County Line on the Lake — Restaurant in Austin

Dissapointed is an understatement. Please check all of my reviews and see I only post positive reviews and it hurts me that finally I was treated lousily enough to put out negativity. I pride myself on catching people doing something right and understand mistakes happen and don't harp on that but there is no excuse for downright rude and callous behavior.

Covid-19 closed my company in Florida in March and my wife and I had twins 2/18. I was offered a job in Austin and have been downright enamored with Austonians and can attest this is perhaps the happiest and nicest population I have ever encountered and I am well travelled. I accepted the job and exhausted my funds during the move. I haven't yet been able to bring over my wife or children nor have I been able to furnish my apartment. I still remain positive because I have my health and opportunity and will work my butt off until I succeed. Since my twins are most important I have forgone comforts such as furniture and silverware so we can pay the $800 a month for formula and stash away a little so I can finally see my family again because they are my world.

This is a highly reviewed restaraunt so I assumed customer service probably reflects some of those ratings. Boy was I ever wrong. We pleaded with them telling the aforementioned story and asked if they could spare some extra plasticware it would make my life much easier so I could get a few meals out of this $50 one person order. They assured us they loaded up the bag with utensils and would make this tough time easier.

I recieved the order and instead of extra utensils there was absolutely none. We called expecting nothing could be done but just so they knew. The harsh response was.... GET CREATIVE which is exactly what I am doing here. Thanks for your insight employee who answered at 10:06pm. For management training purposes original call request was at 9:19pm.

I have integrity so I will not trash the food. I feel I am a fair person. The potato salad and coleslaw that I had to GET CREATIVE with and eat with my hands were very good. The beans were terrible but I could be preferential to Boston style beans with sweeter taste and the ribs were... blah average.

Do yourself a favor and go to Sam's #samsbbq . He will make you feel like family and the food is 10/10. I owe him a review. Pictures taken prior to moving to Austin and his personality are part of the reason I did.

County Line I have managed teams of 10 - 50 ppl for fortune 500's and startups in my history including 30 right now. If you would like a consult on customer service I would be happy to do it for free. Your internal customers (employees) need to be happy and engaged in order to get the same out of your external customers.

Best of luck and...

Went for the first time with somebody who invited me who thinks the place is awesome.

I ordered the pork ribs (it was an appetizer and quite big!) and they were a bit chewy. Could have been much more tender. Mediocre. They also brought out what they call their house bread. I don't know, pretty tasteless. Thankfully, the honey butter saved it. There are so many more barbecue places in Austin that are absolutely fabulous. (But in their defense, I will go back another time and try some other dishes).

The atmosphere inside I really liked. The old pictures in the entrance and the other decorations were very cool.

The outside seating looked very inviting due to the water, but I noticed a couple of ladies out there smoking cigarettes at their table. I didn't realize you could still do that in businesses in Austin. Don't get me wrong, I smoke once in a blue moon, but to have somebody at the table next to you, even if it's outside, puffing on a cigarette and blowing it wherever was not a good look or a good feel. (Seems with the outside space, they could have a separate smoking area)

The server was friendly, but she forgot to bring the extra sauce for the person I was with, so he used mine and then we asked another server for the sauce and he said he will get some, but he forgot as well... Even bringing some extra to the table right next to us and completely forgetting that we had asked for it.... We saw our server again and asked her, but the other server beat her to it once we asked him a second time.

Servers seem to be spread a bit thin there. I have been a server before, so I get it. You don't want too many servers because then you won't make as many tips. But as a customer, it can be frustrating. I was on the verge of getting up and going towards the kitchen and asking for the sauce myself. That's how...

My memory of The County Line is somewhere around 35 years old, I was a kid last time I ate there before this evening; but the atmosphere, the decor, and my god the ✨aromas✨ all matched my memories exactly.

The food exceeded my expectations. Exceeded. My first bite of their famous homemade bread and savoring the hint of sourdough flavor mingling with the slightly sweet honey butter finally brought me understanding why other BBQ restaurant rolls are so disappointing. The homemade mac & cheese had noodles cooked to my preferred tenderness and had no weird flavors that haunt other recipes of the dish - noodles and cheese and love are what made the mac & cheese at The County Line.

And then, the beef rib platter. I've dreamed of these ribs and bbq sauce my whole life. I'm not much of a meat fan but I love these ribs. They are seasoned well, no salt hiding the flavor of the meat, tender, satisfying. The potato salad - perfection. Not too wet, large chunks of potato, generous on the onions, delightful balance of pickle, and not sweet. Everything a potato salad should be. The beans are savory and complex, rich but not overwhelmingly so. Lots of cumin and paprika but just to the perfect amount to complement the ribs. Again, not sweet, and also not hidden by bacon fat and I'm thankful for it. Let the beans shine! Typically, I don't like cole slaw. But slaw here is large pieces of cabbage in a well balanced dressing that enhances the vegetable instead of hiding it; and the dressing isn't drowning the dish. Perfection.

Our server was Debie and she was fantastic! Patient, attentive, and let us go at our own pace.

I wish I hadn't waited so long to come back. The County Line long ago set my standard for what BBQ should be and no one else does it even...