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    Joel's Bar-B-Q

    3.0 (201 reviews)
    ModerateBarbeque
    Closed 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Joel's Bar-B-Q Photos

    JOEL'S BAR-B-Q ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

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    Their version of frito pie

    Keep driving. The food is disgusting. Ordered the frito pie because they were out of baked potatoes and don't sell fries. Got a pile of shredded pork and whole beans on top of Fritos that I had to spit out. When I asked if I can exchange for another plate that said no. So on top of questionable food they also have poor service. Take my advice keep driving to the next town or eat McDonald's where you at-least can rely on consistent food.

    3 Meat Plate w/ Coleslaw
    Martin C.

    The BBQ was fresh & delicious! Great service - fast and courteous! Sweet Tea is a must and pickles are fire!

    1 sliced beef plate
    Alma D.

    This restaurant needs help on service! They were not welcoming. The food was not good. Meet was dry. My loaded potato was very unpleasant to the eye. It was NOT good. Don't waste your $$ here.

    I loved the bag for some reason
    Jena C.

    Yum!!!! Me and the family spilt a half chicken and it was delicious! The service was friendly and fast! While the atmosphere was clean and wow oh wow did it smell great inside as well as outside! It was a great experience and would love to stop again! Next time I go to watch some trains with my hubs I'll definitely be swinging by for a full chicken!!

    Dining Hall next to area you order.
    Rhonda K.

    Decided to stop at a BBQ joint we have passed 100's of times on I-10. It was simple. Nothing fancy. Picnic tables inside and out. Very old school feel. Fresh tea/lemonade. Bottled sodas, cans and glass. Sandwiches come on regular or texas size bread. Pickles/onions/sauce. They have a variety of meats. Beans Coleslaw or potato salad as sides. Brownies/pecan pie. We got a brisket on texas toast and a sausage sandwich on regular bread. The meat had a good flavor. Hard to eat on sandwich bread, but doable with a few napkins. Side note this place is next to a cute little store with a photo op fence. Clean restroom in the dining lodge.

    Beans

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    9 months ago

    Was ok! Not as good as many of the others in the area- we were there at9am Sunday morning- not peak time!

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    2 years ago

    Great bbq spot hands down really great food great customer service definitely going back

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    Page 1 of 6

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    City Market - Magic happening here!

    City Market

    4.1(699 reviews)
    32.7 mi
    $$

    Texas is known as having the best barbecue in the country! We all hear about the big names that…read morestretch from Austin to Dallas to Houston. I've been to probably all of them. Well, there's another one called "City Market" that skipped right past me. Or, no one thought to tell me. It's one or the other because this place is pretty popular with lines out the door! So I heard about City Market BBQ, the same day I drove to Luling, Texas! It's an hour outside of Austin. City Market is in the downtown area, and parking was a breeze; the line I saw on the sidewalk coming from City Market, I must admit, was long, but it was a breeze, too. Now, this is on Wednesday, not the weekend. I hopped in line, the line moving fast. People are friendly, telling me that once I'm inside, there's another door I will go into to place my order. I like to call this the secret door with all the good smells of smoky barbecue. Check out my pictures of the secret door; you can't even see inside. I'm there, I made it inside, and there's 3 of the most friendly older gentlemen I will ever meet in my life. One of them caught on that I haven't been in a kitchen, never in my life, when he started asking if I wanted 1/4 of brisket. I whispered, "Give me three or four, because I'm not good at math either." Oh, we had a great laugh! I sat down, picked on a rib, and the meat slid from the bone! It was so tender, juicy, and full of flavor. The skin had the right burnt in the right spots. The meat was moist and easy to chew. I was like the Flintstones cleaning the bones before I bit into my sausage and brisket. The sausage was very good, and my brisket was smoky, like my ribs. I have to brag about the sauce. It came in a skinny bottle. It was a new flavor for me; it wasn't spicy, but it had a nice heat to it that I loved! I'm so happy I chose to ride down to Luling to visit City Market as soon as I heard about this BBQ place. I would have been so mad at myself if I had waited and forgotten!

    City Market in Luling was established in either 1957 or 1958, depending on the source. The…read morerestaurant's own website says "Established in 1958," and most historical references use 1958. So as of 2026, the barbecue place is about 68 years old. It's considered one of the classic old-school Central Texas barbecue joints and still operates much like a traditional meat-market-style BBQ house. This is an older building, including bathrooms... One of which was not working. Was disappointed that their sides include potato salad, and beans only because when I go to barbecue, I love Colliard greens, potato salad, beet salad, etc. not available here. The brisket slice I had likely the best piece of brisket I've ever had in my life. Now... Don't go crazy. I don't eat brisket typically when I do barbecue. The rib that I had was decent. The sausage I had by comparison to other barbecue places was unfortunately the worst that I've ever had. I'm not sure what grind they use, but it seems like it was more beef and somewhat sweet to my pallet which I personally don't care for in sausage. Overall, if I just wanted brisket, I would return but next time I'm in Luling I likely will go to the place right next-door to them and try them.

    Photos
    City Market - Firewood

    Firewood

    City Market - Brisket, link and rib

    Brisket, link and rib

    City Market

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    The Garden Company - Keylime pie

    The Garden Company

    4.4(319 reviews)
    12.0 mi
    $$

    What a pleasant surprise it was to find this lovely casual restaurant tucked inside what was once…read morean old home and now part of a garden supply nursery and marketplace. We had a group of 8 adults who had just completed touring 2 of the Painted Churches, in and around Schulenburg. While our tour guide greeted several servers as we entered like old friends, I don't think that was the cause of their friendliness to our group as a whole, I saw them happily greeting everyone and providing excellent service. Our happy server quickly took drink orders, you can tell when a server is confident in her job and knows the routines as she never wrote anything down but when she returned with drinks, the orders were all correct. She then took orders for lunch, we had a variety of offerings from the menu. I decided on the Tzatziki Salad, a nicely presented Greek style salad with grilled chicken breast slices and some tzatziki with pita points. Others around me had the Rueben and the grilled chicken salad and said everything was perfect. I also heard great things about the home made chicken salad and their hamburgers. And if you feel like your garden needs a bit more color, just step into the garden center after lunch and pick out some lovely plants to take home!

    Dined here for lunch with my mom and our tour guide from the Chamber as a break in the middle of…read moreour day for the Painted Churches tour. I was pleasantly surprised at the absolutely amazing freshness and quality of the food and modern/light atmosphere of this place (a bit unexpected after a few lackluster food experiences in Schulenberg leading up to our lunch here). It was every bit at good as some of the cafes I've eaten in major cities (where there is heavy dining competition). Mom and I both ordered their delicious chicken salad sandwich, piled high (but not too thickly) with shredded chicken on perfectly baked, flaky (but not too flaky) croissant bread. The chicken salad was a perfect blend of seasonings with a few cranberries for a little sweetness. Divine! Each sandwich came with a side of crispy/perfect (seemingly handmade) chips. Our tour guide ordered a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich which she seemed to really enjoy as well, complete with perfectly buttered and crisp grilled sourdough bread. The atmosphere was very modern and new yet warm and dotted with beautiful antique pieces (be sure to check out the old buffet across from the bathroom doors, gorgeous!). And this place seemed packed with many locals in their brunch attire to enjoy the great food and great hospitality of the wait staff. Behind the restaurant, they also host a beautiful nursery where you can browse under the trees through their fairly extensive collection of plants (flowering and non flowering - we saw some variations of native flowering plants we've either never seen before or don't see often so my mom purchased a few for her garden!), chat with the very knowledgeable and friendly owner of the nursery, browse the little nursery gift shop full of unique and beautiful items, and even visit with the sweet "shop" kitties (who seem to like to hang out near the nursery gift shop entrance) if you wish. All in all, a very special experience at this gem in Schulenberg. We will definitely make this our number one stop for meals (and to buy more plants) in Schulenberg when we return!

    Photos
    The Garden Company - Exterior garden

    Exterior garden

    The Garden Company
    The Garden Company

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    Spoetzl Brewery - Inside the distillery

    Spoetzl Brewery

    4.5(201 reviews)
    18.6 mi
    $$

    Relaxing to relax! This place is a so low, slow and ALL TEXAS! Love it!…read more Go grab a flight and some BBQ, pull up a chair enjoy some live music and ask yourself why you haven't visited sooner. This place is GREAT! The beer is GREAT! Service spectacular!

    I met some friends who live in Victoria and Goliad, Texas for lunch here last weekend. We were…read morelucky to get some chairs under a tree and could hear the music from a bit further away. It was a nice, hot, muggy day! We enjoyed the BBQ, the beer, and the cocktails. I don't drink beer (but if I did I'm sure it would be Shiner beer) so I was glad to see they had a distillery with pretty much a full bar. Three of us took the tour, which was fascinating! The AC was not working well in some parts of the building that day so part of the tour, we were sweating quite a bit during parts of it because it was a hot day. The BBQ (lean brisket and sausage) was good but their sauce was a bit watery/bland. I believe the spirits were also made by the same people but I haven't seen that brand in other stores before. I had a paloma (they don't have grapefruit soda so it was just made with ruby red grapefruit juice and vodka with some soda water) and a spicy margarita. Both were good but tasted different than a typical vodka or tequila drink to me. The friends I went with have gone there several times and said the drinks/cocktails seemed watered down this time didn't taste the same as they usually do so we wondered if they had changed their spirits or the measurements. I guess I'll have to go back again some day and see if they've gone back to their usual drink recipes!

    Photos
    Spoetzl Brewery - Have to take the tour to learn more about this

    Have to take the tour to learn more about this

    Spoetzl Brewery
    Spoetzl Brewery - Seating and stage

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    Seating and stage

    Joel's Bar-B-Q - bbq - Updated May 2026

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