4:40 pm Sunday: Burnet County BBQ, Burnet, TX -- Worst Marketing in Texas

Well lubricated on mediocre Texas wine, we find ourselves racing 80 mph down Texas Rt 281 to Burnet County BBQ before it closes at 5 pm. Turns out it wasn’t worth the speeding ticket risk.

Our research said that Burnett County BBQ was tied for #5 in the state. The first warning sign was literally a sign, and it said “Under New Ownership.” Uh oh. The signs (literally) kept going downhill. Once we got inside, we were greeted with a sign reading “We may not sell the best BBQ in Texas, but we still serve good food with a good attitude and a happy heart.” Holy crap! Talk about alarm bells going off!

Well, they were right about the happy attitude. They were really friendly. But the food was horrible. The sausage was promoted as Elgin sausage, and we all KNOW how we feel about that!. The brisket was the worst looking meat we’ve encountered on the trip—clearly the pressed meat version of Eckrich brand sausage. Dried out and almost artificial looking. Although we agree it had better flavor than Black’s. Arnie declared the potato salad “the worst he’s ever had” (although he ate several more bites after making the declaration – we blamed his lack of self control and the 10 wine tastings).

Ten minutes after we arrived, we scooped up most the food, expressed our guilt at throwing it away, but agreeing that we simply couldn’t justify allocating any more stomach room to it, and dumped it in the trash. To appropriate another tried and truism, life is just too short to eat bad BBQ.

Back on the road. Next stop: County Line BBQ outside of Austin 60 miles away.

The rating: Avoid Burnet County BBQ at all costs, unless you are a connoisseur of misguided marketing signage.