J. Kelly’s Barbecue

In Austin looking for BBQ. Even Tweeted about. Ran to a CVS, and happen to see J. Kelly’s up the street. Very nice comfortable place. The staff there is great. I had the Big Ben Sandwich. It was great. If you are in Downtown Austin, you would do yourself a great favor by stopping by and have some food. Make sure you have the Apple Cobbler. I did, not I’m going to the gym now. lol

J Kellys has lurked there, on the edge of my consciousness for the better part of two years. I kept seeing it on my east side adventures but had not ventured forth into the meat mecca. We met here for an informal work meeting and the first thing that strikes you is the delicious smokey smelly of the place. They’re cookin up something and it smells goooooooood.
The whole restaurant is about 10 tables and is incredibly clean. The prices are decent ($ 6 for a chopped beef, a side and a drink) and the folks working behind the counter are very nice.
My actual sandwich was kind of a disappointment. There were hard pieces — probably the edges of the brisket — in it, which i actually liked. Sometimes though, they weren’t hard pieces of brisket, they were bone thingies. And that kind of turned me off. All in all, not a bad experience but an A-​OK one. Which is what three stars are all about.

I’ve been wanting to try J. Kelly’s barbecue for a while, seeing as how I live across the street. Pressed for time, the boyfriend and I decided to walk over for lunch. It’s a pretty small place, and was more crowded then I was expecting it to be. We waited while the two people behind the counter juggled taking orders and making food while everyone stood there waiting for their food. Their system could definitely use some fine tuning. We ordered the chopped beef sandwich, potato salad and beans. The sides come in pretty small cups, which portion wise is fine, but not really worth the cost. The total was $ 8 dollars for one sandwich, two tiny sides, and a drink. I bit steep I say. The food was a little bland, but not too bad. The barbecue sauce was dull, I couldn’t really taste it on the sandwich despite smothering each bite with it. I did enjoy the potato salad. Overall, not bad food, but definitely not anything particularly engaging. It’s a pretty tough call between two or three stars, but «Meh. I’ve experienced better» is just about spot on. I’m sure it’s locational convenience will lead me here again and hopefully I’ll be able to bump up the score next time…

I was introduced to J. Kelly’s by a co-​worker during workday run on an early Thursday (¹⁄₁₄) lunch to avoid the crowds. We brought along three other folks (total party: 5)
The porkchop plate was recommended and I went for it. I ordered the potato salad and cole slaw; only to be told that they didn’t have cole slaw (but they’d make it) and they’re out of potato salad. I went with the greens beans.
The porkchop (the daily special) plate came out with rice, gravy and green beans. I served We were still the only folks in the restaurant save for two guys drinking beer at 11 a.m. on a Thursday morning.
Other customers wandered in throughout our meal which was quite tasty.
By the time I finished my meal, the owner came out and said he was running behind, couldn’t get to the cole slaw and what else would I like. I got the pinto beans in a pretty small cup.
The dessert menu advertised on the board was also not available… banana pudding or peach cobbler.
Since this is my first time here, I won’t beat up this place too bad but I thought they should be a little more responsive to a group of folks coming in during the workday lunch hours.
I’ll give it another go someday soon, but would not got out of my way for it.

I’ve long been on record as having been such the fan of BBQ that short of a proprietor up and taking a swing at me, chances are I’m bound to appreciate it. And though I couldn’t help but chuckle at how different this place might be if it were, say, R. Kelly’s BBQ (those jokes go off the rails in a hurry), when I stopped in for lunch yesterday and had my way with a chopped BBQ sandwich (and some chips, natch), I couldn’t have been happier.
One thing that hits you when you’re in here is that the place is *clean*, I mean particularly clean in this era of hole in the wall BBQ joints where the smoke has long since settled into the wood. So the clean may not be for everyone, but I in particular appreciated it. Lunch was plenty affordable and didn’t take long to happen, and as I’m by here pretty often, I’m sure I’ll be back again. Hey, ya gotta, eat, right?

To be honest i’ve always passed up J. Kelly’s on my way to another bbq joint over on 12^th. After today, I might not be doing that so much.
Finally myself and some other bbq enthusiasts decided to go ahead and give J. Kelly’s a try. We were not let down. All through the meal and even out the door we were talkin about how good it was. We were all offered a sample of brisket before we got our plates… moist, tender, right amount of seasoning and fat. Sausage was good as well… tasted like Meyer’s from Elgin… didn’t inquire though.
Do not pass up the banana pudding.

I’m new to Texas and to Texas style BBQ so maybe Ill have to get used to it. My first go at it was J. Kelly’s which left me wanting something more… mainly a sloppy pulled pork sandwich. Well I got the beef brisket sandwich and thought it was pretty bad. A) The meat was overly fatty for my liking and rather tasteless. B) The sauce was also on the bland side and I could have used more on the sandwich. C) The choice of using standard white bread for a BBQ sandwich is a poor one because by the time I had eaten half of it the bread was a mangled pile of soggy worthlessness. Where I come from BBQ goes on quality buns that can handle moisture.
That being said I will go back to try the other menu items. The owner also told me he was going to experiment with some pulled pork recipes to see if it was menu worthy. Hopefully that goes well.

A-​OK… That doesn’t really define this place, but O-​WELL. The reason I say this is that most of the things here were REALLY GOOD, or ehhh. My friend and I went with all the meats, and had a good light meal. Kind of a mediocre atmosphere: not hole-​in-​the-​wall, but not any real character. Just a cafeteria-​style joint. Can’t really see the pit either; meats are held in chafing pans.
Sauce here was pretty nice, a tad spicy, a tad sweet, not too vinegary. On the meats, it worked GREAT, though. Brisket was mostly lean, but they gave some NICE fatty parts. Overall, alright brisket because of the lack of flavor and smokiness. Ribs were kind of sad. Hard and smoked. Sausage was AWESOME… but that’s not saying too much because you can’t really go wrong with Elgin or Austin’s sausage. Juicy and flavorful is how they do it. Best Elgin I’ve had though, to be honest, as I enjoy Austin sausage more. Then the chicken, WOW. This is definitely either 1^st or 2^nd on my «BBQ Chicken? That’s not purist.» list. I bit into the breast, and thought it was a thigh… so tender and juicy. Everything was fall apart tender on the chicken. That’s what I would get here… odd, huh?
So my recommendations: sausage and chicken. They will not fail you here, though both aren’t anything fancy in terms of BBQ. Most purists like ribs and brisket. Brisket would be good here if you get all their overly fatty pieces… not a bad thing. But, atmosphere and all BBQ taken into account, an alright choice.

I had been going to Ben’s since I was a young observer to the 71^st Legislature– I was sad to see it go. Today I had a chance to meet the new owner, and taste the same great BBQ that had always made me come back.
Although there are some growing pains with the understaffing, long lines, beating up the new cash register, etc. The staff is great, It’ll start clicking and getting the rhythm.
Damn if it isn’t the best sausage in town.

Well, I want to like J. Kelly’s. The owner seems pretty nice, I like the location and it’s proximity to my front door, there’s outdoor seating, and it’s supposed to get its liquor license soon. The place is always understaffed, though, and I’ve had to wait far too long when it’s practically empty. It’s also pricey — six bucks for an ungenerous brisket sandwich, one that I saw the owner make four trips to the scale to measure out and make sure I didn’t get a drop more beef than I was entitled to. But the real problem is that it doesn’t taste very good. The chicken and brisket are both really dry, the sausage is sort of hard and old-​tasting (for lack of a better descriptor), and the chopped beef is a sloppy joe, not chopped beef. Their barbecue sauce is sweeter, not much spiciness to it, which I also don’t particularly care for. Maybe they could offer more than one. I’ve been four or five times, hoping for some improvement each time and not seeing any, but I’m willing to give it another try in a few months if I hear it improves. If you want barbecue, and you’re in that area, I’d suggest three or four other places before J. Kelly’s.

So, this is more of a 3.5 star place, but I’m feeling generous while they shake out the early kinks. J. Kelly’s just opened where Ben’s Barbecue used to be, and apparently they bought his recipes from him. Also, the owner is the same guy who owns Gene’s down the street. He was really friendly when we came in. The décor is pretty minimal, and the menu is small right now but I hear they are expanding. I had a chopped beef sandwich. I was a bit on the salty side, but still pretty tasty overall. And it was pretty cheap – $ 5.95 for a sandwich, drink and side. I’ll definitely be back to try some other things.