Went to Bow and Arrow in Auburn

[banderson7474]

This is a bbq smoke restaurant and sad to say it wasn't that good. Last month, I was in Austin and went to a great bbq place so I was really looking forward to this place. It just opened so maybe they will get thru the growing pains but the brisket was bland on the inside and salty on the outside. Wife had the chicken and it was a little dry on the outside.

What really bothered me was you order as soon as you walk in cafeteria style and then slide down to the cash register and they bring out all the food on trays and you have to tell the cashier which ones you ordered and they separate them. I'm not sure why it's not separated from the beginning. The staff was real nice though but if the food doesn't get better, I don't know if it will make it. Also, they had two sauces. Mustard base and Texas red which wasn't bad but wasn't great either.

I guess I was expecting a better product since it was cooked by professionals.

 

[tallbm]

That's a shame. Don't worry though, your experience is not that uncommon.
Living in TX you figure there would be a ton of good or decent BBQ places all over. That is not true. Heck for the longest time it was hard to find good BBQ in Dallas. It has gotten better over the past 5-10 years but many of the better places have very funny business hours which sucks.

I'm so glad I got into smoking for myself :)

 

[banderson7474]

That's a shame. Don't worry though, your experience is not that uncommon.
Living in TX you figure there would be a ton of good or decent BBQ places all over. That is not true. Heck for the longest time it was hard to find good BBQ in Dallas. It has gotten better over the past 5-10 years but many of the better places have very funny business hours which sucks.

I'm so glad I got into smoking for myself :)

Are you familiar with Coopers in downtown Austin? There is a line out the door each day. Best beef rib I've ever had.

 

[tallbm]

Are you familiar with Coopers in downtown Austin? There is a line out the door each day. Best beef rib I've ever had.

I'm familiar with Coopers but I never ate at the one in Austin. I have eaten at the one in Ft Worth and it is good.
In the Dallas area my favorite has been The Hard Eight where they have one in Coppell not far from the DFW airport and now one in the Colony in the Far North Dallas Area. I'm not a super big fan of their brisket but they have such a variety of items where 80% of them are done really well or amazingly that it's easy to go and get great BBQ.

Additionally in Frisco there is a Rudy's which produces brisket I enjoy eating and great ribs. With the exception of their sausage everything else I've tried has been really good as well. Their sausage is absolute garbage and I don't know how anyone would ask for it again unless they forgot. Rudy's also has my favorite BBQ sauce that blows all others away IMO. I seriously buy like 5 liters at a time for a pretty penny for each but it is AMAZING!

I am told Cattleack BBQ is amazing but it has oddball hours. The bbq at the old Pecan Lodge was good but they too had oddball hours. I have not eaten at Pecan Lodge since it moved and went to reasonable hours so I can't tell you about it now but bet they are still producing some good bbq.

Outside of those places, good luck finding good BBQ with good options and "brag-ability" in the Dallas area. I think Ft Worth has more options but I'm not on that side of town too often and when I am it is usually because I'm going to Billy Bobs for a show and Coopers is right across the street :D