Mimsy's Craft Barbecue & Steakhouse — Restaurant in Crockett

We were driving through East Texas and wanted some BBQ, so we looked on Google Maps for some places. Mimsy's was one of the only ones around, and they had good reviews so we added an hour to our drive to eat some good food. As we drove up and walked in, we had high hopes. It looks like a nice BBQ place is supposed to look. The menu was pretty standard fare, and we asked about specialties at the counter. They didn't really have any recommendations except for the maple sprouts. We asked about other sides, and the woman at the counter said she liked them all except potato salad and coleslaw (not just theirs). We paid about $80, minus tip, for a pound of moist brisket, two sausages, a large potato salad, maple sprouts, and two fountain drinks. We thought it was a little on the expensive side. We got our number and sat down, waiting at our table for our food. Normally, you can see the kitchen and watch your order be put together, not at Mimsy's. After waiting about 15 minutes, there was only one order in front of ours, our meal finally showed up. We thought that was a long time to wait, especially considering one of the employees spent all of her time hanging with friends/family the whole time of our visit. When we looked at our food, everything looked pretty good, except there was no bread, even though we had specifically asked for some, two pickles (for three people), and 3-4 pickled onion strips. My wife went to the counter to ask for bread and some more pickles. She was gone for almost five minutes and came back with only two slices of bread, and she said she felt lucky to get two little containers of pickles because they looked at her like she was a crazy person for her request. The sausage was very good, a good value. The brisket was almost cold, and there is no way that we received the full pound that we ordered. There were five fairly thin cut pieces, which were very ordinary. The potato salad was very good, the Brussel sprouts were great, but when should the highlight of your BBQ meal be a vegetable side? The pickles and onions were good too, but again, these shouldn't be the things you remember after you eat BBQ. Before we left we ordered banana pudding cheesecake because we heard people raving about it. It was pretty good, but $15 for two slices seemed expensive. After spending $100 the three of us weren't stuffed, as we usually are after eating at good BBQ joints, and didn't really feel like we had eaten a meal of "Craft Barbecue". Maybe we just showed up on the wrong day, but to me Saturday afternoon seems like prime BBQ time in Texas. If I was ever driving through Crockett again, and was hungry, I would probably...

I drove to Crockett for barbecue and left wondering why that banana pudding cheesecake doesn’t come with a warning label and a choir.

TL;DR: Mimsy’s Craft Barbecue made my solo Friday road trip feel like a smoky sermon from the meat gods. The brisket? Juicy and proud. The ribs? Bold and tender. The sausage? Snapped like a firecracker in July. Potato salad with fried onion topping brought the crunch. And that banana pudding cheesecake? Sweet mercy. It deserved its own seatbelt on the ride home.

Some folks ease into the weekend with a lawn chair and sweet tea. Not me. I hit the road with a cooler, a BBQ passport, and an appetite that don’t mess around. Friday’s mission: Mimsy’s Craft Barbecue for lunch.

Walked in to neon signage, wood-paneled comfort, and a menu that read like a love letter to Texas cuisine. I didn’t hesitate.

My order: • Brisket: Thick slices, perfect smoke ring, pulled apart with a gentle tug. Moist like a gospel hymn and seasoned like someone’s grandma still works in the kitchen. • Ribs: Glazed just right, seasoned through the bone, and fell apart in my hand like a well-told secret. • Sausage: Thick, snappy, juicy. It bit back. I respected it. • Potato Salad: Creamy base topped with crispy fried onions. Whoever came up with that combo deserves a lifetime achievement award in side dish engineering. • Banana Pudding Cheesecake: Took it to-go for the Side Dish Queen. Got it home, opened the container, took one bite. We both stared at each other like we’d just witnessed a miracle. Smooth, rich, layered, and blessed with banana goodness.

Got my 26th stamp on the passport and took a victory lap around the parking lot.

Mimsy’s didn’t just meet expectations, it body-slammed them and then offered dessert. If you’re on the Texas Monthly BBQ journey, don’t you dare skip this stop. Worth every mile and every bite. I’ll be back, probably for the Friday night ribeye… or just another slice of that cheesecake.

Final Dad Line: That sausage snapped louder than a screen door in a Texas thunderstorm and I’m still dreaming about that cheesecake like it...

This new place in Crockett, Texas is destined to be a Texas Monthly Magazine top 50 if not top 10 BBQ destination in a matter of no time! If not, then it would be a travesty. The food is second to none, beef brisket expertly rendered with great bark, crispy skin on pork belly that was well worth the wait (still kinda picking my teeth from that, in a good way), ribs were tender flavor filled pork bombs with perfect, moist, pull off the bone eatability, beef rib boudin, dude, I got to taste it before my wife told me it was all hers and it was delicious with a hint of spicy, house made sausage studded with cheese was just as good and last but definitely not least the turkey! Probably some of the moistest and perfectly seasoned I've had and I've had some good turkey so don't sleep on that! Don't sleep on any of it! Including the sides. We had the smoked poblano mac and cheese and it was freaky good. Something I particularly liked about it other than the flavor profile was that the actual pasta was not complete mush and still had a nice al dente mouth feel. We also tried the creole potato salad, also not complete mush with just a hint of grainy mustard. Another offering we partook of was the hush puppies that came with an amazing sauce that I'm not sure what was or how to describe it other than an amped up thousand island but that doesn't really do it justice. The puppies where light and fluffy and not hammered in the fry-o-lator and without any greasiness to be found. Our plated came with pickled onion, red cabbage marmalade and house made pickles all of which were amazing and useful for cutting through the richness of the meats. The interior was well done, open and had lots of character with a clean, open to viewing kitchen that was running well. Service was counter with polite and respectful employees that give you a number after payment to take to your table and then deliver after it is filled. If you just passed through Crockett, slam on your brakes and turn around for some seriously great food that is made with passion for the craft evident in...