavorful — yum, yum! Hope they keep having these on the weekend, ’cause I’m going back for more. Have fallen in love with the BBQ sauce… can’t get enough of it. :-)
Order at the counter, stop and fill up your big glass with tea, soda, or water… grab utensils, and head for a table. They give you a table number and the waiters will bring your food out very quickly! They usually stop by a couple more times to see if your drink needs a refill, or you need extra pickles or onions. Terrific service.
Just keeps getting better and better!