Joel's BBQ

Really like the chopped BBQ sandwiches on Texas Toast. Brisket is tender, smokey, and the BBQ sauce tangy sweet. Have also eaten the marbled brisket on several visits, and it is inconsistent. A couple of times, the brisket was tender, had a great bark and the right amount of smoke flavor. Two other times, it was chewy and far less flavorful. Not a fan of their sausage; too mealy and dry for my taste. (I haven't eaten their sausage for a couple of years, so I don't know if it's the same today.) Their addition of a store and a place to eat-in really added to the experience.

I live out of state now but grew up in east Texas. Gotta have my TX bbq whenever in state for business. 5 stars for their sliced brisket and and turkey. But their homemade pecan pie was 10.0.... since I couldn't stop at just one slice and had to enjoy a second slice. Very much hoping a future trip brings me past Joel's again.

Full disclosure: a friend for whom I was pet sitting brought me a pound of Joel's sliced brisket with sauce. So delicious, I dang near wept. Have lived in Texas for 54 years (I got here as fast as I could), many of them in Houston, and do not know how I failed to find this heavenly barbecue just off I-10. Now that I know what I was missing, I will make the 65-mile drive east to have the full experience. Just so y'all know, the smoke ring is rosy and even, and the texture is tender without tearing. This meat is wood-smoke fragrant, and the sauce is exactly as tomato- and vinegar-kissed as it should be. To heck with the epidemic, y'all. Let's eat Texas barbecue. I am Flatonia bound this weekend.