Mr. Bones BBQ

Man I don’t know what to say really. Go somewhere else I guess.
The brisket is more like bbq roast.
The ribs looked tasty so in all fairness I will go back one more time and try them.

Ok, I know I said I wasn’t coming back here, but but for some mysterious reason my mother-​in-​law really really wanted to go to Mr. Bones, so I relented.
I would like to start out by saying that after my last visit to Mr. Bones, civil war broke out in my GI track. Once again, civil war. I have no idea what is wrong with their food that it causes this, but I know I’m not the only one. It’s like «hey, if the experience at the restaurant wasn’t bad enough, have some bad experiences at home, too.»
Once again, the hostess was baffled about where to seat us. We were the only people there. Every table was empty. Why is this decision so difficult? Once again, the waitress was unable to refill drinks.
I really wanted to order mutton. No, they were out (do they ever have the full menu in stock there?) I ordered the fried catfish. The menu says it comes with «Ranch Fries» which I expected to be slightly special, you know, like with ranch powder dusted on them or something. No, they were regular old fries. They were actually pretty gross. The mashed potatoes that I previously liked were bland and they were out of gravy (what?!?). The catfish wasn’t hot and I don’t think it was actually fried there. I honestly think it was frozen and re-​heated. My father-​in-​law had brisket that he was was a little too fatty.
This time, I’m serious. Never again.

Really hit or miss for me. My advice: Stick to the BBQ.
Pros
Pork Ribs: A good choice if you’re going to eat here. Good flavor. Fall off the bone meat.
BBQ sauce: Surprisingly really good. Not too sweet or overpowering.
Black eyed peas: Good. Seasoned perfectly.
Wheat bread option.
Cons:
Burger– My husband ordered a burger and as soon as he got it i could tell from the look of it «pre-​cooked frozen patty». After his first bite, he confirmed it. It’s really shocking when i think about it. The waitress asked if he wanted mustard or mayo with his burger. He said ‘yes’ and she came back with little PACKETS of mayo and mustard. Pretty appalling for a sit down restaurant, imo.
Sometimes food does not come out hot. Sometimes, its luke warm at best.
Waitstaff/​Atmosphere: Everyone is super chatty as soon as you walk in. i thought we’d be in for some great service. Well, the service sorta ends with the enthusiastic «Hi! How are you? Come this way!»
The handful of times i’ve been here i cant recall ever getting a refill on my drink. It’s never busy when i’ve been. The waitstaff/​kitchen staff sorta wander and loaf around. It’s a pretty dismal atmosphere. The décor is stark and reminds me of a hospital cafeteria. Really lacking any homeyness or charm.
I feel like this place has the potential to become great. They just need to get on it! The BBQ is good. If they put a little attention to the other menu items and sides, this place could be awesome.

UPDATE — what a surprise that this place closed!
I stopped here because where I wanted to go nearby was closed on Monday. DO NOT BOTHER! This could maybe pass for barbeque in New York, but here in Texas where we have Stubbs and Iron Works?
The brisket was not very good, just so-​so at best. The potato salad was TERRIBLE. Practically inedible. There is no way it is made in the restaurant; it seemed like something ordered by the buckets from Sysco. I’ve had better from the HEB deli.
The prices they charge for this are ridiculous, especially for the quality. Nearly $ 10 for this pathetic sandwich and one side — no drink even. And as many others have mentioned, the service was not good. Surly, unfriendly.
I will not ever go back. And if you are north of downtown and want decent barbeque, do yourself a favor and go to Dickey’s or even Pok-E-Jo’s.

I’ve had worse, but I’ve had much, MUCH better. I would probably give this a 2.5, but I’m rounding down because the service was so poor. Our waitress has only been there a day or two, so she couldn’t answer any questions — and didn’t really care to go ask someone else either. If someone asks what is good, the right answer is «I don’t know, I’ve never eaten here.» Uh, wrong answer. She also didn’t pay us too much attention, after watching her go by three times we eventually got our own tea refills (although it’s not supposed to be self-​serve). There were only 2 or 3 tables, so it wasn’t exactly crowded.
Much of the meat was dry, and I did not like the flavor of the rub — overly charcoal tasting. I had the pork rib (ok) the baby back rib (could not even identify it as a rib), pork butt (ok) and beef brisket (ok). He had the chicken, which was not moist, but not horribly dry either. The rub again had a kind of bad taste to it. The barbecue sauce helped some, but I generally like my meat not to NEED sauce. It’s not my favorite type of sauce, but it wasn’t awful.
The coleslaw was a little sweet, but I still didn’t like it. The yams were terrible. The black eyed peas were bland. The mac & cheese was ok-​bland, but ok.
With such good barbecue available in town, I can’t imagine we’ll be going back, even though the location is so handy for us.

Don’t bother! The food was not worth the price. The meat was rather dry, mashed potatoes tasteless, the wonderbread was stale, the sauce is so-​so.
Worst server I’ve had in years: The girl waited 10 minutes before even offering water, giving me a dirty cup when she did. We were there for 30 minutes before we got our food (there were 3 tables seated, total). She forgot the bread, pickles&onions, could only do one thing at a time, and barely did that one thing sufficiently.
Perhaps the price is so high to pay for the massive television in the dining room?
We’re in Austin, there are plenty of BBQ places to check out, save your time and money and try some other place first.

We order takeout here, weekly! I LOVE their brisket, and the girl’s a fan of the turkey breast plate. Always good food! The sides are homemade and the BBQ sauce is SPOT ON. (Plus the prices are reasonable)
The people have always been nice to me. Once we went and they were having a party in the back with some sick sick jazz improv musicians wailing on it. Very epic.
Their slogan: «It is what it is» yeah. damn good barbeque. stop hatin you soco weirdos!

Why does it taste so bad? Gas grill. How can you gas grill BBQ in Texas? That should be against the law and you should never be able to make BBQ again.
I can’t remember a thing I had that tasted good, the service was lousy, the pricing expensive. How can anyone think it’s worth eating? Swanson BBQ dinner you get from HEB is about twice as tasty.
Anyone thinking of coming here — DO NOT. Go to Franklin if they’re not sold out. And if they are, then go to Rudy’s, cause it’s still pretty damn great.

I had the beef rib plate with dirty rice and collard greens.
It was very, very good.
On the menu, the beef rib is listed as:
«Beef rib (thick)»
Thick? What is up with «thick»? Well, Mr. Bones wants you to know what thick is. This rib was giant. And when I say «rib» I mean it was a single rib. A single, THICK, giant rib. This rib weighed about three pounds. The rib bone was the size of a 10 year old kid’s femur. And smoky! My Lord, this thing was smoky and delicious like it came down from the great smoke pits in the sky. Tender, juicy, injected with love and rubbed with spices, just like my first love.
The dirty rice was quite nice and the collard greens were juicy and spicy. The sausage on my friend’s plate was very good and had a little kick.
I would give a five but it was a slight bit fatty than I would have preferred. The rib was actually quite fatty in places, but it didn’t detract from the meat in a meaningful way.
The atmosphere is clean but not terribly unique. Pleasant, I’d say.
Don’t believe the negative reviews. Go to Mr. Bones. Eat. Enjoy. Repeat.

I’m more a fan of the BBQ I grew up with in North Texas than the more vinegary sauces in central Texas. Mr Bones serves up pretty good BBQ with better sauce than County Line or Salt Lick or Rudy’s. The sides are excellent.
I’ve read some reviews slamming Mr Bones for not having vegan options or a gluten free menu. This is a BBQ restaurant, folks!!! If you like barbecue, really good barbecue, you gotta check out Mr Bones.

I really wanted to like Mr. Bones. Not only to support a local business with an interesting history, but as an alternative to an endless line at a little bbq trailer down the street. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t up to snuff. The credit card machine was down, so we had to pay cash. That by itself wasn’t a big deal. The brisket and ribs were not moist and delicious, but dry and coldish. And that just ain’t right for barbeque! I liked my sides of greens and mac n cheese and the servers were very eager. Perhaps some of their other items have more to offer than the brisket and ribs. I hope this place works out the kinks!

We got take out from Mr. Bones. We shared a Brisket plate with coleslaw and mashed potatoes as sides. We were reluctant about the name, it just didn’t sound appetizing but we were pleasantly surprised.
–Service: They were super friendly. Both the first time we walked by (but didn’t end up eating there) and here again when we came back to satisfy a brisket craving
–Quality/​Value: For around $ 9.50 we had a pretty good sized plate of food (a little over ¼ a pound of meat) and two sides with bread.
The cole slaw was awesome! I could eat this all day long, perfect amount of sweet, salt and tangy bite. The mashed potatoes were more like smashed potatoes and needed salt but they were still good.
With Brisket I always rate it based on other places. It was better than the lean meat at The County Line and way better than Iron Works but it wasn’t better than Franklin’s or Rudy’s. I wish I had more fatty portions in mine because the fat was awesome– perfect and meltingly gelatinous. It was a tad dry but the flavor was pretty good.
The sauce left a lot to be desired. I like my sauce a bit more complex and spicy. I added hot sauce when I got home. I thought about adding ketchup to bring up the sweetness but I refrained.
Overall I hope they do well and continue to settle in at their Mueller location.

Upon entering the establishment, half of the workers were friendly to greet my party and the others looked disgruntled. The service was mediocre and the food was fairly bland. The candied yams and several of the other sides were good, but seemed very fattening.
The only two meats I liked out of my party’s entrée selections was the smoked chicken and the smoked mutton. I guess the smoky flavor juiced up the lack of seasoning.

This was my first time at Mr. Bones. finally some REAL BBQ! I had the 2 meat combo. I had pork ribs (came with 3 lrg cut) and sausage (1 ½ links), with Mac& Cheese, candied yams and bread (wheat or white). All for $ 9.00! Ribs had a great smoky flavor, very moist. not tough at all. Sausage was a bit spicy and BBQ was tanky/​spicy (very yummy)… Mac&Cheese was baked with some type of herb on it… it was good, but I am very picky about my Mac&Cheese, so I can’t say it was the best… Yams were yummy… although canned. I like the fact that they have a variety of sides. (not just the typical boiled beans and potato salad) Meat by the pound seemed a bit pricey (between Rudy’s and Whole Foods)
I got my food to go, but the ladies at the front were very nice and helpful. I am definitely going back to see how their consistency is.; ]

I should know better than to order fish from a BBQ house but I was craving catfish and Mr. Bones was on the way. First warning sign was tthat hey were out of cole slaw. The single fish fillet that was served was obviously a frozen food service piece of fish and tasted horrible. The veggie sides were tasty but also food service (canned) products. The hush puppies were not served but were on the menu as part of the meal. By the time tax and tip were added, my lunch came to $ 16.00. Totally outrageous for what I was served,
I cannot speak of the BBQ and since that is their focus, I hope it is better. The staff were very friendly and that is the only reason I did not fuss over the quality of the food and missing items but I will not be returning.

Ok I went back after a super disappointing brisket adventure across the highway.
Actually, then I went back again!
Now addicted to brisket and coleslaw. Several other sides have improved in quality– and if you order by the pound and get sides you get way more food for your money. Always make sure to check for bread and pickles with your to go food. The people that work there are all kind of rude or overly nice but whatever. That’s some good bbq.

I am writing this review based solely on their corn.
I didn’t go to the restaurant, just had a friend who went bring me back some of their corn. This is literally the BEST corn I’ve ever eaten. It’s not on the cob, it’s corn kernels seemingly soaked in butter with some salt and pepper. The flavor is amazing. Hot and delicious. Now I have to go try everything else!
(p.s. The friend raved about their food. He said they were out of most of their side items but he didn’t care. He was very happy with what they did have.)

Mr. Picky (husband) liked the brisket and said the ribs were really good. The rub was tasty and the ribs were juicy. Mr. Bones, himself, assured us that he does not boil his ribs before-​hand, which Mr. Picky really appreciates.
I had the grilled shrimp on dirty rice and it was quite yummy. It was nice, too, that there were non-​bbq options since I only want bbq half as often as Mr. Picky.
The sides were good, but as other reviewers have mentioned, most probably had a previous life in a can. It seems that most southern-​cooking places use canned green beans so I don’t fault Mr. Bones for that, but I would REALLY love it if restaurants would opt for fresh green beans.
The reason I gave this place 3 stars instead of 4 is the service. Unlike other reviewers, it did not take forever to get our food; it actually came in a very reasonable amount of time. But the wait staff were all very young and did their job with indifference while sitting down to chat in between customers. Mr. Bones seemed to be a very nice man and if the wait staff showed the warmth that he had, it would have been a better experience.
Overall, it was good and we’ll go back.

In a nutshell: for eat-​in be prepared for a wait, or go once their staff is up to speed, take away is great.
I’ve been four times now, and the food has been great. I’ve had turkey, pork-​butt, brisket and salmon and enjoyed them all. I’m not big into sides, so I can’t really pass comment. Meat, on the other hand, I’ve had in buckets, and really enjoy.
One experience was an anniversary lunch which was a comedy of wait staff errors, too humorous to mention. The wait, the wait, the wait and general wait were all pretty laughable. The reason was that three staff had been fired, this was a busy lunchtime, and they were short-​handed.
So because I want them to succeed so much, so that I can have bbq in the hood, I’ll give their service a pass until they get it down. A week ago I would have said — «Go to Franklin BBQ, avoid the wait,» but now I realize that the popularity of Franklin means equally long waits, only without the HVAC.

The new Mr. Bones BBQ in the Mueller Shopping Center joins the Hancock Center’s Pok-E-Jo’s as a local BBQ option for those north of campus.
The pork in the ‘Pork Butt’ sandwich was a bit dry but had a nice smoky flavor. The BBQ sauce wasn’t my preferred Carolina-​vinegary style but wasn’t your standard thick sauce either. It had a sweetness and tanginess that had a little bit of an Asian feel to me. I don’t think I’d like it on beef but I liked it on the pork.
The candied yams were solid.
I’ll definitely go back for a lunchtime BBQ fix.