Luling Bar- B-Q — Restaurant in Luling

Labor Day Monday 2020 this was my fault for not looking at the pictures first on Google. I was driving when we found out the place in Bastrop we wanted to visit was closed so we exited quickly on Luling. I looked at the pictures just now and the meat doesn't look bad but here is my review. I'm definitely a sides person first with BBQ because come on, you cannot mess up BBQ in TX. I would not have stopped here just by looking at the sides. I like homemade potato salad before anything and I'm used to San Antonio Bbq. I also like fresh cole slow, house made cream of corn or Spanish rice and beans but this place has pre-ordered sides. The pinto beans I didn't care to try because they look almost ranch style canned beans, the potato salad was tasteless compared to many recipes I've tried working with large groups and family member events. The macaroni and cheese tastes awful and the cole slaw along with the mac and cheese is as from Church's Chicken, Long John, KFC. At this place just the entire atmosphere inside was extremely uncomfortable. They only had pork ribs (didnt even bother eating the thing) my friend did and was disappointed saying that the rib looked and tasted baked in the OVEN and we had brisket which was very Dry and I'm not kidding when I say the Brisket was dry and tasted like a turkey leg and then I turn to the sauce and its mustard base with hot sauces. Not even real BBQ sauce! That is unbelievable in Texas. I'm also not kidding when I say the only good thing to eat I had there was the bag of Lay's Potato chips I tried with my mothers chopped burger that tasted like it had a can of sloppy joe mix mixed in the chopped beef because it tasted sweet and not very good. I didn't care to finish eating. I was in shock and disappointed in myself that I didn't look at the pitcures before coming. I wanted to leave immediately and I didn't even ask for a refund or anything but we stayed and picked at the food for like 15 mins and sped out with disgust. I can say a few other things about the place and people but I wish not to because it was all in the food really 😕 I keep jokingly telling the people I went with,"Hey, Luling BBQ next week on me" and it's a never again for us. I'm glad I tried them but warning everyone this is not the place. It may work for the locals but even I'd drive out. Trying...

Found experience to be close to what many reviews describe. It is small, and very much “home town-ish”, but the staff was friendly, I experienced no issues as some have cited ... maybe it’s me? Or them? Whatever ... We stopped here on our way back to Houston as most people do, it was Sunday. Our favorite Spot for BBQ across the street was closed, but this was a reasonable substitute.

As far as the food goes, our group all had the 2-meat combination plate, with brisket and sausage (a whole link). The servings were generous and the prices were reasonable, so you shouldn’t leave hungry. The sausage was very good, both the regular and Jalepeno, and was the star of the plate. The brisket was moist and tender, but was a bit “bland”. Would have liked a bit more smoke on it, the smoke ring was thin in my opinion. The mustard style sauce seems to be a regional thing, but it was good and left a bit of mouth burn afterwards. Sides were the standard choices (potato salad, beans, mac & cheese, etc).

I will make this a regular stop (on Sundays) when driving down I10. Maybe next time I’ll try the chicken as that looked pretty good, and I did see some locals with a huge plate of chicken and another with sausage ... always look to see what the locals are eating if you want to know what’s good! I’ll leave it to you to figure out who the locals are ... that’s a...

Waitstaff was great. Decent people willing to serve you. As far as the food, the brisket is quite generic, it's nice and soft alright; however it's missing that smokey flavor from a good solid brisket. Overall, In comparision to other places around the state I would say it's slightly above average. The sausage is decent, a finer ground and looser pack that's hot smoked with some air bubbles in the casing. It does have a decent texture and nice peppery flavor. The Turkey breast was pretty good with nice moist slices. The barbecue sauce is more of a orangy Carolina style sauce that lacks that Traditional Texas character. As far as sides go the broccoli slaw was really great as well as the au gratin potatoes; however, the potato salad was grainy and left much to be desired. Additionally you shouldn't have to ask for pickles, onions, and bread, they should be obligatory on each plate and in generous amounts with the meal. Goes to show how many barbecue joints lack Texas hospitality these days. If you're looking for a place that's lower in salt this might be a gem for you but to me there are...