Former location of El Sancho westside and before that Longboard Louie's, Runaround Sue bring Texas BBQ to Bend. I'm never one to harp on authenticity and even with my time living in Texas hill country, I won't start now. Suffice to say, Runaround certainly embodies the character of a Texas BBQ joint. It's a fast casual place. Order at the window, grab a number and a seat and your food will be brought out. In my case, that was pretty quickly. - Brisket sandwich. Loaded with strips of meat, all of which had the desired 'pink ring' of proper bbq brisket. Small amount of coleslaw and maybe too many slices of cucumber, this is a good sandwich. Their house bbq sauce is just fine. - Small side of beans (not actually small). Pretty good beans too. Not spicy, which again I think is proper. You can add hot sauce if you like yours kicked up a notch. Bottle of Shiner Bock completed the meal. Hadn't had a Shiner Bock in a long while. It's a good beer and very much Texan. BBQ done right isn't something you find much in Central Oregon (but there are some decent places), so Runaround Sue is a welcome addition to Bend. read more

Runaround Sue - Ordering windows - Barbeque Near Me - Bend, Oregon

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The Good: Same chill, laid back atmosphere as El Sancho with some small tweaks. The picnic tables out back, the old school booths with checkered tablecloths up front, the misters, sun tarps, and Texas-leaning playlist definitely evokes central Texas. The service was good. A bartender noticed my wife and I waiting behind a couple, that was being explained everything about the place and how to order, and offered to take our order at the secondary window. The food came out pretty quickly. We ordered ¼ lbs lean and ¼ lbs moist brisket. They were both good, well-seasoned, and so tender and juicy. The pickles were tasty and abundant too. The potato salad was good, but I don't understand an earlier review that it's too heavy on the mustard! If anything, I could have used more. I'm assuming the recipe may have been tweaked since that review. I also appreciate they didn't skimp on the bread. For those who have spent time in Texas, you know asking for an entire loaf of white bread won't even draw a bat of the eye. Not Bad: Smoked turkey, when done well, can be so delicious. When done wrong, is like tough jerky that sucks the moisture out of your mouth. The turkey slices today were tender and pretty juicy. I'd like to try it on a sandwich at some point with sauce and slaw. Not great: The pulled pork ate more like sloppy joe than pulled pork. (To be honest, growing up in GA, I never really cared for pulled pork in TX anyway, but this was different). I imagine they're adding sauce to keep it from drying out, but it just changes the texture so much from fresh pulled pork. There was also something off in the seasoning or maybe the sauce. Speaking of the sauce, I'm not really a fan of this sauce. It's fairly sweet, which is ok, but lacks spice, and has a slightly odd texture. Finally, the beans really lacked flavor and were a little too al dente for my or my wife's taste. For 1 lb of meat, 2 small sides, and a bottle of coke, our tab was $47 plus tip. For those prices, we were expecting greatness and hoping to be swept back to Austin. Instead, we received decent brisket but were definitely left wanting more. read more

Runaround Sue - Moist brisket, smoked turkey, and pulled pork with a side of beans - Barbeque Near Me - Bend, Oregon

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First of all, let me say I wanted this to be so good. Second of all, let me say, I will return. I want this place to be so good because Bend needs a great BBQ joint. That said, here goes... My wife and I went there and wanted (and expected) the food to be pretty dog gone good. Ordered at the window. She ordered the chicken thighs with beans and cole slaw. As a BBQ guy, the first thing I will always order at a joint like this is the brisket. So I order the brisket sandwich, noodles and cheese (yea, it's mac and cheese with shell pasta) and potato salad. We also order a house margarita and Paloma margarita. We get the drinks first and one thing they both have in common...bad tequila. It was nasty. I don't what they are using, but it was awful. OK, so still looking forward to the food...my brisket sandwich was really pretty good. The bun (and I am guessing it from Ed's bakery) was awesome, the brisket was tender and the slaw, and cucumber addition was pretty decent. I had to take a slice brisket out of the sandwich though to check it out. Tender, moist, but without much seasoning. Looking at it, maybe it needs more bark or perhaps it lost some bark during the smoking process. In other words, needs more seasoning. 16 mesh pepper! My potato salad was fine but it was over the top with mustard...and I like mustard. The mac and cheese (or noodles and cheese as they call it) was decent. Great texture but needed more seasoning (Again). The chicken thighs had a nice taste and the sauce was good but the chicken was dry. That chicken had been sitting out for awhile before we ordered. My wife ordered the beans which they should call chili. It was fine, but either decide if you are going to call your beans chili or something else. In other words, pick a lane. As for the cole slaw, it could have been so good if even a touch of vinegar had been added. This slaw was so bland. All that said, let me say this. The employees there were top notch. Very friendly and seemed happy to work there. That is huge! So yea, I will be back. I'm gonna give this place another chance because I want it to succeed so bad. read more

Great food, and even better atmosphere; loved the BBQ cowboy feel to the place; I've never been to Austin but I can imagine it now. I had the chicken and brisket tacos and they were great! read more

Decent line when we rolled up at noon but ample seating and we got our food pretty quickly. My friend and I split a half pound of brisket and I was surprised by how small it was so maybe get that for just yourself. The beans were spicy so I didn't like them but you might. The brisket was flavorful and tender. And the queso was pretty good. read more

Runaround Sue - Got this photo after we started eating but here's the brisket and the beans - Barbeque Near Me - Bend, Oregon

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Tried this spot for the first time today. I waited a while since every new place has hiccups. Ordered the brisket and pulled pork. The brisket was great, and the pulled pork was very good. My order came quickly, so the service is great. Definitely recommend this spot!! read more

A very good BBQ place, with some of the best Brisket I can recall, so moist and tender. The sauces were great compliments, not at all overpowering. Also got a bonus tour of the smoker, a great piece of 'Merican engineering and welding fab. If I were getting into that biz,I'd look at those smokers, very efficient and effective. I must go back for more offerings! (I'm not quite sure why the few ratings are "meh", it's really very good!) read more

Burnt ends tasty and juicy! Smoked turkey fire! And those wheelie chips and dip are delicious! Definitely the best bbq in town! Forgot to get a before pic. read more

Runaround Sue - The aftermath! Sorry to good to get a before picture! - Barbeque Near Me - Bend, Oregon

Had the brisket sando and potato salad. The brisket was excellent, flavorfuland tender, and the whole sandwich was mouthwatering. The potato salad was fine, not special, but fine. I'll go back for the brisket for sure. Counter Service - efficient. The food came out quickly too read more

*** 3 stars for favorite restaurant history, friendly staff and serving Shiner Bock. I am from South Texas. BBQ is an art and craft that is developed over time. I wish these guys the best of luck. They certainly have a cool bbq pit, and it smells great. However, the food...is not great. Two stars ** The portions are small and it is over priced. I hope changes are made and they get the kinks worked out, because there's a lot of "good" over-priced-food on the west side of bend. If you're going to be "great" over-priced-food...that keeps loyal customers...you better be good. read more

I was thankin the LORD for sending me here ! Vibey environment, friendly staff, country western playlist in the background. Try a little bit of everything, then get the chocolate pudding and ice cream float for dessert !! Amazing introduction to Bend read more

We really wanted to like this place! Unfortunately we had one adult in our party who is vegetarian and unless they wanted to double up on the kids mac-cheese there is not anything else of substance. We'll be back after they offer some good-quality veggie sausages! read more

Great food! Bbq with a fun twist. I got a pulled pork sandwich and noodles and cheese. The noodles were tasty! Very flavorful and rich without feeling like a gut punch. The sandwich has a fun twist with the tangy pickles and coleslaw. We didn't get any drinks but will definitely be going back to try those. The seating on the Galveston side of the building had a nice breeze and nice to people watch. Overall great first impression! read more

I really wanted to like it, as the original old el sancho was a go to spot. Positives are the vibe, location, the drink window to get a drink while you wait in line and the workers there were nice and efficient. We had pulled pork, smoked turkey and the carolina chicken thighs (special for that day). They were out of brisket. Sides were the beans, noodles and cheese and coleslaw. The food wasn't bad but could be a lot better. The bbq sauce is not good, it lacks flavor and tang. They need a more traditional bbq sauce as well as a spicier option. The coleslaw was okay but also lacked tang. The meats were fine, i wish they had not run out of brisket. The noodles and cheese were overcooked. I think with some pretty simple changes this can be a great place starting with the bbq sauce. read more

We have TRIED to like this place. First two times I thought ok they're still growing into it but the meat was really dry and the sauces weren't anything to write home about. This time paid for a dessert and didn't get it in the to go bag: it's just the little things that the staff absolutely do not pay attention to. read more

We liked it a lot! My husband got a brisket sando and it was delish. I got 1/4 lb smoked turkey cause I not doing carbs these days it was flavorful, especially with the excellent BBQ sauce. We both got a side of slaw which was quite tasty. The Paloma and Ranch Water were a perfect accompaniment! We'll be back! read more

We heard great things about Runaround Sue BBQ. Couldn't wait to try. The only positive is the sandos were perfect size but we're not big eaters. The slaw overwhelmed the flavor of the meat. Call us crazy but they didn't have bbq sauce or fries. I have to say we're one and done. read more

Like another reviewer, I really wanted to like this 2nd act as the owners wanted to expand their culinary experience. The staff is great as always and the process very efficient. My brisket taco was pretty bland and a bit dry. In my head when they said tacos were still going to be on the menu, I thought brisket in a "chili sauce." - nope. Those are not tacos. I do wish them the best of luck , they seem like good people. I'm happy El Sancho east is back. read more

tried this place for the first time we had the brisket tacos. They were delicious and everyone that worked there was pleasant. My only complaint is that $7.50 for one taco is crazy and they don't give you anything with it for that price they should add a choice of a side. read more

We wanted to try the smoked turkey and pork links but those two items were sold out so we had chicken thigh tacos, pulled pork tacos and the BBQ beans. My wife and I were somewhat disappointed. Although the chicken thigh tacos were good, we found the pulled pork to be somewhat flavorless. The BBQ beans had a little heat but not a lot of flavor. We will try this restaurant again, sampling the turkey and pork links. Runaround Sue has a bit of work to do to live up to its predecessor, El Sancho. read more

The meat was very good, moist with good flavor as well as the spicy bbq sauce, but we ordered chips with "guacamole" and queso and it was just slightly mashed avocado, no salt nothing else in it just mashed avocado which was pretty disappointing paying $6 for nothing but avocado, as well as even tho the margarita was delicious I ordered the margarita on ice because the blended ones are just to cold for my mouth.... And it came blended read more