Augie's Barbed Wire Smokehouse — Restaurant in San Antonio

This was my first visit to Augies. 2 people had recommended it to me, curiously both mentioned the BBQ sauce, so I wanted to see what that was about. I ordered the 2 meat combo with double moist brisket, cream corn and mac n cheese.

The cream corn was super thick, almost the consistency of mayo, you could shake the spoon and it jiggled. The flavor was a bit bland, un seasoned, no salt or pepper and semi-sweet. The mac n cheese was creamy but again unseasoned and a bit plain.

Now, onto the BBQ. The moist brisket was tender, enough to be cut with a fork, it had good flavor on its own, and was decent, just not impressive. The meat wasnt greasy or dry, it was perfect moisture wise, the flavor was what I found lacking. It was sliced pretty thick, about 2-3 times thicker than what most places serve, and I took away from the tenderness.

The BBQ sauce was where all the flavor was hiding. Right away I identified this as Memphis BBQ sauce. It was super sticky, very sweet, and had a molassis brown sugar flavor to it. The suace also had the cracked pepper you find in Texas BBQ sauces, so it seemed like a blend of the 2 styles. The 2nd prominent flavor of the sauce was that it had a ton of smoke flavor, enough it left a taste in my mouth 30 minutes after eating. How sweet was the sauce? My Dr Pepper tasted like water after eating some.

Overall, I found the food average to good, but not excellent. The sauce was interesting, but too much like Memphis BBQ sauce, similar to Baby Rays or Jack Daniels sweet sauce for me to say it was really unique.

It took 3 tries to eat here, I arrived one day when they were closed (mondays), and another day when the road was blocked off due to an accident.

I decided to eat outside which in retrospect was probably a mistake. I was next to a table with a music speaker, and a barking dog. The flies were really bad, and I was either trying to eat quickly or swat flies away.

The entire experience was...

Augie's is located within a 1/2 mile of the San Antonio Zoo, and Japanese Tea Garden. You can't miss it with the flying pig logo!

This is a counter service place, and the staff is friendly and accommodating. The restaurant is what you want a BBQ shack to look like. Lots of wood and cool retro decorations. There was plenty of indoor seating, and a nice outdoor space for your family to eat.

There was a nice mesquite smell when you walked in, and there was a friendly chef greeting you as you went to order. I ordered the Texan Brisket Burger w/ Mexican Rice and pinto beans. My wife ordered the Brisket Tacos w/ potato salad, my son got the kid's hot dog, and my friend ordered the Smokehouse Pulled Pork sandwich w/creamed corn.

The Texas Brisket Burger was really good. The difference of textures with the beef patty and brisket is what made it a good burger. The Brisket was moist and smoky. The Pinto beans were nice with little chunks of pork, and the Mexican Rice was flavorful.

My wife enjoyed the tender Brisket Tacos, and the Potato salad was really good. My friend really enjoyed the Pulled Pork sandwich and said it was one of the best they've had. The sandwich had nice chunks of pork which gave it some nice texture.

This is the perfect place to grab a bite whether you visit the zoo, or just enjoy the area. A great way to...

I really wanted to love this place! We went in with high hopes from all the raving reviews.

The atmosphere is awesome and adorable. The employees are truly beautiful souls. Extremely kindhearted, patient, and makes you feel welcomed.

The food... the look of the food looked pretty good. Sadly, the taste wasn't good.

The brisket was marbled but was very dry and chewy. There was no flavor of smokiness or much on their dry rub. The bbq sauce is too sweet.

The jalapeño sausage was also dry but did have a nice kick to it, kind of tasted like it had fennel or caraway. The regular sausage, dry as well, didn't have much flavor.

The chicken (dark). I'm sure you guessed it already it was dry. Now the the skin of the chicken had a weird flavor. It tasted the way new leather smells. The chicken itself would have tasted amazing if it was juicy.

Sides: Pinto beans are homemade and good. Potato Salad is homemade and is good too. Cream corn is decent but a little too thick instead of creamy. Green beans taste perfect! They are long green beans with onions and bits of brisket (I believe or could be salt pork -- I didn't eat those pieces).

Fountain drink machine tastes clean. Husband liked the sweet tea. I had tea and it tasted fine. Price...