Cooper's BBQ

Next up on our BBQ trip was Cooper's BBQ in Llano.  I think you say that "Lah-Noh."  But Grant liked to call it "Yawn-oh."  Go figure.

They were all stocked up for the lunch rush on the last day of our trip.  Pork & beef sausages, brisket, chicken, pork and beef ribs, and even a little goat somewhere in there.  That pot on the end is a giant bucket of Cooper's sauce, a kind of thin, sweet BBQ sauce.  

You tell Mr. Bartlett there what you want and he hacks it off and covers it in sauce.  (His name isn't really Mr. Bartlett, but he looks creepy like my high school calculus teacher in this picture.  On one hand, maybe it really is Mr. Bartlett... moving to nowhere, Texas to chop up BBQ'd animals sounds like something he might do...)

Then you take your food inside where they cut it up and you can pick up all sorts of sides, desserts, etc.  The line wasn't nearly as long as at Salt Lick, but considering it was lunchtime in a tiny town, the 20-30 minute wait seems fairly significant.

Then you take your place in the crowded dining room next to Cowboys and trophies alike.

We got a lot of meat.  I think we were feeling down about our trip being almost over so we made up for it in food...  Sausage, pork, ribs, brisket, and maybe something else... can't remember.  Like at Kreuz's they wrap your food up in butcher paper and you get free white bread to supplement your meal.

Cooper's also has a self-serve bar where you can get endless beans (they were awesome), onions, and sauce.

The brisket and ribs were excellent.  Grant was especially excited to finally get some ribs on the trip.  We liked the flavor of the sausage more than at Kruez's- a little heartier and less sweet.  However, Grant still claimed Kreuz's sausage had the better crunchy factor for its casing.  

We had a lovely conversation with a few other Cooper's patrons after they overheard us reviewing Cooper's vs. Kruez's.  The man next to us told us we should have our own TV show because our descriptions were so enticing. Hah.  Winners.

This is how Grant felt about that:

We ended up with a fair bit left over so we wrapped it up in foil, filled up a take-out bowl with Cooper's awesome beans, and said goodbye to the cowboy hats, suspenders, and of course, the deer on the bright red walls.

Now, I'm starving.  Baby T is begging for brisket... Yes, he speaks now :)