Packsaddle Bar-B-Que — Restaurant in San Angelo

This review comes with a heavy heart. You see there was a time when Packsaddle was the best in San Angelo, but now I know that they just DO NOT care. We spent $50 on a "take out" order and did not receive any napkins or any plasticware to eat our 2 platters that we ordered. When we called, the person on the other end stated that they do not give out napkins or plasticware because they feel that people do not use them and just throw them away. HMMMM, they should have asked when they gave us the order? I know what you are going to say, why didn't we check? When a business has proudly been in business for "40 years" then you should not have to check their work!!!!! Enough with that, let's get down to product quality. Look at the pictures I posted as you read this. Check out the unrendered fat on this brisket. This comes from not trimming the brisket before or after smoking. This fat is really useless and should not be eaten. If you look at the meat portion, I ask "where is the smoke ring? A smoke ring accurse in the first 3 hours when the smoke chemically reacts with the muscle tissue. There should be at least 3/16" smoke ring. For some reason, I doubt this brisket was smoked for 14 hours as stated. 3.When your menu states that the platters are DRIZZLED with BBQ sauce, that DOES NOT mean tallow!!! Pouring tallow on brisket before you serve it is CHEATING!!! Look at the clear liquid at the bottom of the tray. All in all, this shows that the quality of the restaurant industry in San Angelo has gone to the dogs and unfortunately the residence of San Angelo apparently does not care. Restaurants are charging twice as much as they were 4 years ago, and if that doesn't hurt your pocket then you have the right not to care. It is time to stand up and demand the restaurant industry to give us our moneys worth!!!!!!!! After all we work hard for our money just like...

We visited yesterday and left very underwhelmed. My husband tried ordering the combo plate with ribs and the waitress told us they didn’t have any ribs. He changed his order to the fish and sausage plate instead and asked her if he could do hush puppies instead of his two sides since they were out of ribs. She immediately said no substitutions can be made and he could order hush puppies separately. I ordered the brisket plate sliced with pinto beans and mashed potatoes. I asked if the potatoes came plain without gravy or other topping and she said told me they would indeed be plain. We also ordered the small batch of onion rings. Those came out quickly and was a big portion but they could have used more flavor. We got our food a little bit later and it looked good. Unfortunately, for the most part the taste was a let down. On my plate the potatoes came with gravy on them, the beans were very watery and the brisket was not tender like I expected it would be. For my husband’s plate the sausage was pretty plain. The fish and Mac and cheese were good though. A member of the staff did stop by to ask how things were after getting our plates and I told him about the potatoes; he brought me back a new bowl plain. The potatoes were very good and my favorite part of my meal. The biggest Robles though was when another customer came in and sat down at the table right behind us and ordered ribs. The waitress responded with, “let me go see if they are ready.” So it seems they had ribs when my husband tried to order them and they just weren’t ready yet and we weren’t even given the option to wait for them. This was very upsetting since it’s the main reason he came in to try the place. But based on the other two bbq meats we had not sure they would’ve been...

Overall: NOT IMPRESSED!

I'll start with the service. The lady that checked us out at the register was extremely rude and impatient. This made no sense considering there wasn't a soul in the dining room (we were picking up our order early to beat the dinner rush). When I informed the employee that this was our first time to eat here and we like to leave online reviews, she attempted to change her attitude (too little, too late).

Now to the food. The fries were nothing more than a child's handful but that was OK after tasting them. They tasted like they were cooked in year old grease. Literally, disgusting! The burger patty was huge but absolutely bland. I've never heard of NOT seasoning a burger, even if it's nothing more than salt and pepper.

Atmosphere: The restaurant itself was tiny but quaint. Decorated modern country. Appeared clean. Seems like it would be tight during a lunch/dinner run. Since we placed our order to go, we did not eat at the restaurant. The register is right by the front door. You are literally blocking the door while trying to cash out to the point you have to move over to allow people in.

Considering we spent OVER $70 for 5 burgers/sides, I would have expected more. VERY DISAPPOINTING!

On a side note, after looking at Packsaddle's reviews and reading SEVERAL 1 star reviews. It seems the owners are in denial of the restaurant's declining performance and offer lots of excuses or flat out denials of the negative reviews. A business's history and name can only carry a business for so long. It's important to read customer reviews and LISTEN and make necessary changes instead of casting the reviews...