The County Line — Restaurant in San Antonio

Recently went to County Line BBQ in San Antonio TX. Husband ordered hearty brisket plate. It looked like a child's plate. When I asked the manager how many oz of brisket were supposed to come on the plate he quoted over and over that it had been weighed. I asked over and over how much by weight was supposed to to come on a plate. He dodged and said less than 8 oz. I said so more like 7 oz? He said well no, not really but I can send you a gift card if you weren't satisfied. He would never answer. I know 3 oz when I see it. The next day I called when he wasn't there. A lite brisket plate order comes with 1.5 oz of brisket. For those of you who don't do math a hamburger at Whataburger is 4 oz. So less than half a hamburger patty. The hearty brisket plate was quoted to me as 3.3 oz. Still not a full hamburger patty at Whataburger or Burger King which are 4 oz. They charge $24 ,for this miniscule amount of bbq and have the audacity to call it a hearty meal. At total he was charged $50 and change for 6.6 oz of bbq and 4 sides. The manager played dodge about their practices and the morning employee was honest. Shameful practice. Never again. I don't know who is responsible for this deceptive trade practice but the manager knew they were doing wrong when he never would answer a straight forward question. The $10 gift card is a minimal atonement for the rip off of this proportion. The manager never would admit to how much by weight was on an order. He played games "less than 8 oz". Every employee I spoke to said not to order the light version because we would be disappointed. They said it was 2.2 oz lighter than the hearty brisket plate. The hearty brisket plate came with 5 slices of brisket that were 3.5 inches long. That was all that was on the plate. You didn't even have to slice it, just fold the tiny thin thing in half and pop it in your mouth. Five, maximum ten (if you sliced it in half) bites of bbq for $24. A 2 meat plate was $21 & change. This used to be a good place to eat for an...

The worst taste ever.

I sometime visited the County Line from 2009 in Austin and also in San Antonio later on, in a total of 50 times. I loved the County Line so I invited many friend in these bbq places in Texas.

Today, I missed the taste BBQ so I visited this location with my wife and kids because I visited this place years ago and it was great as usual. HOWEVER, what I experienced today in this place was very different.

First, the brisket tasted like rubber. I couldn’t eat. I am not that sensitive and I love chewable meat but this was way over that that. In the video, u can see the dried brisket. They changed to other one but nothing different.

Second, the taste of pork rib was very strange. As I mentioned, I visited the County Line a lot. But the pork rib tastes little bit sour. I think that it turned bad.

Third, the sausage tasted like from the oven or microwave, not grilled. You can see the picture in the video. Very dried.

Overall, I think that they think that we are the visitor from other country or something. So maybe they tried to get rid of the old food to us. Because I can see some juicy brisket in recent photos which is totally different with what we ate in the video. They didn’t get the money from us. But we paid a tip. We ate only 10% of the meat plate and our kids only eat french fries and bread. Even they didn’t give us the bread until we asked. Our kids kept throw up the pork rib and couldn’t swallow the rubber like brisket.

I am quite sad about what we experienced today. I don’t believe so but they did in on purpose to us. Our trip was messed up at the end because of my favorite restaurant in US.

This place should be closed.

P.S. As expected, my stomach was upset after coming back to home because of the spoiled pork rib. So...

Very pleasant atmosphere being right on the riverwalk. Service was excellent. We had a reservation and were seated right away, and at an indoor table right by the windows looking on the riverwalk. Our wait staff was very pleasant, helpful in our menu selections, and attentive to our needs. I ordered the 2nd cut brisket platter, my wife had the lean brisket platter, and my daughter had the pork ribs, but of course we all shared.

The 2nd brisket platter was excellent! The lean brisket was also very good, but a tad dry since it's lean of course. The 2nd cut is more flavorful, and much more tender and juicy. Easy solution, just order the 2nd cut platter over the lean. The pork ribs were also spot-on perfect. All the meats had excellent smoke flavor and could easily stand on their own without BBQ sauce, which to me, truly great BBQ shouldn't need sauce. While not needed, I did try the BBQ sauce and it was fantastic too. Just the right balance of sweet and tart, as (I think) a BBQ sauce should be.

For sides, we had coleslaw, potato salad, and Mac & cheese. The Mac & cheese was okay, but a little flat in taste. The coleslaw and potato salad overall had great flavor, but as other reviewers have said, a bit too heavily salted. I found the simple solution: just ask for a side of mayonnaise to mix in and then they're perfect.

Finally, my wife and daughter had the banana pudding for dessert. I didn't try it but they said it was some of the best they've had.

I highly recommend The County Line. Just get the 2nd cut, over the lean brisket if you can, and ask for a side of mayo with the coleslaw and potato salad. I thought the prices were reasonable for what we were getting. I only wish I had found this place sooner. I will definitely go back again, and...