Hot take: The best brisket I ever had came from a gas station in Lubbock, Texas

I was rolling through Lubbock last month on a delivery and stopped for gas at a little place called Rudy's. The pitmaster there was just pulling a brisket off a big offset smoker out back, no fancy setup or nothing. I got a sliced sandwich for $8 and it was juicier and had a better bark than any place I've paid $30 for brisket in Austin. Has anyone else found killer BBQ hiding in random spots like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily_cooper12h ago

Wait, hold up. Rudy's? That's a chain.

brooket4310h ago

Is it just me or do most "local" spots end up being chains now?

hannah_west3910h ago

Look at their website for a minute. How many locations do they actually have? Because from what I remember, Rudy's started as a real honest to goodness local BBQ joint in Texas, then slowly grew into a chain over like 30 years. So is it still considered "local" if it started that way but now has ten or fifteen spots? I feel like that blurs the line between a real local place and just another chain. Where do you personally draw that line? Because I think a lot of people would say no if they found out it had multiple locations.