Austin BBQ Review – Rudy’s BBQ

Installment number one, of what will hopefully be a long, drawn out, series of reviews spanning decades (because there are so many bbq joints to hit in TX) reviewing BBQ spots in Texas.  This really should be installment number two, Green Mesquite, being number one, but Rudy’s is fresh on my mind so it goes first.

Rudy’s on 360, Austin, TX

Seeing how we live very close to Rudy’s on Loop 360 it got the nod today for our family BBQ outing.  We had planned on heading out to the famous Salt Lick, but seeing how it was 35 degrees at 1:30, we opted for something closer and that we knew had indoor seating.  I did a quick peek at some reviews of Rudy’s on Yelp and I quickly became very excited about our choice.  Rudy’s has some 27 locations spread across Texas, and from what I understand, they all have gas stations attached to them….clearly something that probably wouldn’t fly back in Cali.  We walked in and were greeted with a “welcome y’all” from one of the girls behind the cash register and while extremely friendly, it threw us off a bit. You see, there are cash registers to the left as you walk in, but there is an ordering corral (like the security line at the airport) weaving back and forth up to a counter manned by 5 or 6 people.  Danielle blurted out, “this is our first time here.” The girl told us to head up threw the line to our right and they will take care of us…she also mentioned that we should tell the person helping us that it was our first time.

Rudy's BBQ is the Real Deal

The Order

Fast forward 4 minutes, we walked up to one of the expediters/cashiers and told him it was our first time.

Nice Rudy’s dude: “Where y’all from?”

Danielle: “San Francisco”

Nice Rudy’s dude: “We got two newbies from SAN FRANCISCOOOOOOO!”

I joined in to the whooping and hollerin’ that ensued.  After the theatrics were over, he told us he was going to walk us threw the whole ordering process and bring us samples of whatever we wanted.  We sampled the Extra Moist Brisket (da bomb), the Extra Lean Brisket (surprisingly moist considering it had no fat visible), the Smoked Turkey, and I sampled the sausage and jalapeno sausage.  The meats are sold by weight, most coming in 1/2lb increments, but they will break it down to 1/4lb if you are a weenie.   We fired up a 1/2lb of the Extra Moist Brisket, 1lb of the Pork Ribs,  1/2lb of the jalapeno sausage, some creamed corn, pinto beans and slaw.  They throw in white bread for you and have pickles and onions available next to the fountain drink area.

The Feast

They cut all of the meats to order, so if there is a specific part you are looking for, they will do their best to accomodate you. We just took what they gave us and we were not to be disappointed.  We sat down and covered the table with the pieces of butcher paper they give you to keep your spot tidy.

Pork Ribs

We started in on the pork ribs first.  One pound is about 8 ribs and man were they good.  From what I have seen on television (yeah, yeah, don’t laugh too hard) most Texas BBQ does not come with sauce on it. These ribs were very moist and had a nice, peppery rub on them (a little peppery for Danielle’s liking).  They were fall-off-the-bone cooked and the first words I muttered were, “man, these are really good” and they were REALLY good.  Great flavor, extemely moist, light smoke flavor, and just good. Will definitely be ordering these again. These are flat out a 10.

Extra Moist Brisket

First of all, let’s appreciate how Rudy’s has gone out on a limb with the name of this selection of brisket.  Now, if you are going to put something like “Extra Moist” next to your brisket, and you are in the middle of briskettown, you better have some f-ing moist brisket…and they do.  Man, this stuff is really good too. Very moist, on the verge of falling apart goodness.  Did not really get a lot of external rub/seasoning flavor, they just let the quality of the meat shine through.  Very good, I will definitely order this again. 9.5 to 10 on a 10 point scale.

Jalapeno Sausage

Seeing how I have a passion for encased meats, I had to order some kind of sausage.  The regular sausage was very nice, sweet and well flavored. I would order that, if they didn’t have something with Jalapeno in the name right next to it. Yoly and I split the sausage and it was great. Very moist, good flavor and a little jalapeno kick at the end…not heavy at all.  The casing was nice too, with a very nice snap.  All around, I would give it an 8 on the sausage scale of 1 to 10.

Sides

The creamed corn was a stand-out.  I will definitely order this again.  This is a signature item and probably a must order when you go.

The beans were also very nice. Good Pinto flavor with a whole bunch of pepper…a very nice compliment and something I really enjoyed as well.

The slaw was good and fresh.  I don’t really dig on cole slaw that much, so I won’t bother ranking it. It was very fresh tasting though and not all mushy. So, I have to give Rudy’s props for that.

I should also mention that I threw some of their sauce (aka: sause) on the ribs.  It was nice and sweet, not too thick and not too runny….pretty nice if you are a sauce freak like some people I know. But, the stuff is just not needed at this place, the meat is really moist and tasty.

Conclusion

Overall, I was extremely impressed with Rudy’s food (if you can’t tell).  To make things even better, the whole experience was great. Friendly staff, very clean dining area (impressive considering the number of kids and the lack of plates), and great food. Rudy’s definitely falls into the 9 to 10 range on a 10 point scale and tops my (very short) list of Austin BBQ joints.   Be sure to visit Rudy’s next time you make it to Texas.

UPDATE

I am delinquent in posting this as the story I am about to tell took place this year the week before Thanksgiving (2011).  My folks were coming into town to have an early turkey day with me and the family and my mother loves Rudy’s.  So, we decided it would be easier to order a smokey turkey from them in advance and just task ourselves with making some sides.

Danielle (my wife) ordered about two weeks prior and spent a good deal of time on the phone with the girl placing the order.  She was told it would be ready the day before my folks came into town.

Fast forward a couple of weeks. I brave the 6pm traffic to drive from Clarksville (just west of downtown), via Lake Austin, Redbud, Bee Cave Road, and 360 to get this sucker…but, I was really excited.  Unfortunately, when I got there and told the friendly kid behind the counter that I was there to pick up a turkey that I had ordered, he responded immediately with, “ok, well let me grab my manager.”

It seemed slightly odd at first, but then I thought, maybe the manager is tasked with doling out the special order items.  To my chagrin, he came out of the back talking to me as soon as he walked out from the doorway.

“We don’t have turkeys until next Tuesday,” he told me.

I told him that my wife had ordered it two weeks ago and that the girl on the phone told her it would be ready today.

Nope.

The following conversation was not great, as the manager began to tell me a bunch of things that “could have” happened on the phone.  For the record, I am not a fan of people telling me things that they don’t know…if you don’t know, 1) don’t say anything or 2) say you are sorry and that you don’t know.

I calmly said that is too bad and suggested that he should talk to the person or people who take phone orders and make sure that they are clear with people about when a special order turkey will be available.  He tole me they were.

Anyway, I calmly left shaking my head.  The manager offered some sliced turkey, but I didn’t want sliced turkey…I wanted the turkey we had ordered.

Fast forward the ~30 minutes it took me to get home.  I walked in and Danielle said there was a voicemail on her cell phone from someone at Rudy’s asking her to call him back.  He left his office and cell number as he was leaving the office.  He said that he had just received a message from the local manager (there are many Rudy’s locations in Texas and elsewhere) and he wanted to call to apologize for the mix-up. He finished by saying that if it would be any help, he would like to buy us a turkey for Thanksgiving the following week.  We took him up on his offer.

While it didn’t put a Rudy’s turkey on our plate the next day, (Whole Foods made one for us that night after one phone call) we really appreciated the effort that the home office made.  We continue to go to Rudy’s for their great brisket, ribs, and chicken.