Soulman's Bar-B-Que — Restaurant in Van

This place smelled so good (from the Love's parking lot next door), I had to check it out. I ordered a combo plate and the guy cutting the meats misunderstood what I wanted and prepared 2 plates. 1 Brisket and the other Chicken. After about 20 seconds of deliberation I said just let me have both plates. This review is longer than most of my reviews as it requires more words to describe my experience here. That was the best mistake of the new year to date and will be hard to top. I do not consider myself a Bar BQ connoisseur. I am a Bar BQ connoisseur. I have over 40 years in the food service industry with most being BBQ related from dish washer to Owner/Operator for over 17 years and won the Chattanooga Beast Feast Competition in 2016. This place is awesome. The best BBQ I have had that I didn't cook myself. Actually the smoked half chicken was probably better and that is hard for me to admit. The Brisket was spot on. The sides were spot on. MAC and Cheese, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes with Gravy and Creamed Corn (I had 2 plates you know) so I wanted to try multiple sides. The place was so inviting from the outside and the interior was just as exquisite for a BBQ Place.

I returned to my truck with my 2 plates already Decided that I would try some from each plate (create my own combo plate) but wasn't able to. The Chicken was so good with the MAC and Cheese & Green Beans that I couldn't stop eating that plate. There was so much food that I was completely full and had to put my Beef plate in our fridge.

I really expected a little drop off on plate 2 (how could reheated food possibly compare with what I had yesterday). But it also was terrific! I have been traveling the country as a long haul truck driver the last 6 months (restaurant got to be to much for my feet) and to this point have given only 3, 5 star ratings. All my ratings are based on food quality, service, value for the dollar and atmosphere the proprietors have created as well as cleanliness. I do not knit pick places for little insignificant things which don't affect the quality of the product or the safety of the product served so a 5 star from me is well earned. After logging 120,000 plus miles across this country the last 6 months This one of the places We will definitely be stopping at again.

Note to the Owners and Managers: Please let your staff kno

w what an excellent job they are doing. I'm sure you do that as it is reflected in the end product We received last Saturday

Thank...

I got the 3-meat plate with ribs, brisket, sausage, mac and cheese, and spicy potatoes. With a water, it came to just under $19.

We'll start with the ribs: They were tough, dry, and generally flavorless. If there was a dry rub, I couldn't tell. About the only flavor I got was some vague hint of smoke. There was also about as much meat on the ribs as on a supermodel.

On to the brisket!! Years ago, I had it in my head that Texas = good brisket. I've come to learn that good brisket can be found in unexpected places like North Carolina and Kansas. Conversely, Texans can (and, unfortunately, do) screw up brisket as much as anyone else. The brisket here was dry and bland. Once again, there was a suggestion of smoke flavor, but it was overpowered by the apathy of whatever seasoning was implied. The brisket earned the insult that I didn't even inflict on the ribs: Sauce. If you see me reach for the sauce, that's a bad sign.

The sausage was acceptable. I tend to get sausage with the 3-meat plate when trying a new place because, let's be honest, it takes a lot to screw it up. I wasn't disappointed here. It was on par with most other places.

The mac and cheese tasted basically like it came out of a can. It had all the flair of casual dining chicken fingers.

The potatoes, however, were quite good!! The seasoning on them was excellent, there was a hint of spice, and the jalapenos and onions gave it some color and a good flavor!

I went in at about 2pm and, though only 2 tables were actually occupied, it took a thorough search of the dining room to find an open table because none had been bussed from the lunch rush.

I can't say I'll go out of my way to return to Soulman's BBQ. It is nice to find restaurants with big rig parking, but it helps to put effort into the food and...

I LOVE Soulman’s BBQ. As a trucker who used to travel a lot around TX (but not so much anymore) I can tell you that there’s no BBQ in the state that I look forward to more than Soulman’s.

I’ve been to 4 different locations (all accessible with their own truck parking, or a nearby street) and I can honestly say that they’ve never missed the mark. Not once in dozens of visits.

You might get some BBQ snobs who stick their nose up at chain BBQ. Let them have their fancy, over-priced stuff. I’ve had a lot of that too, and while a lot of it is quite good, I find that the value and appeal to repeat are usually not there.

Many people might laugh at this too… but I think the use of a meat grinder for “chopped” brisket is genius. There was one time that I stopped at the Royse City location, and the young man informed me that the grinder wasn’t working properly, and that he could actually chop it instead. I declined. He said he’d see if he could get it working since they weren’t busy, and I was wanting to order quite a bit to leave with. It took some extra effort, but he did get it working and I got what I came for.

The way a grinder mixes the meat with the fat is impossible to replicate by simply chopping the meat and mixing it. Grinding it also tenderizes the meat. There’s no better way to serve brisket IMO.

Many of these snobby brisket “purists” only want it sliced… and I get it. Let them have their cuts of lean or fatty… the texture of that will never compare to the magic of ground brisket. I’m surprised that I’ve never seen this copied anywhere else.

The only complaint I have is that customers can no longer self-serve the sauce and employees are a little stingy with it.

The stuff sold in bottles tastes different too… maybe preservatives make it...