As solid as our local barbecue scene’s become — think 2M Smokehouse, Reese Bros Barbecue and South Barbecue, for starters — it’s getting harder to escape from and easier to get into the barbecue chain operations around town. There’s a Bill Miller near you, just about anywhere you happen to be. Rudy’s sprang forth from its original Leon Springs location, Smokey Mo’s is on the rise, and The County Line is laying it down on the River Walk and the North Side. And now H-E-B’s in the game, with more than 50 locations of its True Texas BBQ across the state. We call it Barbecue 1.0 around the office, the kind of brisket, ribs and sausage you ate growing up, before the lines and expectations took off for Barbecue 2.0 and beyond. Speaking of which, a new wave of elite smoke shop chains is coming just up the road to New Braunfels in the form of Terry Black’s Barbecue on Sept. 15, with another under construction on Broadway in San Antonio. Until that one opens and changes the game, let’s take the temperature of the five best (and worst) barbecue chains in San Antonio right now.
TOP 50:SA’s best restaurants
The best
H-E-B True Texas BBQ: How on earth is grocery-store barbecue at the top of this list? It’s there because the woodpiles are there, the cords of oak they use to produce brisket with a true deckle of fat through the middle and a thorny crown of heat-bonded pepper and salt across the top. The kind of brisket a smudged-up guy in an apron would cut for you in Lockhart, except you ordered it from a touch screen. It’s the same smoke that produced respectable pork ribs and sausage with fat and secrets rippling under its hard-snap casing. And a sandwich called La Jefa gave smoked turkey the kind of respect so often denied barbecue’s tamest protein, pairing it with sausage and slaw in oversized portions. It’s not the kind of cost-control you might expect from H-E-B, and I can’t recommend the sloppy sides or the ketchup-y sauce. But I can recommend the brisket, ribs, sausage and turkey. And that’s really what the “true” in True Texas BBQ is all about. 7330 N. Loop 1604 West, 210-343-2912, more locations at truetxbbq.com
Somewhere in the middle
Bill Miller Bar-B-Q: Looking out the window from the Bill Miller’s on Cesar Chavez, I can see the Tower of the Americas and the Alamodome. And if I walk across the parking lot to Hoefgen Avenue and squint real hard, I can see much better barbecue down the block at Reese Bros Barbecue. I’m not generally a fan of Bill Miller, with the occasional exception for fried chicken. But I have to call it like I see it, and this was better brisket and ribs than I’ve had at any Bill Miller in awhile. It’s refreshing to see brisket at $20.35 a pound, as opposed to $30 to $35 at the wait-in-line joints. In fact, the pork ribs and turkey are that price, too. A link of sausage is $4.85, and half a chicken is a deal at $7.35. So there’s something to be said for bargain-cue. And endless rolls and pumpernickel bread, and those green beans simmered with tomatoes. This middle spot is built on a shaky foundation of disappointments in the past. Time will tell. 1030 E. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd., 210-534-3323, more locations at billmillerbbq.com
Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q: Something the Barbecue 2.0 shops understand is that good barbecue demands a relationship with the fire, the smoke and the lingering smell on your clothes. Rudy’s delivers that with brick pits and woodpiles and the smoke that leaves its sepia-toned signature across the neo-shack architecture. The Leon Springs Rudy’s, branded as the Original Rudy’s, feels like one of those Hill Country hotspots, with prices to match. Aside from a few lunch specials, there’s no ordering by the plate. Just barbecue by the pound. And you should know that brisket is $32 a pound, and it’s nowhere near the fatty accordion texture of 2M or Reese Bros or the true O.G.s in Lockhart charging north of $30 as well. I’ll skip the baby-back pork ribs next time and stick to meatier spare ribs, and $9.99 is a good deal for half a barbecued chicken with this kind of smoke and skin. I also liked Rudy’s sides better than any in this report, especially the al dente cream corn, tangy potato salad and fresh three-bean salad. It’s as smoky and rustic as new-school barbecue, almost as expensive, almost as good. But not enough to rise from the middle of the pack. 24152 Interstate 10, 210-653-7839, more locations at leonspringsbbq.com
AUGUST EATS:The best (and worst)
The worst
The County Line: The River Walk location of this Texas chain made my 10 worst list two times in a row. Overpriced, under-smoked, all-around disappointing. The one off Interstate 10 wasn’t much better, with no river view to smooth over the rough spots. My biggest issue: Blindfolded, I couldn’t tell you this was smoked meat, and the smoke is the whole point. The closest I got to smoke was from the sausage. But nothing from the flake-away turkey, nor the broiler-pan brisket, nor the pork ribs as hard and dry as a gas-station Slim Jim. The chicken was OK. But if I’m $33 into a barbecue platter, rotisserie-level just won’t cut it. I’ll say this: An extra $4.79 is money well-spent for a fat stack of what is arguably the best bread in all of Texas barbecue. 4334 Hyatt Place Drive, 210-641-1998, more locations at countyline.com
Smokey Mo’s TX BBQ: I’ve had some truly awful barbecue at Smokey Mo’s. This wasn’t that. But it raises that hard question about chain barbecue: How do you keep it consistent across the locations? Barbecue is an organic thing, especially over live-fire smoke, but that’s true even in a commercial pit. Either way, I got shoe-leather brisket in Bulverde and soggy roast beef in Stone Oak, and both locations delivered dried-out ribs and sausage hard and sharp enough that I’d hesitate to walk it through airport security. 20210 Stone Oak Parkway, Suite 306, 210-481-3835, more locations at smokeymosbbq.com…