I liked the venision sausage and pork ribs, was less enthusiastic about the chicken and brisket, and can't recommend getting a baked potato. Decent barbecue, but I wouldn't drive to Belton again just for it. I might stop on the way to or from Waco, though.
In contrast to the deeply mediocre Duke's Smokehouse. Schoepf's serves BBQ that is definitely worth a road trip. Schoepf's made the Texas Monthly Top 50 List, and it's quite praiseworthy. The setup is similar to Smitty's or Cooper's: You pick your meat from the customer pit, then go inside to pick up your sides.
The venison sausage is outstanding, with a strong (but not overpowering) and smoky venison flavor; it wasn't quite as good as that at Hudson's on the Bend, but it was also one-tenth the price. The smoked sirloin was also exceptionally good, just a notch below Cooper' version. The pork ribs were also very good, but not quite up to the heights of that at Smitty's, Kreuz Market, or Cooper's. The brisket is a little harder to judge; the first bite I had seemed excellent, but with every subsequent bite I was a bit less enthused; their policy of trimming the fat away may be at fault here, as I prefer my brisket on the moist side.
The biggest drawback, besides the distance, is a paucity of interesting sides. They have baked potatoes, but beyond that it's your standard bean, coleslaw and potato salad (and the potato salad was the horribly bland out-of-the-Sysco-55-gallon-drum variety)). Likewise a limited dessert selection; they don't even have banana pudding. And the BBQ sauce is a pretty standard vinegar-based.
But you don't go to a BBQ joint for the sides. Based on the main attraction of the meat, Schoepf's is well worth the drive.
Tolerable, if chainy, TexMex. Fairly large potions for the money, free soft serve ice cream for the kids, decent service, but only a little better than average food.
As a Texas-based Mexican chain, this strikes me as a pretty good example of the breed. I liked the chips, the appetizers were descent, and the steak portion of my combo plate was quite good (though the taco and enchilada were standard issue).
Also, the sopapias and the soft serve ice cream (which I didnÕt try) were free. On the minus side, the sopapias were pretty bland. Service was pretty good.
Above average and pretty affordable TexMex chain. I wouldnÕt mind coming back to try the fajitas.
I was out of town; in Troy, Michigan, as a matter of fact. About half of the meals I had were not worth discussing here (hotel banquet food, and one pleasant meal at Chipolte, which is out of scope). I had one very pleasant meal at Charley's Crab, which I strongly recommend trying. I also had one decent, but way overpriced, meal at the Shula's Steakhouse in the hotel; I can't recommend that, or at this point, any of the Shula's Steakhouses.
How many Zen masters does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A tree in a golden forest.
See the logs for July of 2009.