Lico’s Bar-B-Que smokehouse — Restaurant in Rowlett

2.5 stars This seems to be a place that is family owned and operated, and I’m sure they are very proud of their restaurant and product. Looks like they have a good following, and loyal customers. They seem like nice people.

As far as my review, it really depends on where your bar is set for barbecue. My bar is set pretty high, so I’ll try to be reasonable. it just may be the best barbecue location in Rowlett. I am aware of another spot down the road across the lake, but it looks to be more of a home cooking/barbecue place. I haven’t been there yet either.

I was very clear when I asked for my brisket on what I wanted. Very specifically asked for lean brisket, cut from the end of the flat anyone who cuts meat for a living knows exactly what I’m saying. Yet, that’s not what I got. It was Liane, but not , the same. The smoke ring was very minimal. The ribs I thought were pretty great. The sausage was very middle of the road. Mac & cheese was very runny and had very little flavor. The beans were actually really good as well. You have to buy drinks by the bottle, which I’m not a fan of since there are no refill options. The place was super quiet, mainly because I was the only one there until another lady walked in. If you’re in Rowlett, you want barbecue, I would probably recommend this over Dickies. They have established, set hours of operation. However, I tried to have lunch here on Tuesday, but they were closed. Possibly because it was the day after Labor Day and they wanted another day off.

Anyways, I’m sharing some photos of my tray of food, along with updated prices, as of...

I’ve been telling myself “I’ll have to keep this place in mind next time” for quite a while. I finally did yesterday and was overall very happy. I’m pretty well versed on smoked meats as I do quite a bit at home. I got the smoked chicken plate with potato salad and green beans. My daughter got the brisket plate with macaroni and green beans. The chicken was near perfection. Perfectly juicy with a just-right amount of smoke. It came with two thighs and two drumsticks which was more than enough for me. The green beans were out of this world! Potato salad was a mustard potato salad, honestly tasted store bought, but I didn’t mind that because I happen to really like it. My daughter’s brisket looked really moist when it came out. The taste was great.. but I did notice that after sitting a few minutes that it seemed to dry out, which I’ll attribute to how thinly it was sliced The macaroni and cheese was great. Didn’t expect the meal to come with a roll, but it did.. and man, they were awesome! I feel like the proportion to food ratio was pretty on point for the adult order. For the kids plate, I felt the meat could have been a little heartier. The restaurant was fairly dark, but when they noticed we were interested in what was on tv they unmuted the volume without asking. The service was friendly. We will definitely be back in the future. I would rate this much higher than the food from the other...

Finally! After residing in the Rowlett/Wylie area for about 8 months, we've found a delicious, local BBQ spot. The food was so delicious that I completely spaced and forgot to take some pictures and just focused on chowing down. For protein, I'd highly recommend ribs and jalapeño sausage. We also tried some lean brisket and turkey, which were delicious and moist in all the right ways. The bbq sauce was wonderful, but you don't need it because each meat's flavor profiles and tender juiciness were on point. For sides, we loved the coleslaw - just your traditional, no-frills coleslaw that did not disappoint, beans - both regular and charro (DOUBLE YUM), mac & cheese - which had a bit of a sweeter taste to it than I preferred but the sauce was very rich/had the right viscosity, and fried okra - which, you'd be shocked, but some folks still manage to mess up fried okra. But not Lico's. Everything delivered major satisfactory units.

We can't wait to support this local, family-owned business again and try more menu items! Definitely most interested in some of their lunch plates & specials for the next visit. So thrilled to have found a wonderful BBQ...