We breakfast here now and again. Must arrive to eat before 10:30 or you'll miss the breakfast. BBQ is ok. There have been days it was really good and days it was ok. Still a solid stop. The adjoined gas station has some goodies as well. Great friendly staff and quick service. The place is setup nice. Chill country spot. read more

Six years later and the review still stands! We just stopped in for lunch on a trip home from the beach and the brisket, chopped brisket and burgers were great! Also love their Mac n cheese and creamed corn which has a little kick. read more

I drove through there yesterday and picked up brisket for my daughter and a cheeseburger for me otw to take her to camp and it was horrible! The brisket was rubber and I literally couldn't even pull it apart with full force and even using my teeth it wouldn't separate. We threw it away it was a waste of money and the burger was gross too. Never again! I used to love vans. Must have new owners because it was disgusting and my daughter only got to eat pickles and chips before camp drop off thanks to them! read more

Great barbecue. Friendly service and clean environment. We got a 2 meat brisket and sausage poboy with potato salad and peach cobbler. Love this place when on the way to Corpus Christi read more

Stopped in for a quick lunch on a Monday. Server came right over and got our drink orders and delivered menus. Typical BBQ options. I got the Chopped Sandwich and my wife for the Turkey Sandwich. They come with the option of chopped onions, pickles, and sauce on them. We both loaded up on all of those. The chopped sandwich came on a bun, and the turkey on toasted white bread. The bun was unremarkable, and the roast was...well, toast. Turkey was good and brisket was ok with a few dry pieces. Only one sauce option offered. Service was very good and prices very reasonable. Decent stop for a quick lunch. read more

Van's Barbecue - Chopped Sandwich. - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

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I got a brisket plate to go, sauce on the side with potato salad & cole slaw. Food was good & service was good. I'll definitely go back.

Good food and nice service ..Out server was topnotch and real nice.. Will definitely be returning back when I can.....

Nearly half of the brisket is fat on both plates that we ordered. This seems to happen every time we order take-out. If you like fatty brisket, this is the place to go. If not, I'd go somewhere else. read more

Van's Barbecue - Brisket - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

Have not been to Van's barbecue in at least 5 years, and was truly looking forward to the awesome food I remembered....unfortunately I was very disappointed!!!! I ordered smoked turkey, and they were out of turkey. I opted for sausage plate with 2 sides. The sausage was the saving grace for the plate. I ordered cream corn & Mac & cheese, well the cream corn tasted weird. Come to find out it had bell peppers in it...yuck. So the waitress was kind and got me coleslaw which was just ok. The Mac & cheese was clumped and overcooked. My husband ordered the full chicken, and it was way overcooked, dry as a bone....what a shame. The wait staff was amazing they were so nice, and allowed my service dog in with us. I also loved the remodel job on the restaurant, but kinda missed the old vibe of the place. read more

Van's Barbecue - Coleslaw and Mac & Cheese - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

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Took a 1/2lb turkey to go and i am coming back for more and more... lil side resto enroute to corpus and flavors are addicting!

We saw signs for Van's BBQ along Highway 37 South and decided to give it a go. It's apparently a chain but the first one that signs directed us to had been closed a long, LONG time. Like weeds in the windows long. We kept going and finally a viable Van's popped up so we drove in. We should have taken the handwritten sign on the door "Wanted Waitresses and Cooks" as a warning, but we were in the middle of a four hour drive from San Antonio and hungry. The door also read "Van's Kuntry Bar-B-Q" which almost stopped me. We were directed to sit anywhere, so we sat down at a wooden table and a server dropped menus on the table while informing us they only had meat. No fries, no sides, no sandwiches, no salads, no hamburgers. Just ... meat. We looked at the menu for a few minutes which gave her time to drop off enormous styrofoam cups of water with a lid and a straw. That's when we decided to leave. I very rarely walk into a restaurant and then just walk out, but we decided not to go with a mystery meat-only lunch. read more

Van's Barbecue - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

This place is simply amazing! The food, the service, the decor...it's all A+++. It will now be a planned stop every trip to the coast!!!

Our MUST-STOP stop on our way back from the coast. Not so sure any more. They've remodeled this place to be more country chic. There's new owners and staff. And with the new staff, plenty of attitude. Long gone are the days of the small, friendly mom and pop place. This last time we stopped, a gentleman that was waiting inside by the exit mentioned, "Don't eat here - they have poor customer service. I've been waiting for 30 minutes now for my to go order." We didn't think much of it and walked across to the register to place our order. After placing our order, the gentleman expresses his dissatisfaction by letting the cashier know that he's been waiting for his order for 30 minutes and walks back across to where we first saw him. Upon leaving, the cashier whispers, "what does he thinks this is? McDonald's?" That should've been our cue to leave. We didn't. Not even 5 minutes later, another customer that had also been waiting for a to go order, comes up to the cashier and asks for them to cancel her order of po boys. After they cancel her order, she looks at us and tells us, she's too has been waiting for 20 minutes for her order. The place was not busy and they had plenty of staff. Not sure what happened this Sunday but apparently the staff was having a case of the Mondays. (Um yeah - if you could come in on Saturday that would be great....). About 5 minutes later, we got our order. So, it took us about 10 minutes to get our 1lb of barbecue. This is probably the longest I've had to wait for a to go order of sliced bbq. As we're eating it on the road, we quickly discover that even the brisket is not the same. There was a lack of flavor and smoke. Will we return? Unlikely. After what we witnessed, we're probably better off stopping at Subway. read more

Delicious barbecue worth the stop on the way to Corpus Christi! Sausage and brisket sandwiches are the go to.

Seen this place advertised each time we head down from SA to Corpus. Make sure you exit on mile marker 65. It's a new cute little place. We got there 45 mins until closing time, but they still had a good crowd. Our waitress was a young lady and was very sweet. She let us know what was still available on the menu. We ordered the two meat plate was had a good portion in it. I had the pork ribs and sausage (recommended by our waitress). My BF had turkey and sliced brisket (a little dry but good with bbq sauce). Each plate came with potato salad and beans (delicious since I'm not a fan), and of course the normal pickle, onions and jalapeños. Can't forget the sliced bread. Overall, it was very delicious. Nice little gem on our way down to the coast or on your way back home. As for the structure itself. We asked the waitress and she said it had so many issues it was sold and demolished for safety processes. So sorry peeps I'm sure the owners prefer the customers safety. Service was great and we can't complain. If your passing by, go ahead and stop by. We loved the Texas decore. read more

Van's Barbecue - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

This place is along way from nowhere. It works as to fill the need for BBQ, i had the brisket plate with potato salad and beans. They bring it on a tray and wax paper and slide it off on the table. The brisket was just about on the cold side. The potato salad and beans were good. The menu is a piece of paper stuck to the wall with gray tape just after you enter the door. If your hungry for BBQ and find you are at least an hour either way from civilization, it will fill the need. read more

Great BBQ. Thanks Jake ..so delicious. Love the new remodel. Brisket was so moist and tender. Great service! read more

I had the cheeseburger and it was hot and delicious! Service was great and the waiter was very friendly!

So bad. The service- unprofessional and untidy. One of the servers looked like she just popped out of bed & headed to work. One server was speaking to a group of young men in a very unprofessional manner. Maybe she knew them? Idk. It's a small town, but still unprofessional. The atmosphere- OK. The restaurant and bathroom were clean. Now, the food- My husband and I had the same dish: 2 Meat plate. I had the brisket & Turkey, he had the Turkey & sausage. Both with Creamed corn and potato salad. Bland. The creamed corn needed something. I mean, flavor. And it was cold. In fact most of the food was cold. Was I wrong to think we were getting a hot BBQ plate? Food was served on wax paper. Not appealing, but Ok. There were 2 people in the restaurant when we walked in. I figured it would be fast. It wasn't. The food came in 25 mins. All I kept thinking is-- what isn't ready? It's a bbq joint! Needless to say, I will not be returning. read more

Words cannot describe how terrible the food and service is. Drive an extra hour or so to San Antonio or Mathis for friendly service and good food. These people should be banned from the food and beverage industry. It was good when the original family owned it, but not anymore. read more

I don't enjoy writing reviews that are not positive however I was greatly disappointed. The server was short with me, it took a long time for them to get back to me to take my order meanwhile people came and left. The tables were dirty Someone had stepped on a creamer and it was all over the floor by my table. This was not the Vans I ate at years ago. I struggled with leaving a tip but left one anyway. I went out of my way today to eat here I'm not sure that I would ever return read more

Since my original review this place has had a complete overhaul by overall I mean a replacement of the entire building which has made it all that much better. That's not to say it wasn't already good previously. I'm not sure if ownership has changed hands but I everything is still as good as it was originally in my opinion the food is still good, the service is still good and it was actually one improvement made which was the barbecue sauce. While I have always been a fan of Vans and never really cared for the barbecue sauce but with the new building came a new sauce and now the circle is complete and I am a fan in its entirety. I'm not sure they always did but I believe there are some new items on the menu including hamburgers which they also cook up really nice. I recommend vans barbecue to anyone and everyone passing through the area. The only thing I would critique is on our most recent visit our waitress was nonexistent most of the time we were there and we had to have a different employee filler our drinks multiple times and one time by somebody referred to as dad. Recommendations: two meet plate brisket and pork ribs. This places Has my personal stamp of approval: JLFoodie certified *Poor *Decent *Good *great *Best *JLFoodie Certified Food. JLFoodie Certified Service. Good Cleanliness. Great Value. JLFoodie Certified I realize I'm a food snob, I eat out regularly some weeks 3 to 4 times which in my opinion makes me a bit of an expert on food, service, quality etc. I say it how I see it and I usually will give restaurants at least three chances before I give up on them and in some cases after some time has past I revisit the restaurants to see if anything is changed and my reviews reflect that change. read more

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Disappointing. We only ordered a turkey sandwich and brisket sandwich. It took over half an hour to make them. They were served on plain toasted greasy white bread. No bbq sauce, served dry. The turkey was flavorless, salty and greasy. The brisket was dry and low on flavor. The Mac n Cheese side looked and tasted like over cooked pasta covered in melted processed cheese. Save your money save your time. Definitely will NOT ever stop here again. read more

Really good barbecue and we were very happy. Wife had turkey and I had chopped beef. Great stop!?

Zero Stars: Laura, our waitress was excessively impatient, and had zero customer service skills. If you order a 'three meat plate ' , you simply cannot order three of the same meats, because "the owner doesn't allow it." When we went to pay the bill, and Laura (waitress) added peach cobbler to the bill, which we didn't get, and also added two soda drinks, which we ordered tap water. We won't be back, and I'm certain the owner of the establishment will be happy about that. read more

Food was good! Service and other stuff no go. We'll try another of the numerous BBQ joints along I-37.

You're not allowed to drive past exit 65 without stopping for some barbecue. It should be rigorously enforced state law. I highly recommend getting either a poor boy (sliced brisket + sausage + chopped beef) or a plate. If you get a plate, you'll probably be full anyway, but if not, seconds are free! Plates are served with pinto beans, potato salad, a pickle spear, sliced onions, a jalapeño, and two slices a bread. Pro tip: On my most recent trip, the beans were incredibly bland (sadface). Adding salt and barbecue sauce brought them back up to par. read more

Van's Barbecue - Thank-you notes from customers, written on napkins - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

Everything was so good! Brisket,ribs,sausage, potato salad and coleslaw!! We'll served! read more

Love this place! Will forever be a go to! I was reading the reviews prior to arrival I guess some people don't understand the tradition that the BBQ has been served on wax paper since the establishment was first opened! They are short staffed but with the economy that is a given! They did their best to get the food out as fast as they could with the amount of severs they had. I also read some mixed reviews as to the BBQ being bland and disappointing but I would beg to differ, it is far from that I had the smoked brisket and sausage; Boy oh Boy was it juicy and moist (yes I used moist) seasoned to perfection! I just believe that it's a small town and you just gotta give by a chance!!!!!! read more

This is not the Van's of old that you remember. I can only assume that someone bought them out and then destroyed their good name with what's there today. The old shack has been demolished and replaced by a limestone building and furnished with cookie cutter modern bbq joint decor. Although we were the only ones there, every aspect of the service was painfully slow. The meats were "Just OK" - the portions were very small. The potato salad is really just a scoop of plain mashed potatoes, the macaroni salad is nothing more than cooked pasta with watered down mayo and no flavor, and the sauce came out of a bottle. The prices are insulting for what you get, and unlike in the old days, nobody offered us another helping of anything - not that I wanted it anyway. We will never be going back. The Van's we knew and loved is dead. read more

Had not been to vans in a few months. It used to be a frequent stop for us driving to San Antonio. Food was so so good. Service was very good too,, the lil girl was new and she kept apologizing but she did a fine job. Had sides of rice n beans with my.poor boy. Everything was delicious. Forgot how great their food is. Very clean, new updated restaurant. Strongly recommend. And I'm very picky. This place is Goooooood!!! read more

I miss my country cafe with the little frisky waitress with red cowboy hat. Van's is now a big modern very well decorated restaurant. I ordered the combo sandwich and got a poor boy filled with brisket and one long slice of sausage. It was good but the bread was a tiny chewy. Our waitress appeared inexperienced and we had to keep asking for items which she should have brought. Overall, the barbq is good as ever! read more

Real good BBQ, place kind of run down but the food is good tasting. If you get a regular plate they give you second servings for free. Ribs, Brisket, and Sausage is real good. read more

Van's Barbecue - Ribs, Brisket, and Sausage plate - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

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Great BBQ. I think it's better than the other one on 281, which is actually the original if what I've been told is correct. But they are no longer related. Potato salad is def better here. Really like the chopped beef taco. It's BIG! Really good iced tea too. These folks are super nice. I've been here several times now & will keep going back for sure! p.s. They are building a new building next door, which is actually disappointing as it will not be near the same 'hole in the wall' ambiance. read more

Van's Barbecue - Updated menu pics - others are old. These are as of date on pic. - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

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this place was lame , you don't get seated to your table no menus handed to u , they have one menu nailed on a wall , the food was underwhelming, and bland . The brisket sandwiches were to gummy to much covered in bbq sauce , the sweet tea was the only good thing at least . overall I'm never coming back , I'd pick bill miller's over this place read more

Tried the old Van's before this new one was built and I loved it then. Now, more selection and the staff is wonderful. Quick, clean and we got our food within minutes of ordering. Definitely will come back again for a family outing. read more

Van's Barbecue - Sliced brisket, smoked sausage, pickles, onions, jalapeños and delicious beans a homemade potato salad! YUM! - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

Outside is deceiving. Looks plain and iffy. Lol. Plus has a very small sign so you can easily pass it up. But, food is great and the inside is very nice. And it's a big place with cute tables! Clean and pretty bathrooms! I had a sliced brisket sandwich. Nice, thick cut, and moist brisket. It was so good!! BBQ sauce is delicious although may be a bit spicy for some people. Will definitely make this a place to stop in the future when traveling home (San Antonio) from coast. Others in our group had the 2-meat po'boy and really enjoyed it! I didn't have a side dish but the other really enjoyed the Mac-n-cheese and potato salad. read more

STOP & EAT HERE Y'ALL!!! You won't regret it. We were looking for good, homemade tasting BBQ on the way home from South Padre Island and we found the spot on yelp!!! We had the 3 meat plate with ribs, brisket, sausage & we weren't disappointed. BUT WAIT... It gets better... ... My 8 year old said "Mommy these beans are so good I want to eat the whole dang pot" & he doesn't usually eat beans. Great Service & Great Food get from this family of 4 read more

Van's Barbecue - My travel buddy says this Oakville Van's Kuntry BBQ is the & gets - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

Flavorful sauce, great cole slaw. The restaurant is very cute, and clean. The staff are really nice. read more

Van's Barbecue - Barbeque Near Me - Oakville, Texas

Really amazing food. Nice atmosphere. Great service. Definitely recommend. Our server was super friendly and didn't wait very long.