Black's Barbecue New Braunfels — Restaurant in New Braunfels

Today I had the worst brisket I have ever had anywhere.

I'm visiting Texas, and have been eating a LOT of barbecue. Today I was in New Braunfels and I stopped at Black's. I ordered 1/3 lb of brisket, and when it was set in front of me at the cash register, it visibly looked dry. I had noticed how juicy the brisket the guy at the cashier next to me was, as his was cut from a different piece of meat, by a different worker. I said to the cashier, "mine really doesn't look as good as his; that one is a lot juicier", and the cashier just shrugged. Okay, then.

I sat down at a table, and really saw what I was dealing with: I had clearly gotten the very first slices of the brisket, from the very tip. I had 4 slices of meat, and the first was entirely blackened crust: 100% dry with no edible meat.The other 3 slices were not much better: there was edible (but still very dry) meat at the centre of the slice, but the ends of each piece were dry to the point of being stringy and hard to chew. I eat a lot of barbecue and I have never been served a piece of meat that was dried out to that texture.

At this point a very nice older lady who was cleaning tables, came by and asked how everything was. I told her my brisket was very dry, and she immediately apologized and said she'd send the manager over (great service on her part). The manager apologized and offered to get me a new plate. But here is what is particularly striking: the new brisket he brought out was much better than the first, but was still dry to the point of being crunchy at the ends. I ended up throwing at least 1/4 of it away. My initial serving was the worst brisket I have ever had, and what they brought to replace is the second-worst brisket I...

We have been here several times and enjoy the beef ribs and brisket. We had friends come down from the Midwest to visit and proudly brought them here for dinner. I told the young gentleman serving the meat at the counter that I needed beef ribs and brisket for four. He had a fresh slab of beef ribs and asked me what I preferred. I told him; "You are the expert, hook us up!". He said this should work and gave us a hefty TX sized rib, I'm fine with that. I know there is bone and fat weight, it's all good. I got to the table only to find an incredibly inordinate amount of fat. There was nowhere near the meat there should be for the size. As I said, I've been here for beef ribs before. Yes, I could have taken it back but I don't like to be that guy and I did have out of town guests and did not wish to make an issue of it. We did the best we could with it....begrudgingly. If you are going to have people serving a product with a price point such as this, they need to be knowledgeable of the product. Money was not an issue, I was more concerned with him doing his best to provide us a quality meal and, well; he failed miserably. He had to have seen what was there when he cut it from the slab. The bill stung quite a bit only because of this issue to the point where I felt my only small relief would be to say something. Consider it said.

So it's been a while since I was asked for my info to follow up with me. Don't ask if yer not going to do it corporate! I'm not looking for anything other than respect.

Still no...

It was incredibly expensive, especially the brisket, but it was so worth it for a short trip to Texas. The website is misleading but when you go there, here is how it works: you grab a tray and order single scoops of whatever hot or cold sides you want. Then, you move to the meats where you can pick from 1/4, 1/2, or 1 lb portions except for a few exceptions like the jalapeno cheese sausage which is a full or half link. You pay and sit down. Next, you go to the "salsa bar" where you can self-serve onions, pickles, a bunch of different Blacks hot sauces (original, habanero, ghost pepper, chipotle mustard), sliced white bread, and hot peppers. There are plates and utensils in the area. Lastly, if you want to take food home, the takeout boxes of different kinds are all self-service right there including the bags and utensils. Again, this place was expensive but it was EXCELLENT. Id like to add that while barbecue restaurant sides basically anywhere are usually dull, theirs were actually pretty decent. The mac and cheese, potato salad, beans, and coleslaw impressed me for a barbecue establishment. For meats, I got the jalapeno cheese sausage which was okay, the FATTY brisket which was incredible, and the baby back ribs which were just amazing. Additionally, they have booths and community style tables that all have multiple bottles of their homemade barbecue sauce which is extremely mild and a little sweet. Absolutely try one of their currently 4 locations if...