Lunch Report: Texas Pride Barbecue...

I have this vision in my mind of driving out along a highway many miles from the next big town and happening upon a place just like Texas Pride Barbecue. Like a scene from a movie, the place is inhabited by a few bikers, the occasional odd looking person and more than a few people enjoying a cold bottle of beer on a hot day. If you are looking for an out of the way spot and your biggest priority is atmosphere like this, go ahead; you have got to make the trip.But in our case, the thrill of seeing an extremely well put together collection of gas pumps, old signs and the standard obligatory "flair" required in most barbecue places, doesn't make the drive worth it if the food doesn't meet the image of the name. I'll tell you about our eating experience in a minute, but first, this is a place worth visiting at least once, especially if you are already within 10 miles of it. We hit shortly after the regular lunch crowd on Saturday and even then, the inside dining area was fairly crowded. Of course, I'm a huge fan of the cluttered walls image and this place is loaded with memorabilia, old signs and autographed pictures.And though the main inside eating area is fairly normal in size, the outer area is huge. It was like revisiting John T. Floore Country Store when we saw the outside with all the picnic tables and such.They even have sort of a fenced in kids play area. Complete with slide and electric rides.You can tell that this place attracts many visitors who have read a positive thing or two about it - as we ate, people would leave and stop to pose for pictures out front.Like many of the places we have hit for barbecue, these folks go with the traditional butcher paper in a plastic Coke crate, and you go down the line for your order. You can look into the case and see some sides and some of the meats. The baked potatoes are huge! When we were first standing in line, we had decided that one of our 4 sides would include the pinto beans, but after seeing them in the case, we opted to swap it for the German potato salad.

There was a couple who ordered in front of us and we saw the size of the chop sandwiches they got. These people do not skimp. In all honesty, one of the chop sandwiches would have been sufficient for two people.Our meal came out to $24.00, these folks some how managed to spend $47.00!Anyway, we got two combos. The first one was a chicken and brisket combo. The brisket was not nearly as good as you would expect. It didn't look good, and it just didn't even come close to even some of the regular places we go like Bill Miller's or Grady's. And the chicken was fine, but after a few bites, my wife commented that it was just like normal chicken. Somebody notify Luby's. The chicken didn't even come close to McBee's and in all honesty, neither the chicken nor brisket should be mentioned in the same paragraph as Augie's Barbed Wire. We also got the ribs and pork loin combo. These ribs were really good. With or without the sauce, they pulled right off the bone and the taste was superb. If I were to be in the area again, I'd surely order the full rack of ribs (like the couple in front of us did). The pork was fine, but I would have gladly taken more ribs instead.
Between the two meals, we got to select four sides. We had green beans which were okay, but not even close to Bill Miller's. There was some sort of macaroni with pepper on it and it was actually pretty good and I would definitely recommend it. Then we got two potato salads; the regular and the German. The regular potato salad was a No-Go. We both took two small bites of it and for the first time in the history of eating out, I left potato salad on the table. I think of the poor starving children in China and expect they will thank me for not sending this to them. It was horrible. The German potato salad on the other hand was Outstanding. I nearly licked the Styrofoam cup clean.

The final thing was the little side of peach cobbler. In my mind, it was burnt and the blackened, charred taste took away from it. My wife enjoyed it though.

So, to sum it up... If you are in the area anyway, by all means, give the place a whirl. I suspect it would be mighty fun during a night when a band is playing. If you decide to eat, go with the ribs, the German potato salad and the macaroni.

See more pictures on Flickr.