Tex-A-Lina Barbecue Co. — Restaurant in North Carolina

First, I'm from Texas and love BBQ and have tried countless places over the years. So, my opinions on the food are based on the fact that I have eaten at literally hundreds of BBQ places over the years. That all said, I give the food 3 stars. The brisket was outstanding. We ordered over $100 worth of food and the brisket was the only thing that I felt was outstanding. The sauces (that we even received...more on that later) were very good as well. The mac-n-cheese was decent, the jalapeno cheese sausage decent, and everything else was subpar (in my opinion, some people might really like everything). We also had the baked beans, potato salad, chicken, loaded potato wedges, queso, and the most pitiful salad I've ever seen, which cost over $15. Given the prices, the brisket was worth it, literally nothing else was worth it in my opinion. That all said, for this area, this is pretty good BBQ. For someone that has been to really good places, this doesn't hold up though (except the brisket, at least last night). Now, the issues...first, we ordered online and drove 25 minutes to pick up the food so weren't going to go back if something wasn't right and it is impossible to get anyone on the phone so we had no recourse we could even take. Ordered a salad WITH chicken. We very clearly paid for it, it was very clear on the receipt and order, and we did not receive any chicken with the salad. Next, we ordered and paid for several different sauces. We received none of the 8 sauces we paid for. Not a single one. They were very clearly labeled on the order and receipt. We did receive one with one of the platters we received and that one sauce was very good (Carolina gold). We had even tipped online at 15% for us to drive 25 minutes to pick up the order and then to have things we already paid for missing completely is just completely unacceptable. They didn't go over showing us anything and just handed us the bags and pushed us out. We didn't check until we were home. For me, the sauces are absolutely necessary and part of a good BBQ experience. I am guessing some of the other items would have had a much better impression on me had we actually gotten what we ordered. There was absolutely nothing we could do about it either besides driving 50 additional minutes which we weren't going to do. Finally, that salad that was missing chicken we paid for was equivalent to what you can go buy in a bag at the grocery store and was the tiniest salad. There was absolutely zero care in preparing that salad. None. I really wanted this to be a good BBQ place as we would order at least twice a month if it was good but this experience has made it so we will never order again from this establishment. It is unfortunate because their brisket was outstanding and maybe on some other days the other meats would be better also. Just to be clear, none of the food was bad, just some was subpar to what we were expecting and the real bummer was missing several items we...

Wow!! What great flavors in this hidden shopping center gem! What great Texas style choices, like street corn cut off the cob! What excellent service! What super moist and delicious brisket - better than the smoked Brisket I used to stop for in the TX Panhandle! Pulled pork is amazing! They offer various BBQ sauces, including one which isn't vinegar based.

I'll happily address the price comments for those on budgets. It's affordable. The food quality and portions are great. You can order a filling "Sunday" - 1 meat and 2 sides in layers in a quart container for a few dollars less than a plate, and drink water with lemon for around $10. Two people might also be able to split a delicious $15 flatbread "pizza" meal because the meat is stacked on thick, or a family of 3 could split 2. Don't worry - this great restaurant isn't stingy with toppings and rude like Domino's. 😉 Order a pound of meat and 3 sides to share. A little creativity keeps it budget friendly. The various options are also more nutritious than a $25 pizza or expensive fast food patties of questionable origin.

Run to Tex-A-Lina! Tell your boss you want it catered at the next company event! Order it for parties! Their unique brand of food is outstanding and the staff is incredibly nice! All the people I sent in to try a meal told me they returned with more of their friends! They're all addicted now!

The food is so good, I wish this brand was available coast to coast!! It should be! They offer samples, which is good, bc the smoked beans a really sweet. Tiny jalapeño pieces in the creamy pasta were an unexpected pop of flavor - never would have known without trying a sample (on a slow day).

The food is artisan - not ordinary. Pick up a very cool looking Tex-A-Lina T-shirt to wear too! That Mexicow logo of theirs...

Y’all, don’t sleep on this place. I just had a pulled chicken, green bean, potato salad plate with a side of fries and it was phenomenal! The pulled chicken was not dry at all super flavorful and I’m really picky because I live near Lexington, North Carolina, which is pretty famous for barbecue. The potato salad was so delicious and creamy that I literally use my finger to scrape out the rest of it from the tray. The fries were super crispy, crinkle cut and delicious, I’m gluten-free so she gave those to me instead of the hush puppies, which was super nice. The green beans were excellent in my opinion however, if you like a more well done green bean they might not be for you. My husband would not like these cause he likes his green beans cooked well done these were on the al dente side, which is my personal favorite. Besides the texture, the flavor was phenomenal. They put some sauce and pickled onions on top, which I really appreciate because that was delicious. In all if I’m ever going back through this area, I will stop again.

Oh yeah, and the girl who was at the counter was super nice, friendly, pleasant! So many people are nasty these days so it was nice to see the kind face after working my entire morning long. There was no line and I went at 3 o’clock today . I’m glad I went in between the rush. If there is one. If there isn’t one I would be shocked because this place...