Vaquero's BBQ — Restaurant in Allen

I wish they had a proper bar but you order drinks from a window or grab a beer while your in line for food. We ordered a platter (Texas something) with ribs, brisket and sausage but they ran out of sausage so we replaced it with ribs. The ribs and brisket were tender, they were pretty good actually. I'm not a fan of fatty brisket though. The BBQ was super tasty but they only had the one kind of sauce. I was looking for something spicy. We got beans and Mac for the sides which we will not get again because the beans tasted way too much like cumin and pepper. The Mac and cheese was gritty and had no taste, could probably use salt to make it edible if you can even find salt. You can't really tell from the picture but the bread on the other side was burnt and tasted exactly like burnt toast. 😩 We also ordered the fries Texas style. The brisket was dry, the fries cold, the cheddar cheese not melted, the queso was on the bottom and the veggies were pickled which I'm not a fan of. In fact it looked like all their veggies are pickled. The queso was at the bottom so we had to dig around but when we found it, it actually tasted weird. We barely put a dent into this because it didn't taste good at all. I felt like we just threw 17 bucks in the trash. Definitely not ordering it again, especially with all the pickled stuff in it. They don't have a station with utensils, condiments, etc in the other dining room. If it ever gets busy I could see a major traffic jam happening where they have it now by the drink machines. They don't offer plates or anything so if you're sharing you're either eating off paper towels or trying to navigate the tray between you and the other person(s). They don't offer wet naps but there's a hand washing sink by the restrooms. Whoever picked out the chairs and the tables didn't take into consideration the height of the seat in relation to the table. I felt like a kid eating at the table....so children or short people might be even more annoyed by this. Maybe not. The TVs ... One had the shopping network. The other had Sports Mix (8 boxes in 1) on but the TV is so small you can't even see what's going on with the of the whatever they were broadcasting.

They just opened so hopefully we see improvements...

I went to Vaqueros BBQ and it was smoky, cheesy, and slightly confusing, kind of like my dating history.

The brisket gets an 8 out of 10. Juicy, tender, and smoky enough that I briefly considered writing it a love letter. The chipotle cheese sausage also gets an 8 out of 10. Basically a tube of molten cheese disguised as meat. Not too spicy, which is disappointing if you enjoy pain, but comforting if you do not.

The BBQ sauce tasted like someone spiked a fruit punch with just enough heat to make your grandma nervous. Sweet, a little spicy, and weirdly addictive. The bread was white, soft, and about as thrilling as an HR meeting, but it did the job.

The birria tacos were good and flavorful. My friend insists that dipping tacos in broth feels like tortilla water aerobics, but I actually enjoyed them. They were not mind blowing, but I would not be mad if they showed up on my plate again.

The sides had range. The apple Gorgonzola slaw was really good and refreshing, the kind of side that makes you briefly think you are making healthy choices. The spicy cucumber salad was the real star, refreshing and balanced with heat, even better with pickled onions. I would order it on purpose. The potato salad was mid. It existed. It was beige. It tasted like it was made by someone who got bored halfway through seasoning and decided to give up.

Service was quick, the crowd was chill, and they had five dollar drink specials for the people who wanted to leave tipsier than they arrived. I stuck to food and left with my wallet forty eight dollars lighter, tip included.

Final verdict: Go for the brisket, stay for the cucumber salad, and let your friend complain about taco soup while you...

As others have noted, it pains me to only give 3 stars because we were stoked to have Vaqueros opening up nearby. We’ve followed their truck for years and stay plugged in to the Texas bbq scene. Unfortunately, this location will need to make some much needed improvements to hang with some of the top joints.

The brisket (a consistent standard I use to measure the greatness of a bbq restaurant) was tender and generally well smoked. It was lacking flavor though which made it feel dull.

We were most excited to try the pastrami as that’s a departure from the routine offerings found at most TX bbq joints. The pastrami itself was solid, not bad in anyway but not quite hitting the mark of great. There was also confusion on behalf of the employees when we inquired if we would get the marble rye and other condiments that the menu stated came with the pastrami. They told us you have to order the sandwich to get that. We then showed them on the menu where the pastrami sold by the pound states it includes these items. The response was “yeah, that’s the sandwich”. Not to be rude but I’ve never seen a bbq joint sell sandwiches by the pound. If you look at the menu there’s a clear difference between what we ordered and the sandwich they were speaking of. Ultimately they did give us bread but it was their standard white bread and none of the other condiments.

That may feel like small potatoes but those little things make a difference and ultimately a restaurant should serve items as they’re described on the menu.

I want to believe we’ll come back and give them another try in the future but it will definitely be a while...