Southside Market & Barbeque - Leander — Restaurant in Leander

Disappointing and so sad. Wife and I went to the Leander location on Father's Day (June 15, 2025) around 3:00 PM. It was crowded. People in line. The wife ordered a 2-meat plate (sausage and brisket) with potato salad and mac & cheese. I ordered a 1-meat plate (ribs) with beans and potato salad. When I paid, the cashier offered bread and I received two pieces of white bread that were drying on the outside, as if the bread was sitting out somewhere to dry out. We got our food and drinks. I loved the beans and potato salad. The unsweetened tea with Sweet & Low was good. And the ribs seemed big so I tried to take a bite. Nope! The top was rock hard. I peeled it off to find the whole thing was mostly fat. Both ribs were like that. I could see some small pieces of meat which I had to search for in the fat. The meat tasted funny. The ribs did seem big for pork ribs. Normally, I would have taken it back and said, "Uh, NO!" But we were trying to make a timed event so I let it go. My wife ate only a little leaving most on her plate and only taking about a bite of the side dishes. She said she was done. She did not look pleased. I took a bite of sausage and it wasn't bad. I picked up a piece of brisket and it was so dry the piece stood up straight. I dipped it in their BBQ sauce, which was not spicy. I liked the sauce. I went to get the banana pudding I had ordered. The lady behind the counter looked around, said they were out of the pudding in bowls, and retrieved a small styrofoam container from a refrigerator and gave it to me. She said it was the same thing. I thought, "You mean I paid that much for something so little? Wow! More expensive than a rib-eye." It tasted good, the few little bites anyway. Often, I will take meat left over from a meal for our dogs. I looked the "ribs" as I wouldn't feed it to a dog. We exited the building and my wife said, "Please, never take me to eat here again." I told her not to worry we were never going back. I have eaten at a number of BBQ places. Never have I received such poor "ribs" or dried out brisket. I thought of going back to speak to a manager. Know what's crazy? That night I had a nightmare where I was there trying to speak to a manager and kept getting sent to the wrong person. The next day I felt ill to my stomach but it couldn't have been the ribs, could it? There wasn't even a full bite of meat between the two. And I had been so excited to go there for...

Quite a disappointing experience I hope they can work out the kinks otherwise this place likely won't survive very long. I've eaten at Southside many times over the yrs years and was excited when they started building this one because it's right down the street from where I live. Granted that it's a new location and the staff is likely very inexperienced but it appears there's a severe lack of training from management. There were approximately 10 people in line ahead of us yet we stood in line for over 20 minutes due to the inefficiency of how the ordering operation is set up. You literally have five people standing behind the counter, not doing anything while one person who seems very incompetent is taking the order yet walks off to turn in every single item that you ordered one at a time rather than just taking the complete order and turning in the ticket all together. The way they portion the food is also extremely disappointing. They were so adamant about giving you exactly the weight on the meats that they would continuously pull it off of the scale and shave off tiny pieces to make absolutely certain that you weren't getting anything more than the exact weight. I've never been to a another barbecue joint in my life that will serve their portions in such a skimpy manner, they're usually the complete opposite. Not to mention the ribs and the brisket they tried to serve our party are the ends that are overdone and dried out and look completely unappetizing and I immediately asked for it to be swapped out. For a 2 meat plate, you get 1 pork ribs which had very little meat on it and enough brisket to make a single slice of bread sandwich folded over.. THAT'S IT! It was an immediate disappointment and turn off before we had even sat down to eat. Unfortunately it did not get any better because out of everything that we tried turkey, brisket, pork ribs, mac and cheese, the beans, coleslaw and potato salad, We were all left disappointed with the entire experience and unfortunately will not be returning. The skimpy portions they give you and the lack of quality in the food are definitely not what you pay for. There are other barbecue joints in the immediate area that are far superior. We also ran into some people we know while we were there who had just finished eating and afterwards they shared similar disappointment.. It's a shame, I had high hopes for...

4.5 Stars. Super friendly staff! Incredibly clean restaurant! Delicious food with just a single flaw.

We got the Southside Family Meal and a couple fountain drinks.

Sides: We ordered mac and cheese, beans, and potatoe salad. We received cole slaw instead of mac and cheese, and when the staff were notified, we were told to keep the slaw and also received our mac. Nice. Sides overall tased very good! The mac was amazing and savory! Beans had a unique flavor, not ranch style or like Mexican pinto beans; simple, honestly. Cole slaw and potato salad were peppery and crisp!

Meats: We got regular beef sausage, lean brisket, and added a bit of turkey to our meal. Amazing, all of it. The lean brisket was still juicy, and so was the turkey. I'm not much of a sausage guy, but similar to the beans, they had a simple flavor. No snappy skin to bite through, and they almost melt in your mouth. Best sausage I've ever had.

The One Flaw: Honestly, I'm not a sauce guy when it comes to BBQ. I believe that most BBQ, outside of ribs, shouldn't need sauce. That being said, I do try sauces when I eat BBQ, and I unfortunately have to say that both of Southside's sauces, the original and the bold, are both not very good. Both are vinegar based and have a sweet and cinnamon-y flavor. The bold sauce has a little heat to it, but not much. The issue I have with the sauce is that it left a very slimy film in my mouth and basically ruined the next thing I ate, unless I rinsed with a drink. I didn't eat much of either sauce once I found out that they left my mouth feeling the way it did.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5. Sauce stinks, but everything...