Hard Eight Pit Bar-B-Que

STEPHENVILLE: Hard Eight Pit Bar-B-Que
1091 Glen Rose Rd.
Stephenville, TX 76401
254-968-5552
Open M-Thur 10:30-9, F-Sat 10:30-10, Sun 10:30-8
www.hardeightbbq.com/

I stopped here with a friend to conclude a 2-1/2 day, 14 joint road trip. He wasn't used to the blitzkrieg style of BBQ force-feeding, but he handled himself well during the initiation weekend. We agreed to order the bare minimum, two ribs and two slices of lean brisket. When paying for our order, I noticed two stacks of cups. The tall stack labeled "Fountain Drinks", and the short stack labeled "Water and Beer". I didn't see any beer, so I asked at the register, and the angel behind the counter informed me that the beer was free! Reenergized we sat down for our plates of meat with cold beer.

I ordered just two slices of brisket, but they were each about an inch thick of reddish colored meat. The crust and fat had been removed, but the flavor of the rub and the smoke remained. The slices were perfectly tender and juicy, so we had to finish them even though our stomachs were begging for mercy. The ribs were also enormous with the same heavy salt and pepper rub. The thick meat had smoke flavor all the way through, but they could have been more tender. Overall, this original location is still the best of the Hard Eight bunch, and luckily, it's the closest to home.

Rating ****

Hard Eight Bar-B-Que

BRADY: Hard Eight Bar-B-Que
2010 S Bridge St.
Brady, TX 76825
325-597-1936
Open M-Thur 10:30-9, F-Sat 10:30-10, Sun 10:30-9

Update: This joint is CLOSED.

2008: The Hard Eight brand is well known to many Dallasites who've driven down Highway 67 to visit the Stephenville location. The second location in Brady took over the former Lone Star BBQ location. After my first Hard Eight experience in Coppell, I wasn't expecting much. The meat is ordered in the same way, right at the pit, and the smell of sweet mesquite while waiting my turn to order made my mouth water. This is an intelligent business strategy. Display the entire menu to a load of hungry folks and dare them not to over-order. A friend and I took the bait with both lean and fatty brisket and pork ribs. The ribs were long and thin with a salt and pepper rub reminiscent of Cooper's style, but this one had a better balance of more pepper and less salt. Every bite of the ribs contained some of that rub, so it was hard to detect any smoke flavor. The rib meat was nicely tender with well rendered fat, but they needed to be thicker to stand up to that rub. The thick slices of brisket made for a nice rub to meat ratio. The brisket was mildly smoky with little difference in overall flavor between the fatty and lean brisket. This was due mainly to the fact that the meat needed more time on the smoker to adequately render the fat. While this experience was better than my first in Coppell, I was anxious to get to Stephenville for a comparison to the storied original location.

Rating ***

Cooper's Bar-B-Q

JUNCTION: Cooper’s Bar-B-Q
2423 N Main St.
Junction, TX 76849
325-446-8664
Open Daily 10:30-9

This is one of many locations run by the Cooper family, and the meat is smoked in a similar fashion as the other joints, but it is not displayed in the large smokers outside. Instead, the meat is displayed on the counter at the entry, and it all looked great. We ordered pork ribs, sausage (which is made for Cooper's in Schulenburg, TX) and both fatty and lean brisket. The sausage links were flecked with black pepper and had a great snap in the casing. They had the right balance of fat and meat with a medium grind. The pork ribs were huge. The rub had black pepper and a generous amount of salt. The ribs were then doused in a thin vinegar sauce that created mire flavor profiles than I'm used to in a simple smoked rib. The flavor of the salt overpowered most other flavors, and hid any smoke flavor that may have existed. The slices of brisket had good flavor, but the undeft hand of the man behind the counter wielding the knife created some very hard to eat slices. The fatty brisket was loaded with unrendered fat, and was sliced with, rather than against, the grain making it tough. The lean brisket was also sliced with the grain, and contained about as much fat as I'd expect in a fatty slice. The salt rub was once again front and center, but a good crust and smoky flavor made this brisket more pleasing than the ribs. The lean slices might have been rated higher if they were more tender, but there's no need to order the fatty brisket here. You'll get the gobs of fat which normally find themselves in the waste bucket.

Rating ***