Mac’s Barbecue

Had lunch here today since I’ve always wanted to try their bbq. Had the chopped beef sandwich with potato salad and fries. Meat was really good without sauce and the sauce made it better. Potato salad was nice and fries are fries. Got there before the lunch crowd so there was only a five or so minute wait.
I hear they might be closing soon since the property is for sale. The couple who run the place were friendly and I hope to make it back before they close.

Scores points for the owner and his wife being the only staff, generous portions, lots of parking.
Food: Ribs are top notch dry with lots of bark. Brisket has the perfect texture with great tasting bark. The meats a notch below the top tier BBQ joints in Dallas. Side are average but handed out in large portions.
I like this place because it feels like a small town traditional joint, but just a few miles from downtown. The owners serve you your lunch and will talk your ear off if you want to be social. don’t be scared of east Dallas and keep your eyes peeled because you might miss the small store front and parking entrance.

Awesome BBQ! A sweet couple owns the place and runs the whole thing themselves. It doesn’t get much better than that. Brisket is amazing and definitely try the fried okra! Baked potatoes are HUGE but delicious as well (and add some brisket or pulled pork on top). :)

My husband and I were going to grab BBQ, and at the last minute, he remembered Macs BBQ from a few co workers who have been here and said it was the best BBQ around! So happy we tried this, I had the sliced brisket sandwich with two sides, he had the 2 meat plate, brisket&sausage with two sides as well. One of his sides were onion rings… the food was fantastic, but I have to admit, those onion rings, were probably the B-​E-​S-​T in Dallas by far!!! Crunchy, not greasy, and they tasted fabulous! I have to take some to my patient because she loves onion rings, she will enjoy these I’m sure of it!

I wouldn’t describe it as award-​winning (though it did win «Best Barbecue» from D Magazine in 2010) or especially inexpensive, but it’s a fine mom and pop joint and doesn’t have an unreasonable wait. I enjoyed my sliced brisket sandwich with potato salad (creamy) and fried okra (made to order) and sweet tea. For a quick barbecue lunch near Baylor or Deep Ellum, choose Mac’s.

Think of this place as a Dairyette meets Pecan Lodge; not the prettiest place but they do ‘cue right!
I’ll admit the barbecue wasn’t as tasty as Pecan Lodge, but anywhere I can get some good barbecue without a line wrapped around the building (yes, it’s a jab at Pecan Lodge) is a place I’d frequent. The staff was soooooo sweet and the chopped beef and sausage sandwich I purchased was pretty stellar.
Omg, guys they toast the buns!

Forget the long lines at Pecan Lodge. Sure it’s good but is it really worth it? Come here and there’s never a line and they never run out of ‘cue!

This is a small BBQ joint on Main street, before you get into the heart of Deep Ellum. It is easy to miss so you have to pay attention. If you are driving toward downtown and turn from Haskell, the restaurant is a very small yellow building on the right, before you turn right after the train tracks onto Main.
The menu is pretty standard and the prices are in line with what you normally pay at a BBQ joint. The wife and I each tried the two meat platter with two sides ($ 13.99). The meat portions were generous. We both got sliced brisket and sliced sausage. I liked the sausage the best because it was very flavorful, moist and juicy. The brisket was very tender but needed sauce. The owner does not believe in masking the meat with rubs so you get plain meat with a mellow smoke flavor.
The sides we tried were excellent. I had the sweet baked beans and cole slaw and the wife had the cole slaw and potato salad. I have no complaints about the sides at all. They were delicious.
The sauce was just about perfect, a sweetish vinegary flavor that melded perfectly with both the brisket and sausage.
Service was fast and friendly. Basically, this place is everything you want in a BBQ joint and would be perfect on Guy’s Triple D. The place is very small but has about 10 tables. No long lines like at Pecan Lodge! Parking is free in back.
I would return.

The atmosphere is great. Reminds me of my hometown.
The food is so –so, but I absolutely appreciate the home-​grown feel and local ownership. I would try again just for the benefit of the doubt.

Get a chopped beef sandwich with fries. Pour some of that delicious sauce over your sandwich and top with pickles and onions. Dip your amazingly good fries in that sauce as well if you’re feeling lucky. Enjoy. And please stop comparing this joint to Pecan Lodge, etc. Mac’s has it’s place, and I venture to guess when those places lose their shine, I can still walk in to Mac’s and get a damn good sandwich, smothered in delicious sauce, with a side of the best fries in town.

Mac’s was recently featured on Texas Country Reporter — the long-​lived statewide chronicle of all things Texas. The place is still one of my favorites. Even as new more highly publicized places spring up all over the state, Mac’s has stayed in my rotation because it quietly but consistently out performs many of the others. The fresh cut fries and brisket first rate.

The onions were good.

Amazing barbecue. Really wish I has found this place earlier! The frito pie is delicious! Family owned, good prices, and great food. If only they had longer hours!

old school bbq. A liittle pricy but he uses good meat and quality ingredients. I had the 2 meat sandwich plate and water for lunch– it was $ 11,90. Good baked beans and OK potato salad. This is the BBQ you used to get before Smoke, Lockharts, etc. took it up a notch. But sometimes you just need a chopped beef samich and some beans and Mac’s delivers. Just wish it was about 25% less expensive…

I love bbq so I scooted this way during my lunch break to grab a plate to go. I got brisket with cole slaw and sweet beans and hit the door. Once back to work, I was ready to dig in. My brisket was dry, chewy and the addition of sauce didn’t really help. The sauce was reminiscent of warm tomato soup. The beans had a great flavor and the cole slaw was what it was. I would have had enough to eat for a 2^nd meal but I really just didn’t like it. I wanted to like it. We must not have compatible star signs.

We ate at Mac’s today and it was fine. The owner has some good stories and you feel like you are eating at one of the original BBQ joints in Dallas. The owner and his dad have been in the BBQ business for a a half century of so.
Pro’s:
Ribs were good.
Sauce was good.
Ranch style beans were good.
Slaw was good.
Sausage was good.
Potato salad was standard and pretty good.
Atmosphere was good and service is good.
Con’s:
Brisket was on the dry side and completely crumbly.
No visible rub on anything.
The sides in general were average and bland. Solid sides don’t get me wrong but nothing to set them aside as really spectacular.
Final Thoughts:
D Magazine has ranked this place very high in the past. However, I believe that in the last few years BBQ has been redefined. Lot’s of these sorts of old BBQ joints haven’t really kept up. They continue to do what they were doing in the 70’s and 80’s. Mac’s falls into this category. It’s a lack of rubs and heavier smoke along with more creative sides. Mac’s is very traditional BBQ, the sort of BBQ that you ate with your grandparents when you went out to eat as a kid. This sort of BBQ is fine and dandy but it’s no where close to places like Pecan Lodge and Lockhart’s or really even Rudy’s. I can’t say I’d make a special trip to eat at Mac’s BBQ again. But we did enjoy speaking with the owner and this place is a BBQ historical marker in Dallas and worth trying.

Smoke ring only a sixteenth of an inch. Makes me think it’s finished in the oven. The sauce tasted like doctored store bought.
I wanted to give this spot a higher rating. The owners were great. It had that small-​town institution feel, but the food was average.
Not bad, but given the reviews I expected better

Mac’s is usually listed as a «D Best» for barbecue according to D Magazine, so I thought I’d see how it measured up. I happily and hungrily ordered their Three Meat Plate: pork ribs, sausage, and beef brisket with potato salad and barbeque beans on the side.
The potato salad was nice and creamy, with plenty of mustard to boot. I also found a good amount of crunch from all the veggies. The beans came out piping hot. There was a pleasant sweetness to them, with a nice hit of spice on the back end. No canned beans here.
Apparently Mac’s brisket comes chopped by default. There was lots of smoke, both visibly and to the taste. It was moist and juicy without being overly fatty. The brisket didn’t really need any sauce, but I tried it anyway just for grins. It was definitely a winner.
My combo plate came with a generous helping of sausage, which is always appreciated. It had a nice crispness to the casing and quite a bit of pepper and assorted seasonings beneath. Just like the brisket, the sausage paired very nicely with the barbecue sauce.
I finished things off with the ribs. Surprisingly, the meat was a little dry and tough. The ribs also could have used more spices (especially salt) on the crust. Most disappointing, they were a little skimpy on their meatiness.
This place would be 5-​star barbecue if they could get the ribs on par with the rest of their food.

The Frito Pie is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten in my life. Pinto beans with a hint of chili powder, chopped brisket, fritos and shredded cheddar cheese with BBQ sauce all over it.
I urge you to try it!

All I had here on my lunch visit were the ribs. Like others have noted, the St Louis style pork ribs are fall-​off-​the-​bone, and they are very well smoked with great bark, but I also found them a bit on the dry side. The accompanying bbq sauce was nice and smoky, with just a bit of bite. It wasn’t very sweet, with just a bit of tang. Not my favorite, but bbq sauce taste is very personal.
I wanted to get the mac n’ cheese as others recommended, but they didn’t have it today. Looks like the sides menu is on some kind of rotation.
Husband and wife (I’m guessing) staff are down home friendly and very welcoming. Atmosphere is 50’s Texas, and the place is clean and neat. Prices are standard for bbq fare around the area.