Koop's BBQ Kitchen — Restaurant in Galveston

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!!

I seriously can’t even contain myself right now… I feel like Squints in The Sandlot… when he kissed Wendy Peffercorn by the pool, when he was acting like he drowned… if you haven’t watched The Sandlot… then you wouldn’t understand. Do yourself a favor and go watch it… one of the all time greats.

But YES… that’s how excited I am right now!!!

I finally got to try my elusive unicorn that I’ve been wanting to try for the longest time now.

And that unicorn goes by the name of KOOP’S BBQ in Galveston!!!

Guys… gals… gents… ladies… I’m going to declare it now and I don’t care whose feelings I hurt… I say this with the most humblest of hearts…

KOOP’S BQQ IS THE BEST BBQ IN ALL OF GALVESTON COUNTY!!!

Hands down… no questions asked… don’t fight me on this until you’ve had them… because once you do, you’ll know exactly why that, there statement is a 100% TRUE FACT!!!

I’ve had BBQ all over Texas, Georgia, South Carolina… heck… even Syracuse, NY… and this quite possibly… just maybe… can probably be… THE BEST BBQ I’VE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!

I know a lot of yall probably think I’m joking… but I’m as serious as a heart attack right now… what I just ingested into my mouth (no diddy) was absolutely MAGICAL!!!

How can I possibly begin to describe it all?!?!

If the pictures alone don’t convince you to make a bee line straight to Galveston to try it… then you must be blind because WOW!!!

THE BARK!!!

I literally went and looked up what the correct term was for the crispy top layer of a smoked pork rib…

And let me tell you something Linda… that bark was not only perfectly crisp… but I swear… it had to have been dusted with fairy dust in the kitchen or something cause I took one bite… and I wanted to do my happy dance right then and there.

Don’t worry… I didn’t do it because I didn’t want to scare anybody… but I sure did do my happy dance as soon as I got back into my car.

But anyhow… that’s beside the point… let’s get back to THE… BARK!!!

It was just a whole out of body… third dimension… type of experience.

The brisket… DIOS MÍO… the brisket… tender… thick cut… juicy… moist… the perfect amount of fat… ooooohhhhh… eeeee… God Lord Sweet Baby Jesus!!!

And the pulled pork!!! Boy… oh boy… it was the first meat finished on my tray. That’s all I have to say about that.

Please make sure you go there hungry… because I can promise you, will leave full.

I have to say this…

There are people whom are put on this earth with gifts… gifts for humanity… some are rock stars… some are actors… some are doctors… you get my drift…

Well… whomever Mr. (Or Mrs.) Koop is… you my friend were put on this earth to bring happiness to the masses through BBQ.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart… and I’m sure whoever has had it before or will have it in the future, will agree with me. Keep doing what you’re doing… you now have a customer for life in me and I will purposefully start seeking a lot more tree jobs in Galveston, just to stop by.

Guys… I know… we have another book on our hands… I’m sorry… I didn’t even begin to talk about the brisket nuggets (YES… I said BRISKET NUGGET), brisket beans (I would write another book JUST about the nuggets and beans), the mac & cheese, and everything else. I truly do simply love writing about food and ESPECIALLY when I find places like Koop’s.

Like always, if you’ve made it this far in my review… thank you… I hope I’ve been able to brighten your day a bit and maybe made you a little hungrier with my pictures. Hahaha jk’ing

Thank you and God bless… 🙏🏽

THAT TREE...

This is the real deal. Run by a husband and wife who know how to smoke meat and how to blend and balance flavors. Nothing is ordinary here. We’ve been all over the country trying different BBQ and we are big meat smokers ourselves so we feel pretty qualified in saying what is excellent; what is good and what is subpar. This my friends, is excellent BBQ and the sides are worthy of praise also. We had the 4 meat plate with double brisket…loved that he asked if we wanted it fatty or not. We knew we were in the right place! Fat is where the flavor is at so he served us up some fatty “point”. We would pass on the “flat” any day for some good fatty point. The pork ribs were honestly the best we’ve ever had. We loved the peppery flavor, perfect smoke, tender but not quite falling off the bone, which is perfect is our opinion. Our 4th meat was the homemade sausage was full of flavor also. For sides we had jambalaya…no words…just get it, it’s so good. We also had the slaw which is a perfect blend of creamy and twangy…an excellent compliment to the flavorful brisket. The spicy corn was delish and beautiful, kind of like Mexican street corn. We don’t normally do BBQ sauce because we want meat that tastes so good, that you don’t need it. But toward the end I decided to try it and it was perfect. We’re from South Carolina so we love the vinegar based sauces (not the sugary ones) and we didn’t expect to get that here but that’s exactly what it was and it was really good. I could write a whole other review on the cornbread….it was out of this world. It was like a Mexican cornbread with cream corn, cheese and onions but it has bacon bits on top…that’s right, bacon bits. Drenched in butter it was honestly the best cornbread I’ve ever eaten. I make really good cornbread and so does my mother in law and I typically don’t like anyone else’s cornbread. This was in a whole other class of its own. We sampled the banana pudding which was also unlike any other banana pudding I’ve ever had. She used cinnamon sugar graham crackers in it…oh my word. I don’t think I’d ever want to eat it with out cinnamon sugar graham crackers. This is where you need to eat!!!! It’s the perfect blend of culinary art sides and perfectly smoked extremely flavorful meat. The owners are awesome people, we loved meeting them and hearing about how they made the food. They gave us other great recommendations for locally owned great restaurants try while we are in town. We will never come back to Galveston again without stopping at...

Just had my first meal at Koop's while in town for work travel. It was absolutely fantastic, some of the best BBQ I've ever had. It's run by a husband and wife team, and Mr. Koop took my order. I told him I was a home meat smokin' guy and he confidently replied, "Challenge accepted!"

Asked him for what he'd recommend for a first timer, and he suggested the two meat plate with brisket and pork ribs, so that's what I did. He asked if I wanted the brisket fatty or lean, a nice touch, and I went for the point.

I was the first one in the door at opening time, 11am, breaking away from the conference I'm here for. By the time I sat down, there was a sizable line - a very good sign.

Within a few minutes, the very pleasant and friendly young man handling tables delivered my tray. Paired the meal with a Dublin Texas Root Beer, made with cane sugar. For sides, I went with mac & cheese and their "brisket beans".

Very nice touch delivering the point slices and some burnt ends. And OMFG, the brisket!!! Absolutely melt-in-mouth tender, fantastic bark, explosively juicy. I forgot to ask what kind of wood they cook with.

Pork ribs were also awesome, and had been sauced lightly with a thin, penetrative sauce that was both a touch sweet and tangy with some zip. The ribs were tug-off-the-bone, not fall-off, as is right and proper. My one quibble was that the ribs could have cooked just a wee bit longer, the tug was just a trifle stronger than perfect IMO. Very much a nitpick.

The mac and cheese was good, but the brisket beans were spectacular. Not sure what kind of beans they were, but I'm assuming pintos. They had chunks of brisket in there, but also finely diced/chopped onion, green onion, and jalapeno for a very nice kick. A big bowl of just those would have been a fine meal.

I gave it all I had, but could not quite finish. Left a bit of meat on the second rib bone and couldn't eat the third slice of brisket, and only about half of each of the sides. I'm totally stuffed! I'll be sure to return here any time I'm in town, that's for sure. If you're ever in Galveston, you gotta...