Really good BBQ in Roanoke. You walk by and pick what you want strait from the pit. Ribs, brisket, sausage, turkey, chicken and jalapeño poppers made with bacon onion and chicken... it's all delicious. Inside you can pick your sides, cream corn, Mac n cheese, salads, corn on the cob... Free beans if you dine inside. It's very good and an experience if you have guests from out of town that want a true Texas BBQ experience. My only knock on it is that it can be expensive if you aren't prepared. They sell their meat by the pound (like many good bbq places) so you can end up with sticker shock at the register if you aren't careful! Go enjoy Hard 8' it's good! read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Hard 8 cup - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

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If you are looking for great Texas bbq, you've come to the right place. I loved the Western vibe of the place and the quaint town of Roanoke matches perfectly with the restaurant. It has a cafeteria style set up where you move through a line, pay, and find a spot to eat. You select your meat and as the guy is cutting the meat you tell him how much you want (I got the brisket). The meat is then weighed and placed on a tray with a ticket. Then, you enter through the door where you can add any hot or cold sides you want. They have complimentary pickles, jalapeños, cheese, and other condiments to choose. I opted for the sweet jalapeño corn and you pay at the end of the line. There is a pot of beans and sausage you can scoop into a cup for free and bbq sauces available. The brisket was tasty and super tender. I also tried a rib which was fall of the bone and delicious. Overall, this spot is great for a quick and easy meal! read more

Service: Sweet. There is such a thing as southern hospitality. Quick service since a few tornadoes were on their way to the city. The establishment does not allow dogs. Food: (Speed dating review) Pulled Pork - Dry. Need to smother in sauce. Might not get again. Brisket - Juicy. A little bit of sauce will take it a long way. Must try! Pork Ribs - Not fall off the bone but that is the texture you want to have. Must try! Regular Sausage - Great if you truly can't handle any type of spice. Would get again. Spicy Sausage - Small tickle of heat. Would prefer this over the regular sausage. Must try! Turkey - Most juicy turkey you can ever have! MUST TRY if you like poultry. Mac & Cheese - cheesy, dense, delicious! Fries - slightly soft texture but the salt and pepper makes it taste great. Onion Rings - great taste but small portion (maybe for 6 onion rings total). Suggest getting multiple orders for big groups. PRO TIP: If you are there with a group of people, send someone inside to order the fries and onion rings as you stand in line for your meat. These sides are made fresh, so by the time the sides came out to the table, we were almost done with our food. On to the next food adventure... read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Meat Bar - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

The best thing to get here is definitely the smoked ribeye. We enjoy the live music and sitting on the patio. It's a stand in line and get your food cafeteria style kind of place but worth the visit if you're in the mood for barbecue. The wine selection is small but I feel most customers drink margaritas, beer, or nonalcoholic beverages. I've heard if you come too late they sell out of some things but they've never been out of the ribeye the handful of times we have been here for dinner. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - To go counter - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

I'm glad I was able to get to this spot without my vegetarian wife. I'm sure she would have found something but there really ain't much for the rabbit eaters. This place is all about the meats and I immediately went into a meat sweat seizure when the grill master opened up the cauldron of culinary delights! Pile it high and pay at the back. These guys have stacks and stacks of wood and a really nice setup for making that good stuff on the grill! Steaks made to order cooked on an open flame! I'm in. This visit I didn't mess around though. I had brisket, spicy sausage, pulled pork, wrapped chicken and shrimp poppers plus a host of sides including corn on the cob and fried okra! That's right I had a tray full of meat! For being my first trip to the big state of TEXAS Hard Eight showed me correct! It was damn good and I'd come back again in a heartbeat! Between the solid service and the oh so Texas style atmosphere it was an experience I was glad I didn't pass on! Long live the BBQ and long live Hard Eight! read more

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We had a group of 4 for lunch, and Hard 8 did not disappoint!! Everyone tried the brisket, spicy sausage, and corn on the cob. Each dish was some of the best we've tried anywhere. The service was really fast and efficient, first stop at the smoker for meats, and continuing inside for drinks and sides. There is a delicious pot of beans inside that is a free side and they were a sleeper hit for us!! Don't pass them up! Brisket was very rich, smoky, and moist. The sauces were both great. My fave was the spicy. read more

My favorite BBQ place yet!!!! Just so much choice, never run out of meats. Staff is super friendly. The sauce is to die for! Eat in, the setting is fun amd easy to manage large groups! read more

Didn't think there was a place in Fort Worth Texas where people would stand in line for but this is it!! Soooooo many good things! And I will come back. All the meats were delicious. I especially appreciated the ribs, the brisket, the sausage, and the chicken popper. As for sides, I loved the jalapeño sweet corn and the cole slaw. The Mac n cheese can improve. The cheese reminded me too much of cheese you pump out of a container from the movie theater (too liquid) but there were so many other good things that it still gets five stars. Plenty of seating but again... the line gets big! So I recommend going early if you can! read more

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I ordered a half pound of brisket, split a half pound of chicken poppers, and had the jalapeño sweet corn and onion rings on the side. A half pound of meat was too much for me. Next time I'd go for 1/4 of meat. The brisket tasted good but was a little dry and cold since they keep the meat outdoors and it was a chilly day. I wasn't super impressed by the chicken poppers (jalapeños stuffed with chicken and wrapped in bacon). They needed something else to make them juicier and give them more flavor like cream cheese. The onion rings were good, and the jalapeño sweet corn was amazing! I'd go back just for the jalapeño sweet corn. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - 1/2 lb of brisket, chicken poppers - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

If you're coming here be prepared to wait and leave completely full and smelling like meat....not a bad thing at all! We ventured here on a weeknight and despite the rain and chilly temps, there was still a line to get your meat. Sharing is caring when it comes to Hard Eight, be prepared to order a lot of different meats and fixings. We got a plethora of food ranging from brisket to sausage to chicken plus Mac and cheese, Cole slaw, okra and of course, pecan pie. I don't even like pecan pie but I could eat Hard Eight's for days on end. The meat? Perfection. I was proud to take one of my friends visiting from NYC here because she thought she had good bbq in NYC but I proved her wrong and maybe now that she's had a taste of the good stuff, will visit more often! Staff is awesome and they have Coke products. You cannot go wrong with Hard Eight! read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Oink Oink. - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

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I really liked this BBQ joint and like other pay by the pound locations sometime your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Great seasoned brisket, ribs, and basically everything else you want bbq wise. I was pretty happy with the friend okra as a surprise side item. Our large group of 10 was really happy with the food and no complaints. read more

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Came here for the second time....its aight...you know everything I had ordered except the chicken poppers and the macaroni and cheese said something to me eating it...that means it was good....and yes I'm sorry but the chicken poppers were dry...and the macaroni and cheese was just pasta and cheese sauce tasting....to me. The beef ribs were good..also the cheddar jalapeño sausage was great. The brisket was mid. But I will say the service was great and they were friendly. read more

Always super yummy BBQ The smell is mouth watering!! I got jalapeño sausage, ribs and a bacon wrapped popper, so so good! The blackberry cobbler, I wish I could of had some ice cream for it, but it is still super tasty. Tables were cleared in a timely manner and all the staff were wearing masks. A must try! read more

Ribeye was grilled to perfection, tender and juicy. Service was friendly and knowledgeabl. Loved the bull heads on one side and rump mounts on the other! drinks were very good. read more

The food and service is fantastic. I really enjoyed this place. I spent $28 on a sandwich, pork link, two sides and a soda.

We just heard great things about Hard Eight BBQ so they had a lot to live up to. Will they did not live up to the great expectation. I am not a BBQ expert at all but I know what I like. First of all we went on Saturday for lunch not very busy walked right up to the serving area and picked out our food. We got ribs, brisket, sausage, and bacon wrapped jalapeno pork poppers. All look good. Will the ribs were very dry almost sent them back way over cooked. The brisket was okay to me but not the best I have had. The sausage was blah. I like Eckrich better. And the bacon wrap pork Jalapenos was very dry hard to swallow. The included beans was just water broth with very little flavor. Now I'm not exaggerating or being mean but I was not happy with this at all. Maybe it was a bad day or leftovers from the night before. But I will not go back or recommend them. Other people still love them I say make your own decision and try them out. But I see them as average at best. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Pile of meat - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

Come hungry. Everything was amazing and we tried a lot of things. My favorite were the brisket and the jalapeño sausage. So good you don't need any sauce, but the sauce is good too! Also quite reasonably priced. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

Food was good and decent portions...but $32 for a two meat plate? They're really proud of their meat.

This location was small compared to other locations but the bbq was so tender & juicy! The jalapeño sweet corn was TO DIE FOR!! It was so good I'm still craving it a week later. I didn't like the beans but I'm from the south and used to baked beans not pimento beans but everyone in my group liked them. Fast friendly service. Definitely worth a stop!! Best brisket I've ever had!! read more

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No smoke what so ever. Might as well put the brisket in the oven. Same with the sausages. Staff inside was very friendly.

Having been a concierge at the Historic Hilton Fort Worth for over 15 years until an uninvited COVID guest checked in , I came to the realization that there's one thing you NEVER ever want to do with a visiting guest from another state or a fellow TEXAN and that is make an "awful" BBQ suggestion!!! Now, since "Juan & Allie's BBQ" is way up in Sunset, Texas, I chose to take my visiting brother from Florida to "Hard Eight BBQ" in Roanoke due to time constraints. One of the managers "JAZ" was delightful in making our dining and family experience PERFECT !!! Tell her or "NAMRON" ( the other "awesome" manager ) that Papa Mike Fort Worth's Concierge sent you and maybe NO promises... they'll give you a free slice of pie..!!! "Their bisque is um um good !!!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F0sMXgnDoQ&ab_channel=PapaMike read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Papa Mike Fort Worth's Concierge Give Hard Eight BBQ a "Two Thumbs Up With Pinkies On The Side Salute!!!" - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

OMG this place is amazing!! I will definitely be coming back the next time I am in Texas!! I ordered a little of everything since this was my first time! I had to be rolled out of the door and had at least 10 pounds of food still leftover read more

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Not one of the best bbq places in the area. I would not recommend it. The potatoes and the vat of beans were very good. The sliced brisket was chewy, and not well seasoned. My wife had to give one piece back to the cook because it was all fat. The cook that was there today (3-23) did NOT know how to make good ribs. I get them whenever I go to a BBQ restaurant, so I feel like I know good ones. The ones at Hard 8 were very meaty, but very dry and overdone. The outside coating was so overcooked that I could not eat it, and the meat underneath had NO seasoning whatsoever ever, and had too much fat attached. Some of the worst I gave ever had. I will not return there. read more

I am no BBQ connoisseur, but I know delicious and Hard Eight has got a lot of it. My friends and I came for a late lunch and there was no line. Looking at the menu, the meat are sold by the pound and sandwiches are $6.50. We walked right up to the meat guy and pointed at things that looked good. You then go through a door and pick out sides. They weight the meat at the end by the cashier and you pay by the pound. The briskets were amazeballs and magically melted in my mouth. Briskets are definitely the way to go here. The ribs and hot links were good. Chopped brisket sandwich $6.50 Onion rings $2.50 - These are a must! Tasty batter and crunchy. Cornbread salad $1.75 Jalapeno sweet corn $2.50 Shrimp poppers $2.50 a piece - These were just ok, not something I would eat again. Meat $15.95/lb They also provide free baked beans if you are dining in. They taste especially good covered in BBQ sauce. Free street parking was easy to find. ....| \ _ , , , - - , , _ , .../ , ` . - ' ` ' . _ \ - ; ; ; , _ ..| , a - ) ) _ . ; . ( ` - ` - ' - ' ' - - - ' ' ( _ / . _ ) - ' ( _ \ _ ) 2018 read more

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Honestly, not a bad restaurant. I would say the ambiance is probably what is going for it the most. The bbq is good- nothing phenomenal but would never stick my nose up at it whatsoever. Service is good and friendly read more

Excellent customer service, good prices but subpar bbq and sides. Although all the meat was tender, it lacked in flavor for us. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

Awesome BBQ spot! The smoked bologna and the brisket are my absolute favorite. Dont forget to try their jalapeño Mac n cheese and bourbon pecan pie- delicious! Coming back soon! read more

Why support a business that is not paying their employees their tips? People are struggling and a business is still going to short their hard working employees? That despicable. BBQ chain Hard Eight failed to pay $867,000 in tips and overtime to employees over nearly two years. The DOL discovered that Hard Eight's Roanoke branch had failed to distribute $867,000 to 910 employees across the branch's five restaurants. The report stated the company failed to pay tipped employees their tips in full. Roanoke Hard Eight then shared the withheld tips among managers, who weren't paid for their correct hours and only paid a half rate for overtime. read more

Gotta say it's hard to enjoy food knowing the employee that helps you may not be getting paid for their service. https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-bbq-chain-owed-nearly-hard-eight-tips-overtime-employees-2022-4 read more

Definitely agree with Mark's review. It's overrated . Not to mention, un-ethical as they exploited their employees during the pandemic last year and took away tips from patrons. The owner is also so shameless throwing a pity party for herself instead of acknowledging and rectifying the situation. 'The Fair Labor Standards Act does not allow an employer or their managers or supervisors to keep tips the business' workers receive for any purposes, regardless of whether or not the employer claims a tip credit. Roanoke Hard Eight broke the law by including managers in their tip pool, according to Dallas' Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez. "By doing so, the employer denied tipped workers some of their tips and managers proper overtime wages," Valdez said. "As businesses struggle to find people to do the work needed to keep operating, employers would be wise to avoid violations or risk finding it even more difficult to retain and recruit workers who can choose to seek jobs where they will receive all of their rightful wages."' You could eat at other places. Very disappointed. read more

I have heard great things about this place and wanted to check it out for myself. I am glad I was with someone who has been here many times before because I would have been a little loss. It can be a little confusing. One section you stand in line for if you want Ribeye steak so you can tell them the way you want it cooked and then they gibe you a slip. Another section is for all the other meats you want to purchase by the pound. You can select any amount you want. Just like buying lunch meat at the deli counter. We ordered 2 ribeyes and 1 prime rib which the prime rib is only served on Friday to Sunday. They will ask you how think you want it. I said thick then they weight it and give you a slip. I also got one shrimp popper. Then you go into another room and pick out your sides like a cafeteria style. Many different sides to select from. You need to make your mind up quick because otherwise you hold up the line. Once you pick up your sides and desserts you end up at the cashier and you give the person your slips and and you pay right there. There is seating inside and outside. I recommend seating inside otherwise you will be fighting the flies off. It took awhile for the two to get their steaks. I already had my prime rib on my plate. It was difficult to eat my prime rib in the small container I was given. I had to put it on be paper on my tray. They need to give plates out for the prime rib. The sides were good. My favorite was the pinto beans which are complementary by the soda. The flavor was amazing. The fried okra was over cooked. The cole slaw was good which helped with cooling my mouth off after eating a jalapeño. Overall it was good but pricey. You know they always say don't walk into a grocery store when you are hungry otherwise you will pick everything up this is the same concept. You start putting things on your tray because it looks good and you are hungry. You really have no clue what it is going to cost until you pay. Recommendations: My prime rib was $31 with no sides. The Ribeyes were $27.50 with 2 sides. Would like to see if you order a certain size of prime rib that you receive 2 sides also. I am a huge fan of banana pudding and I always order it out but I was not a fan of their banana pudding. It was extremely dense and was not fluffy at all and I was not a fan of the cookie topping on top of it. Too many cookies. The bananas in it were pretty dark which changes the taste profile of it. Get their early because when we got here there was not a line but when we left around 5:30PM the line was out the door and around the corner. read more

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Stopped here this week for lunch. It was close to 11 and I came in on the staff fighting a small but persistent grease fire in the serving table. They were able to get everything off the serving side and get the other side made and serving people pretty quickly but most of us lost about 15 minutes of our lunch before getting served. I went thru the line and got some great looking brisket and turkey for my lunch and grabbed some of the free beans and Mac and cheese for a side. The brisket just fell apart from being cooked properly and the turkey is still one of the best I've had. All in all it was a good meal and I will be back. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Brisket and turkey. Beans and Mac and cheese. - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

Friendly staff, incredible service and food. Someone was checking up on us at all times and made sure we were doing well. The vibe is immaculate! read more

Great bbq. Quick and good. Been there 4 times in 4 months and never disappointed. My mouth is watering talk about it. read more

The fried okra and whiskey buttermilk pie were amazing!!! Of course everything else was phenomenal too but I keep dreaming about those 2 items!! read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Roanoke, Texas

The meat never misses and enjoy the atmosphere. Came here twice, every single time i've been in tx and i've thouroughly enjoyed it. read more

Good food. Don't forget to grab beans on your way by. Both times we've been there was during lunch. Not epic, but if you're looking for bbq this is pretty good. read more

Just had $250 dollars of Brisket, Pork Ribs , Chicken, Mac and cheese And slaw delivered. Ribs were bland and mushy, brisket Dry and flavorless, chicken zero flavor, peach cobbler was not made with any love whatsoever. The best part of the meal was the Delivery. I will never go back. The Hard Eight gives Texas a bad name. read more

You definitely need to be mentally prepared to eat here. First and foremost I would not recommend bringing your vegetarian friends here unless you are trying to get them worked up (they do have veggie side options but even the free beans for dine in have sausage in them). When arriving, you are greeted with the beautiful aroma of the meats. Then, you are staring at piles of delicious ribs, brisket, chicken, potatoes- honestly the list goes on but you get the picture. Once inside, you have an array of sides to pick from that will not disappoint. The mental preparation comes in training yourself not to get more than you can actually eat. The caution of "eyes larger than the stomach" absolutely reigns true here. This place is definitely worth the money if you are looking for delicious BBQed meat. read more

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The only ACTUAL Texas bbq that I could find in the area! I had to wash the smoke out of my clothes afterwards. I think I bought that steak from a shady guy behind the counter. THIS WAS THE BEST STEAK EVER. read more