Railroad BBQ

What a ridiculously bad restaurant! Overpriced for what you get, surly help… Terribly mediocre food, in a region known for barbecue this is a must avoid! Sides are unremarkable there’s almost no bark on the brisket, sausage was dried out, the turkey was a semi-​highlight… But that’s kind of like being the queen of the pigs nobody goes to a barbecue restaurant for the turkey. If this place has a good smoker I hope they shut down soon and somebody who knows how to use it moves in!

The food is pretty decent but who cuts the brisket here? The 18 year old girl who was presumably cutting when we went in cut the smoke ring and crust off the moist brisket I ordered. I ended up with a gray plate of ok brisket. Not what it could have been with the best part cut off.

I love the Pork ribs and fried okra. I always buy extra to take home and my family gobbles it up. I also have enjoyed their sausage in the past.

We should’ve had a clue about the food when on a Friday night at seven we were the only ones there. The brisket and pork ribs were dry and little flavoring.

Never heard of this place before, was driving by and the parking lot was packed, so that’s usually a good sign right?
Ordered ½ pound of moist brisket with bark and got exactly what I ordered.
Not bad at all, definitely not world champion stuff but seriously not bad at all.
The meat was cut a bit too thick and it certainly wasn’t the most tender brisket that I’ve ever had but good flavor, not too smoky and not too salty.
So next time I’ll ask them to cut it a little thinner and that should solve the problem next time.
Also the lady that took my order was certainly friendly enough.
And they have cold beer, so can’t be bad right?
Despite all the negative Unilocal reviews I say give it a shot if you’re in the area, myself I’ll try it again if I’m driving by.
PS: It looks great from the outside, a good sized parking lot, catchy bright neon sign & etc. But this place is still a bit of a dive, so don’t expect an ultra-​modern chain restaurant OK?

Where to start… Just not good BBQ at all. Tried the turkey today and wow, it was so dry and tasteless. BBQ sauce is cold and bland. Fired okra was average. The best thing about my meal was the ranch dipping sauce. The coster service was poor. Workers just did not look happy to be there.
Please don’t spend your money on this place.

I had a hankering for some good barbecue and headed here after a suggestion by a well meaning local. The menu was less than impressive and offered the basics and nothing more. The floor was sticky, the tables were sticky, the condiments were sticky and half the dining area needed bussing (it wasn’t busy). The food was mediocre, and after spending 30 $ for two for lunch, I’m leaving unsatisfied. Not happy with the service or attention to detail here.

I have been a couple of times with family! Kids love the chop bbq sandwich

I’ve stopped into Railroad a few times, and the BBQ is mediocre at best. This past visit, I ordered a sliced BBQ sandwich that was just horrible. It was all fatty, unchewable meat. I really tried to eat the sandwich, but it just wasn’t edible. I returned it and my drink for a refund. I sure wish there was a good alternative in DS.

Four years after my first review of Railroad BBQ, I can report I’m becoming a regular. The joint is now run by a chap named Gerald along with his attentive staff that seems to make the patrons happy with local banter and consistent cooking. The ordering process hasn’t changed since inception. Counter service then waiting for your name to be called to pick up your grub.
The drink station is always clean as is the condiment area that includes fresh chopped onion, sliced pickles, and jalapenos. This could be my favorite option in the place as I seem to drizzle and or rub the whole jalapenos on everything! The cole slaw is tasty along with the beans which is a first for me. Quality continues with excellent fried okra… Oh Lord, I’m reverting to my Hill Country upbringing.
Favorites for me start with the Wednesday special. A brisket and sausage sandwich with two sides for $ 8. Tender brisket with your choice of regular or jalapeño sausage with drink included; total bargain. Another winner would be the ultra tender chicken. The rub is subtle yet amazing paired with the house made BBQ sauce. Add in the jalapeño option with me slicing and coating the bird with spicy pickling juice. Dang, I heart chicken with skin.
In retrospect, I’m sure BBQ joints in Texas could rival Tex-​Mex restaurants in actual numbers. The good ones don’t last; but I’m quite sure Railroad has a great future in the Dripping Springs dining scene. You should have some banana pudding just to make sure your completely satisfied… STATIC…GARBLED…Ok, I’m gonna have to shut down country James. Back to the eternal search for the best molecular gastronomy spin on fava bean pearls.

We eat at Railroad a couple of times a week. Good BBQ at a good price. It’s a staple around the office. Their catering service is great too.

I’ve been a fan of the Salt Lick and Rudy’s when I wanted something closer. We drove by here the other day and stopped in before reading the reviews. Yikes, wish we had read the reviews first! The place is nice and clean, and the staff is nice, but the food leaves a lot to be desired.
The brisket is dry and bland. The turkey was the best thing we had there, but it was on the bland side a bit as well. The chopped beef was seriously lacking in texture and was more of a mush than anything else.
Also, prices are definitely on the high side here. I will not be going back, and would personally never recommend it to anyone else.

If you get a chance to stop in – DON“T! The waitstaff is OK, however, the cashier’s assets were more than I would like to see at a food establishment.
The brisket was kinda dry — the jalapeño sausage was good and the beer was COLD, a definite plus. All-​in-​all i’ve had better.

We hired Railroad BBQ in Dripping Springs to cater our daughter’s wedding reception after dropping in a few times to try the food. I don’t understand some of the negative reviews because we love their food and couldn’t be more pleased. The food was a big hit with our 145 guests and BBQ was the perfect complement to our Hill Country wedding. Several guests mentioned they were delighted we didn’t serve the typical dry chicken entrée. Gerald was a pleasure to work with and was responsive to calls and emails. He was patient with us as we made changes to our menu and followed up to ensure everything was in order. His team arrived on time, set up promptly and interacted well with our guests. They cleared tables and took care of everything. They exceeded my expectations and their price per person was great!

Just realized I never wrote a review for these guys. It’s not surprising I forgot, I think I was just trying to forget about them in general. Not the cleanest place I’ve been and the BBQ was dry and not really in the realm of what I consider «good». Wish I could’ve given them better marks, but in the end, you just have to be accountable when you serve bad BBQ in Central Texas!

Good solid bbq, not the best but certainly not the worse, musrard potato salad is excellent according to my potato salad experts. I’m really taken with the fried okra, hot crispy & most important not greasy. Brisket is moist and tender, a bit fatty at times. Turkey is real breast of turkey, not some pressed mystery meat, also never dry. Chicken tend to be on the small side, good flavor more delicate smoking process used to get a tender bird. Can be less hot than the other meats. Service before closing can be questionable, I think the staff want to close and get annoyed when someone comes in and orders a lot of food. My take on this place is the food is quite good, service iffy.

I really wanted this place to be good, since it is close to where I live, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. I have been here several times with the off-​hand chance that they would learn as they go and get better, but I’d have to say no. I spoke with the manager and asked what they had that was gluten free. I was told what they had that was.
I’ll take a detour here: As is often the case in this area, read: near Austin, there is a lot of ignorance about what gluten free means. It does NOT mean what a lot of people think, that if the label do not list gluten, it is Gluten Free. Flour containing wheat, barley, rye or related grains contain Gluten. In addition, because of the FDA’s brilliance, depending on the amount, Gluten can be left off the nutritional information, and be lumped in under spices, or natural flavors. Unless it say GLUTEN FREE on the label of anything having an ingredients list, it’s NOT gluten free. Secondly, if you are to claim that something is Gluten Free, a separate area with separate utensils etc must be used in order to avoid cross-​contamination. People sensitive to Gluten react to amounts of a few PPM (Parts per million). That is less than 0.5 milligrams per pound, or less than ¹⁄₆₀ 000 of an oz. This is less than the amount of a small bread crumb. Tossing a pizza in the same kitchen, makes it so everything there is exposed to gluten.
So, after further questioning, it turns out that many of the items are likely NOT Gluten Free. I ordered what I felt was safest, but I still got sick.
Far to many people take this too lightly, it’s not just an inconvenience, like an allergy, that might make you sneeze. There is actual intestinal damage that lasts up to several weeks and gives the sufferer stomach-​flu like symptoms for several days or longer.
As far as the food’s flavor, it was not good. The ribs were hard, really hard, and not very flavorful. The lean brisket was dry, the moist brisket was full of fat, yet still kind of dry. The sides were pretty awful.

They say doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Then what is doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same result?
Stupidity.
After the last mega-​meh experience I had with generic bbq (see my review on still-​extant Blue Ribbon), you’d think I would know way the hell better than to stop at a random bbq place nobody’s ever mentioned to me. Especially since my innards have lost the ability to process your average side-​of-​the-​road food.
No sir. I is dumb.
Railroad doesn’t trump Blue Ribbon in terms of ultra-​genericness, but it’s pretty close. At least RR’s chicken is actually on the bone. But it seemed undercooked, and pretty blah. Potato salad: bleh. Cole slawed: passable. Ice tea: overoverbrewed. Service: standard. Cleanliness/​décor: ok. Free wifi: (free wifi???) yes
If you were starving driving back from a road trip this way, you could stop here if you absolutely could not make it to Austin proper. Although the food is not good, I don’t think it will hurt you.
But I wouldn’t.
(p.s. these guys have 3 (!!) locations, so you have 3 chances to avoid them).

How can you screw up BBQ in a placed called Dripping Springs?
OK, you go to the Railroad BBQ.
Nice enough joint but the brisket is not good. Overcooked through and through. I did use a bit to repair a hole in a boot I had but it is not good Q.
And, that, my friends, is all she wrote.
The sausage was workmanlike and tasty and even they can’t screw up white bread, right?
Don’t do it. You been warned.

We were in a hurry, and did not want to wait at the Salt Lick. My son saw Railroad BBQ on the side of the road, and my hunger got the better of my wits. NOTE TO SELF: Listen to your brain, not your stomach.
To spend a lot of time describing our experience would be a second punishment.
All I can say about Railroad BBQ is «DON’T.»
Ever heard of dry, tough as nails, can’t chew this shoe leather off the bone pork ribs? Yeah, neither had I, until this place. I ordered a pound of ribs and there were just about a pound of ribs left on the table, with a few crowns, and assorted other tooth bits and dental work, when we were finished. They should have provided a hack saw. I wanted to take it back and ask for a refund, but politer people in my group said «no.»
I looked over at the next table, to see if their ribs were any different, and it looked like that scene out of «Christmas Vacation» where everyone was trying to pry some meat off Catherine’s dry-​to-​the-​bone turkey. Same facial expressions. Same crunching.
I won’t complain about the order/​payment system, but you stand in line at the register, then they call your order is ready, then you go stand in line at the same register a second time to pay. Makes no sense, but then again, the same people that confused pork jerky with ribs thought of it, so what the heck.
If you are in Dripping Springs, just keep on going south on TX 12 to the Salt Lick is my recommendation. Railroad BBQ is one station you don’t want to pull in to.