LaVaca BBQ — Restaurant in Port Lavaca

If you're ever near Port Lavaca this BBQ Joint in what appears to be an old gas station is a must! I'd been drooling over pictures on their Instagram for awhile and finally convinced my wife to go with me after telling her they had smoked tamales and Barbacoa on Sundays. Moist brisket- God I live for that yellow, perfectly rendered, gelatinous, fatty, moist cut that was offered here! Just look at it! Go ahead. I'll wait! See what I mean? You could smear that on some toast and be happy! Pretty good on a house made blue corn tortilla also, that's for sure! Pork ribs- I'm headed to the store after writing this and picking up some Big Red. Best ribs I've had in probably my life. Top 3 for sure. I don't kid about ribs. It's serious business! Tender, pulled off the bone easy without being mush, subtle smoke flavor and that glaze that was both savory and sweet enough to remind you of that Big Red involved in the equation. I'm seriously gonna figure out how to make this! The Barbacoa- Delicious! Smoky! Gelatinous! Perfect! Blue Corn Tortilla! Taco bout tasty! Corny. Turkey- Moist, well seasoned, nicely studded with pepper! Sausage- A bit drier than I'm used to but not in a bad way and whatever it is seasoned with is just perfect! Next time I'll have to try the serrano and cheese sausage. Ever had a smoked tamale? Me neither! If you have then you know! Huge tamales, chock full of tender smoked meat, wrapped up in pink butcher paper and tossed on the smoker. Drizzled with a slightly sweet sauce and a sprinkle of cotija cheese. The masa was so flavorful and had a different texture than a traditionally steamed tamale. So freakin' good! I was dipping chunks in the cream corn side and not even caring about the carbohydrates! It's a good thing this place isn't in my backyard. My diet would be wrecked on the rocky shores of Tamale Beach! The sides were all very good! Beans were perfectly seasoned, Mac and Belly (crispy, bacony, pork belly-y) that had some majical cheese sauce topped with crispy bits, cream corn was corny and creamy and had good flavor. One of the owners, Christine, offered us one of their special as a sample of Chile con queso and house made chicharrones and that cheese sauce would be good on a pair of teenage dirty socks! The interior is mid century gas station turned BBQ joint with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Lots of Texas pride on display which I personally love! We arrived around an hour early and one of the other owners Lupe came out and kept us company until the place opened! The Pitmaster, Kelli is the daughter of the two aforementioned and relatively young but judging by the love and attention that is obvious to anyone with two taste buds banging around their tongue she rivals any male stereotypical expectation of what BBQ "should" be. Everyone we spoke to including Kelli was so nice, helpful and gracious. A true family run gem! If you are within 50 miles of this spot, stop in and...

We stopped into LaVaca BBQ based on seeing a shirt that sparked a conversation. The shirt said: Jesus, Texas, Brisket. Being Christians and an avid lover of Q, I chat with the owner of the shirt, a Methodist Pastor from Victoria who urged us to head out.

Before starting, we loved our trip to Lavaca. The Q was outstanding - some things were amazing and others were just okay for us.

We arrived early on a Thursday morning for lunch ready to go. Our meat selections were brisket, ribs, both sausages types and two different tamales. For sides we ordered the Mac/cheese, brisket beans and creamed corn.

The brisket was outstanding, not two salty, not too peppery - perfect. 5/5 The ribs were a little soft and a little too sweet for my preference but in their defense, they were Big Red ribs.

The sausage was a real winner for me. The Serrano cheddar sausage is something I’ll be comparing other sausages to for a long time. Those were over the moon. 5/5

If I were returning which I probably won’t since I don’t see myself in the area again (live in a different state), I’d pass on the tamales. They were okay but it felt like they were trying to be unique and it just wasn’t anything special, to me anyways. 3/5

The jalapeño creamed corn was fantastic. Hint of spiciness but just delicious 5/5 The pork belly Mac and cheese was also a winner 5/5. The beans were super okay, I wouldn’t get those if I returned. 2/5.

We also tried the bourbon cheesecake and banana pudding. The cheesecake was good but not amazing but the banana pudding was a homer, 5/5.

When I look at the full experience, Lavaca is one of the better top Texas joints I’ve been to. I highly recommend it. Despite not everything being a grand slam, there were plenty of individual knockouts to easily give this place a glowing 5/5 recommendation.

Bathrooms were clean 5/5

Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord...

I placed an online order. I immediately received a phone call stating the payment didn't go through and would they like for us to go ahead and make the order. GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE SO FAR!!!! I arrived at the restaurant, and we did pass it up. Doesn't really stand out except the sign. Something about Jesus and Brisket. We ordered a bit of everything. We both had the ribs, brisket, green beans, mac n cheese, potato salad, baked beans, jalapeno cream corn, peach cobbler, 2 banana puddings. The ribs weren't really to my liking. I don't know what it was, but it left a weird after taste, could be the rub. I didn't care for it. Now the brisket other than the rub was delicious and perfectly cooked as were the ribs, heck everything. They also had pickles and pickled onions and jalapeños. The onions and pickles on the green beans were delicious as they were sweet. But with the onions and pickles, sweet and salty. The Baked Beans were not your average baked beans. Just order a few freeze em for some ham & beans, cornbread. They were friggin delicious do you hea me??? I decided to take the delicious corn. We didn't finish and make some cornbread and have that with the beans. The mac n cheese, delcious! I didn't care for the peach cobbler as I am used to pie crust cobbler and not cake. The cake was moist. NOW THIS BANANA PUDDING with a homemade vanilla wafer cookie smack dab in the middle of the whip cream and crumbled wafers on top. The pudding is so yummy and creamy. Oh, then on the bottom candied pecans. Sorry I didn't take pics. I will next time. When I went in to pick up my order, the young man at the counter was sooooo sweet and personalble. I really enjoyed talking with him. We ate here Saturday, July 6, 2024. We will be returning as I would like to try...