Straight From Texas Bar-B-Que — Restaurant in Richmond

My family has been driving by this place for many Thursdays and tonight we decided to stop in. I was expecting good BBQ, but was surprised by incredible BBQ! We tried the sampler platter with ribs, pulled pork, pulled chicken and beef brisket. It was all delicious, but the chicken seemed to especially flavorful. It was moist and had a very smoky chicken broth flavor. It was surprisingly good.

We got to choose two sides (we chose an additional side for $2 more). Sides we chose were baked beans, chuckwagon beans, and cucumber salad. The chuckwagon beans were amazing! They have a smoky jalapeño kick to them that really hit the spot. The BBQ baked beans and cucumber salad were good, too,but just didn't stand out as much as the chuckwagonbeans did to me. My only recommendation is bigger sides or more sides for the sampler. The bowls were 1.25 inch tall x 4 inch diameter (very small) and you only get two sides to pair with your 4 meats. Don't get me wrong, I love meat, but I like to have the sides to clean my palette, if you will, in between meats. For a couple of extra dollars you can add sides, but it would be nice to have that included.

Service staff was very friendly and helpful. We will be...

Was visiting EKU today from out of state and looking for a good place to eat in Richmond. Glad I found SFT BBQ. A small, unassuming place that packs wallops of flavor. I ordered brisket, since that is what Texans are known for in the BBQ world. It was amazing--moist, tender, and smoky. Also had the coleslaw, which had a delicious tang to it (buttermilk?). Rounded out my order with corn cake. Smart of them to not offend any southern purists by calling it cornbread, since it is sweet. But that's the way I like it: buttery and with a very tender crumb and whole corn kernels. But back to the brisket: I can count on the fingers of one hand the times that I've eaten something that brought tears to my eyes...THIS WAS ONE OF THEM! I spent 6 years living in Texas, where I acquired my love of BBQ, and I try to sample it anywhere that it's available in my travels around the country. This is the real deal. And the owner was extremely friendly and helpful. Run, do not walk, to Straight from Texas BBQ. I only hope that the city of Richmond knows what they have...

Good BBQ but customer experience is meh. We had brisket and pulled pork, both were excellent, BBQ beans were syrupy sweet... But - you enter into a room with a chalk menu board which isn't straightforward, then into a serving line room where not not all choices are labeled and nothing is priced, after ordering you choose ONE (I guess) small premeasured cup of one type (of 5) BBQ sauce to be is placed on your tray. Bread of any kind is charged as a side item on BBQ plates. There's a glass cooler of bottled drinks at the cash register but they don't mention that there's also a soda dispenser with water in the NEXT room nor do they post any drink prices. As we were eating we noticed other people asking for additional sauce but no sauce or napkins are on the tables.

You don't usually expect to have to "learn the ropes" to enjoy a restaurant, not sure if we'll be back. ...