Mac’s Barbecue

My boss ordered ribs, brisket and chicken from Macs for the office lunch a few days ago. Along with the expected sides of beans, potato salad and green beans. Smokey flavor was there… very tasty. But it was some of the toughest BBQ I’ve had in quite some time. Good ‘melt in your mouth, falling off the bones’ brisket and ribs don’t leave a lot of scraps in your teeth. This was not good in terms of tenderness. I had to actually gnaw on the ribs to get any meat off the thing. I’ve been wary of the quality diminishing from Mac’s…and this further convinces me that early success has gone to their heads and they’re just not putting in real effort anymore. I can’t justify coming back, personally.

It is a great restaurant i would highly recommend it!

I love the poor boy sandwich here! Chipped beef, sausage, & brisket topped with warm bbq sauce and served on a hoagie.
The sides are always fresh. I especially like the cole slaw and the mac & cheese is the best in Corpus.
I like Mac’s better than Rudy’s across the board. Howards and Hoegemeyers are a little better.

Some of the best bbq I have found in town. I don’t agree with the other reviews and I am chalking it up to them being old reviews and something must have changed between other reviews and now. I come here about once every other week for lunch. Everyone is always friendly and eve remember what I order even though I like to think I don’t come in that often…
Everything I have tried here and been really good, as have the things I’ve tried off of friends plates. The manager is friendly and likes to joke with his customers and employees. My only complaint would be the small drink selection but I understand that it is easier to sell canned drinks and tea than have to deal with the daily maintenance of a soda machine (seriously guys those things get NASTY… I’m talking mold and slime that is prone to come out in pieces in your cup of it isn’t being maintained daily).
So, in review, Mac’s is awesome and totally worth checking out!

Happened by here for lunch and suddenly craved BBQ. I’d heard/​read mixed reviews about Mac’s so I thought, «why not?»
Had their po’boy sandwich plate; chopped beef, sausage & brisket on a hogie, along with two sides. I chose potato salad and coleslaw. Of course, also had iced tea.
Before trying the sandwich as a whole, I took out some of the components to sample. Brisket was rather dry, considering it was the «fattier» cut. The sausage tasted like V&V’s jalapeño sausage, so how can you screw that up? The chopped beef was a hit, though. Good chunks of beef with just the right amount of sauce; not too soggy, not too sweet. It would’ve been nice if the bun had been toasted so it would’ve held up to some sauce instead of getting soggy.
Potato salad was good as was the cole slaw. Nothing really stood out with those. The «relish bar» had good selections of both chopped and sliced onions, pickles and jalapenos as well as some pico de gallo.
Service was friendly enough. Everything happens right at the front counter when you step up — no tableside service.
So, is it good BBQ? Yes. Is it GREAT BBQ or the best? No. The brisket, while a little dry did have excellent, smoky flavor. And I would go back if for nothing more than a chopped beef sandwich.

I go to Macs about once a month. Always get great food and friendly service. The place is usually busy and have to wait as they hand cut the meat for every order. I always get dog bones for my Pups. They are spoiled and enjoy the bones so much.

Good location, but the food is mediocre. The chicken is super dry, and the brisket is dry and tough as are the ribs. The sauce is blah. I’ve had bones in the chicken salad more than once. The bacon taters occasionally has slabs of pork fat/skin…yuck! There’s a good selection of sides, but they have very little flavor. I’ve heard the owner make very disrespectful, rude comments to his young employees. I’ve tried the place too many times… never again!

Standard counter service BBQ joint, but friendliness and passion far exceeded standards. Amazing owner personality with a genuine love for the community.
Top notch brisket. Sides could use some chef touches, however.

Great poorboy. can’t wait for chili season!

I’ve been going here for years and the food has always been good. Last time the guy that normally cuts and serves was gone and the brisket was so dry you couldn’t hardly swallow it. What’s going on Mac’s? I’ll come back, but one more dry piece of meat and I’m done.

I have always heard this place had good BBQ but my husband and I ate here a few weeks ago and boy was it not good at all. There was almost no one in the restaurant which should have been a clue. The brisket I had was dry which is probably because it was very lean (which I prefer) but there was no taste to it. My husband said his sandwich reminded him of something out of a school cafeteria. Did they change owners? The people were friendly enough and the place was clean but we left sorely disappointed.

I ate here recently with another person, and both of us left underwhelmed :/
To start, the restaurant was basically empty when we went inside (which isn’t a big deal since we were eating at a weird hour between lunch/​dinner), yet there were still plates left on the tables (at least 2 tables) from previous patrons. Those dirty plates/​cups stayed on the tables throughout the entire duration of our meal and were still there when we left. How lazy! I couldn’t believe no one came to pick them up and clear/​clean off the tables!
On to the food. I ordered a plate of brisket and my companion had a chopped beef sandwich; we both had sides of potato salad and pinto beans. The pinto beans were undercooked and not soft enough (they needed to be cooked probably another hour or so in a pot or slow cooker). The potato salad was way too chunky and the potato «chunks» too big: I had a piece of potato about the size of a golf ball in mine. To top it off, my meat was not that tender and the pieces were cut so thick that I had a terrible time cutting it up to eat it. The chopped beef sandwich was ok though (I tasted a piece off the other person’s plate). If I ever had to go there again, I would order the chopped beef sandwich. The portions were ok, although the amount of sides you get is kinda small. Since we didn’t really like our sides, we didn’t care too much. Also, neither of us liked the sweet tea.