The County Line

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It’s just a nice sit down, overly Texas, kind of BBQ place. We come here about 3 – 4 times a year. Their bread is very good, especially with their honey butter.
I usually get the large brisket plate, which is not too large. Not that I am a glutton, but it’s a lot smaller than other BBQ places in the area. The green beans are good and is probably my favorite side dish. Their rack of pork ribs are fall off the bone good.
It hasn’t been as busy as in the past. It’s a nice place to take someone who is visiting Texas for the first time. They also have a large banquet room for large events.
It’s a staple in the area. Been here for years. It’s not bad, but certainly not the best.

Someone picked up a surprise feast of a to go order from here, as it was nearby. I was excited by the bag of meat that he picked up, but that excitement quickly fell to disappointment.
It was a total letdown. The beef ribs were extremely tough and chewy, and I had to gnaw really hard to get the meat off. The moist brisket that was ordered was flavorless, lean and dry. The pork ribs were okay, though certainly nothing I would write home about, but they were good enough, though not as tender as I am use to. I think the one redeeming meat they had here was the sausage. It was coarse ground, had a nice snap, and were quite tasty.
Still, good sausage can’t save a barbeque joint. Without killer brisket and ribs, you really just can’t hold up in the barbeque world.

5÷8÷13 12:10pm — It has been a long time since I visited this location, it will be a long time before I return. This is typical Houston gas fired barbecue.
I scored The County Line a 68 out of 100. This is Bum Steer BBQ.
Smoke: Website says oak. Could not find a stack anywhere which would explain its absence on the barbecue. There is an embarrassing video where Paula Dean’s sons help load the Southern Pride gas oven. Are you kidding me? This is their Texas barbecue experience? They should edit that stupid film and remove all references to Texas.
Brisket: Good. They got the tenderness part right. Barely 1/​8in smoke ring and no bark. It was tasteless and smokeless roast beef. Use the sauce.
Ribs: Poor. You can get better pork ribs at Chili’s. Seriously, I could have made these ribs in a crock pot. Use the sauce.
Sausage: Good. Nothing special. Use the sauce.
Sauce: Good. Average tomato vinegar based sauce. Drown the whole plate in it. They also had a «Pork Sauce». It was weird. My first thought was Orange Juice. The waitress confirmed it. I hated it.

Our waitress was friendly and quick. We got there 30 min till closing and the service was still good. I had the lean brisket sandwich and loved it. My fiancé had the half rack of ribs and we both loved the sauce they supplied. My only wish was that they had better baked beans than the ones I got.

My aunt and uncle hosted rehearsal dinner here the evening before my cousin’s big day. We had just flow into Texas and were super excited for _​real_​Texas BBQ (I mean, come on, isn’t that what Texas is basically know for?). We had a pretty big group — at least 60 – 70 people would be my guess. Despite the big group, I think our service was really good. It didn’t seem like they had a big team of people working our party, but we didn’t have big long waits and they were great about bringing out more meat as it was being requested. Drinks — those showed up shortly after being ordered too — and they showed up in the right order! Organized and quick: Love it.
The food was only mediocre. We had the brisket, chicken, and ribs as part of our all-​you-​can-​eat options. I found everything, especially the chicken to be incredibly dry. It was so dry, I had to actually drown my chicken in BBQ sauce to get it down my throat, and I’m not someone who usually uses the sauces. I think our first plate of food probably was not the best just because they were trying to get large quantities of food out to the tables and so some of it had sat a bit before making it to service. The follow-​on orders of the ribs were tastier, but still left me wishing for bigger taste. The sauces were not-​that-​good, though I would have to recommend the original (it had a strong vinegar taste to it, but I love vinegar) over the sweet sauce (which tasted like citrus, brown sugar, and some bourbon).
The sides: coleslaw — tasted like mayo and pretty much just mayo; potato salad — okay, but was just potato and mayo with no celery, eggs, or any other add ins; the bread — OMG, good stuff! I highly recommend trying the honey butter with the fresh, warm bread. I couldn’t get enough of the bread.
I can’t comment on pricing since my meal was paid for by someone else, but from the pricing on their web site, everything seemed pretty reasonable (I mean, it is AYCE meat, which isn’t cheap to produce.). My cousin bought some 24 oz. beers for everyone at $ 4.50 a pop, which coming from us West Coast folks, seemed really, really cheap. All around, a good time, but next time I come to Texas, I’m going to try another BBQ place.

Eaten here off and on over the years and the food has gotten progressively worse. The service remains great and friendly, but this may be also because the place is mostly empty for lunch.
Portions are small. Free bread isn’t so free anymore. The meat is oak-​smoked I believe which gives the brisket a smoke ring, but isn’t as flavorful as other woods. The beans are average. The potato salad is below par – under-​seasoned to be bland. The sausage is also so-​so. I do like the pork ribs and the poultry. Forget the desserts too – the cobbler is horrid.

The only place I go for barbecue– get a half loaf of bread appetizer– it is delicious. I get the baby back ribs, killer potato salad and cole slaw and the margaritas in the shaker. Always worth the drive!
I used to go when I lived in Austin– it is my favorite barbecue in Texas.

Simply said. Beef Ribs.
Most of the other BBQ places in town serve pork ribs. This is one of the few that does beef ribs, they are bigger, but better.
The brisket and sausage were OK.

It’s your basic BBQ place with bare bones amenities. They cater as well for a pretty good price. Note: Go for lunch. Dinner pricing is a little unreasonable for what you get.

Yuck! I hate this restaurant! And what’s worse is that I have to drive by it every day because I work on Cutten Rd. I think their BBQ sauce is decent and their meal platters are alright. But their sandwiches always leave me leaving feeling nauseated and overly full. I do not like their sides options so that sucks for me and people like me. And their dinner platters are really expensive which I just don’t understand!
And if you read my reviews, I do not give very many restaurants poor reviews. This one just sticks out to me for being awful!

Adequate food, ok service, good location.
It was a little warm today and a bit windy, so I didn’t take the chance to sit outside, but thats ok.
This place was fairly slow. but it was a Thursday evening. I sat at the bar, as I’m here on business and was flying solo. I ordered up the 2 meat plate with beans and green beans. The baked beans weren’t anything special. The green beans were good.
The pork… Good flavor, but not the best cut of meat. I’m picky about my pork, I like it cooked to perfection and picked of any large pieces of fat and ‘skin’ or whatever its called (I’m having issues finding the word I want). Needless to say I found a couple good size chunks of fat. I like some fat as it gives it flavor, but not this much. It had a good smokey flavor going for it and the bbq sauce was pretty good. (Take this flavor and put it on Pit Master Bbq’s pork and it was be AWESOME!)
I had the lean brisket as well and was very pleased… It had nice char to it, good cut and wonderful flavor. The brisket was cooked very well, it was easy to divide with my fork and melted in my mouth.
And because I was feeling ‘tubby’ this evening I got a rootbeer float… it was splendid as they give you a scoop of ice cream in a mug and a bottle of IBC root beer to make you own… Can’t ask for much more than that…

The important stuff: Get the bread. I know, you have to pay for bread, but it’s totally worth it. You can get 6 big slices for $ 2.99 or a full loaf of 12 slices for $ 3.99. It comes with honey butter and it’s amazing! I could just live on the bread.
We drove up here for a change and we’re glad we did. We drove up on a Friday night and got there around 8pm to find lots of parking and a mostly empty restaurant. I wondered why and then realized that part of it was the broken air conditioning. We decided to stay since we had driven 40 minutes to get to The County Line. It wasn’t bad when we were seated, but it was warm.
I loved the themed country Texan style interior. I know it’s cliché but I liked it. I loved that the bathrooms play a «How to speak like a cowboy» tape. The place has a ton to look at while you are waiting for your food. There is indoor and outdoor seating and the neighborhood has big pine trees, so it’s really pretty outside.
We got the bread as I already mentioned and it was amazing. The butter with honey just pushed it over the edge. I’m addicted now. I ordered the chicken sandwich. I thought it would be smoked and sliced with bbq sauce like at other bbq places, but it wasn’t. It was still ok, but I’ll read more closely next time. My husband got the 3 meat plate with 2 sides ($ 14.99). The pulled pork was his favorite and came with its own little container of sauce. I think we’ll both get pulled pork next time. He also enjoyed his peppered turkey and sausage. He enjoyed all the meat he got. The sides he didn’t like much. I tasted the potato salad and it was bland bland, as was the cole slaw. He had more than enough to eat with the meats and bread, but we do wish the sides had been better.
I used his bbq sauce on my sandwich and it was pretty good. I’ll definitely get something with bbq sauce on it next time.
The service was friendly and even the manager came by to refill our sodas and ask how our food was. Overall, they were attentive without hovering.
I’ll definitely be back and hopefully the AC will be working next time. It’s such a cute place with pretty good food. I’m interested in trying the bbq pork ribs.

Food was just OK, and a poor value for the $$$. Much better out there.
Peach cobbler for desert was heated (maybe microwaved?) so hot it was inedible for 10 minutes.

I was living in Spring TX when The County Line open in the early 90’s. The one outside of Austen was great and this one was close to it! I was just back in Texas at the holiday and we drove to the County Line for dinner. When I pulled up the parking lot was almost empty, there was no wait to get a table and half of the dinning room was closed! All of these should have let me know the County Line I loved in the past was no longer! I could write about all of the things that made this place great a one time but why! The food was not even close to the past, or even a roadside BBQ stand! I can not believe that anyone would like this happen to a place that stood for good Texas BBQ!
County Line R.I.P.
Remember to eat well and live well! And please no chains!

This establishment puts Texas BBQ to shame.
Although they have a wide variety of meats, the three meat platter was a sorry excuse for a feast.
Standard brisket — dry, barely seasoned and terrible BBQ sauce. There was no flavor in their famous sauce. It was sour and unappeasing.
The pork ribs were on the dry side as well, with them hard to break apart.
The beef ribs were ok: but don’t make me want to come back for them.
The service was great though. They put up with our antics of a large party and birthday. It alone earned them another star.

Funny how I just now saw my brother’s review and we rated it the same and similar comments. As a visitor from California, you have high expectations on Texas BBQ since it’s the capital brisket. When we found our cousin’s wedding rehersal was at County Line, I was drooling. To my disappointment, it was just okay. The brisket did not stand out, the pork ribs were tasty. There are places here in the Bay area that can rival this place. I still think hands the best brisket ever is in San Antonio. That being said, I’m willing to give it another try since I was in a large group of 75 people and it was family style. I’d rather have my own plate of ribs and brisket.

I was visiting Houston for about 3 weeks and wanted to eat some great BBQ while I was in town. I went to four different restaurants and by far The County Line was the best. I will admit that the best BBQ is probably at a small unknown shack but those are not easy to find without being directed to them.
I had a combination plate that included a ¼ rack of beef ribs, pork tenderloin, beans, potato salad, cole slaw and a drink for $ 9.99. I was hooked with my first bite. The ribs were amazing: juicy and full of flavor. The tenderloin was a little on the dry side, but the amazing BBQ sauce made it delicious. Sides are not usually worth mentioning but the beans were fantastic. They had a great smokey flavor that complemented the meat and sauce.
If you are visiting Houston and are looking for a BBQ place… choose The County Line. Don’t even think about Pappa’s: there is No comparison!

Two words: Beef Ribs.
It looks like a chain and it sort of is, but with higher prices. But the beef ribs are the shiznit. Everything else is marginal — dry brisket, average sausage, bland sides. But good sauce. When I eat the beef ribs here, I imagine myself hanging off the side of a cow by my teeth. ‘Cause that’s how freaking big they are.
Beef. Ribs. Get. Some.

I maintain that the best BBQ is found in little ramshackle shacks located in small towns off the beaten path in Nowhere County, Texas. So why do I like the County Line?
They do a good job at pretty much everything. Inviting, faux-​camp décor. Friendly, professional waitstaff. And BBQ that’s plenty good, and better than pretty much any other chain that I can name.
I started at County Line when I lived in Austin, and frequented both locations. The concept has made the trip down Hwy 290 with its goodness intact.
What to order? My favorite here are the baby back pork ribs. A full rack is large; a half rack is plenty for most folks. In either case you get some tender (but not falling-​off-​the-​bone) meaty pork ribs, nicely prepared and doused with a sweet-​but-​not-​too-​sweet sauce. Beef lovers will be thrilled with their gigantic beef ribs, served with a sauce that’s not quite a sweet, and the brisket is very good too.
Bread is another high point here. Why pay for bread in a BBQ joint? Because it’s homemade and superb, fluffy and sweet and when topped with the provided honey butter it’s a decadent addition to the carnivorous offerings on the table.
What’s not to like? It’s a bit more expensive than some places, but the prices aren’t out of line for a sit-​down meal; this one just happens to consist of very good BBQ.
County Line is a great choice for those who love great BBQ, especially if our town’s more elemental BBQ joints are a bit too edgy for them.