Ray Flores

Overall, a great experience. The ribs were the best thing on my plate. The brisket was amazing as well. We did load up on sides, and the bill reflected that. :O And I have to mention the wonderful little cats that free roam outside. :) Will definitely return!

+5

GiGi’s List

Yesterday my family and I visited Black’s Barbecue in San Marcos. This was my third visit and before I even arrived I was already looking forward to ribs, brisket, green beans, macaroni and cheese and the creamed corn! We’ll talk about the desserts too! We arrived around 2:30 pm, so we missed the lunch and dinner rush-hour. There was plenty of seating and plenty of parking. They have two parking lots to help handle the crowd. The exterior of the building is very much a barbecue restaurant looking building. Upon entrance to the restaurant, you walk into the main area where the line with form so you can order your food. The first stop is the sides station and you choose your sides and then you move on to the meat cutting station, and then the checkout. At the register, you tell them what you want to drink and they hand you a cup. It is self service drink refills. You also pick up your silverware and the condiments for your meal in this area. After we had our food, we went and located a table and sat down and dug in! We ordered larger portions, so our family could serve the meal family style. The food is incredible, with tender, flavorful brisket that melts in your mouth and ribs that are perfectly smoked. We tried the chicken this time as well. And it did not disappoint! We ordered mac and cheese green beans, and cream corn. We did not try the potato salad, but next time I will. All of the sides complement the main dishes perfectly. For dessert we ordered the peach cobbler and pecan cobbler. They were out of banana pudding on this visit. But if you are a fan of banana pudding, you will definitely want to try it. The desserts were awesome. My family and I agreed that Black’s bbq did not disappoint! at the end of the meal, we were all full and ready to head home to relax! What makes the experience even better is the staff. They’re friendly, welcoming, and efficient, always making sure you feel right at home. The atmosphere is laid-back and casual, and there's plenty of seating, whether you want to enjoy your meal inside or on the spacious outdoor patio. It’s the perfect spot for a relaxed meal with family or friends. Overall, Black’s Barbecue in San Marcos delivers on every front—great food, excellent service, and a comfortable, inviting space. Highly recommend if you’re in the area!

+14

Kathy Scoggins Smith

This place is a gem. Food was so good. It was like an old country store restaurant. You order you food from gentleman in a line. Then you seat yourself. You get your drink and bread from counter. They were very friendly and pleasant. They do have a lady who walks around and ask if there is anything she can get us. You pay for your food at the end of line. I wish we had these kind of restaurants in the Atlanta area. We always want BBQ when visiting our son and family in Texas. Texans are blessed to have good BBQ.

+3

M B

Overall excellent barbecue. Food for three. We've eaten at most of the top rated Texas barbecue places and Black's generally deserves its ratings. Moist brisket is superb, as is the pork. One of our party tried the two meat sandwich pairing brisket with jalapeno/cheese per the recommendation of one of the staff. The jalapeno/cheese overwhelmed the taste of the brisket. The sausage was removed and eaten separately. The sausage by itself is good, but not excellent, and does not deserve to be paired with the superb moist brisket. Next time we visit, we'll skip the sausage and stay with the brisket and pork. Sides were all rated as excellent, especially the mashed potatoes.

+1

Lauri B

Independence Day wouldn’t be complete without some good Texas barbecue. We found this place based on reviews. It was also featured on Good Tastes with Tanji Patton. If you’re not familiar with her show, she does tours around Texas finding the best restaurants. I definitely agree with her recommendation for this place! We chose to share items so we could try multiple things. It’s a walk up order type restaurant. You get your sides first then your meats like a cafeteria style. The service is friendly and helpful. They cut the meat right in front of you and ask if the cut looks good. I thought that was a nice touch. Brisket was tender and fell apart without the use of a knife. Great burnt edges held in that smoky flavor. The turkey was juicy. The spare ribs were fall off the bone delicious. The sausage links were plump and tasty. For our sides, we had coleslaw, mac & cheese, potato salad, and mashed potatoes. Everything was great, but that’s the best coleslaw I’ve ever had hands-down! They have fountain drinks and tea, both sweet and unsweetened merch is available for purchase. The restaurant is clean and smells amazing. Go hungry. This place is good! You even get a souvenir cup!

+13

I have tried many bbq places.. This was by far the best one I've ever had. The brisket was amazing and the beans.My gosh , usually , they're just okay , but they , I think they put meat drippin…

I have tried many bbq places.. This was by far the best one I've ever had. The brisket was amazing and the beans.My gosh , usually , they're just okay , but they , I think they put meat drippings i…

Best Barbecue in Texas! First time here and will be driving back from Houston! Also, great service!!!!!

Best barbecue in Texas! First time here and will be driving back from Houston! Also, great service!!!!!

The absolute best BBQ i've have in the area!!! the service was great and it was so neat watching them cut up and prepare your order right in front of you. everything was cooked to perfection and so…

The folks were so friendly and helpful. I avoid gluten and they were super informed and accomodating. The place was cute and clean! Outside seating area was fantastic! We loved it.

Outstanding Brisket and Chicken, @ Reasonable Prices! \n\nThe sides aren't anything Special and a re Overpriced, as are the drinks, but overall this one of the Best Q Joints in Central Texas!

I have been watching Tanji every Saturday morning and she is always with black’s barbecue! I’ve been telling my husband for years that I wanted to try it, and we finally made the trip from San Leon …

I have been watching Tanji every Saturday morning and she is always with black’s barbecue! I’ve been telling my husband for years that I wanted to try it, and we finally made the trip from San Leo…

Absolutely delicious food with friendly staff!!! Would highly recommend Black’s Barbecue!! Will definitely return again !!!

Absolutely delicious food with friendly staff!!! Would highly recommend Black’s barbecue!! Will definitely return again !!!

Absolutely delicious food with friendly staff!!! Would highly recommend Black’s barbecue!! Will definitely return again !!!

Absolutely delicious food with friendly staff!!! Would highly recommend Black’s Barbecue!! Will definitely return again !!!

I have always liked Black's bbq and this is my new favorite location. The bbq is outstanding, the veggies are great and the staff is friendly.

I have always liked Black's bbq and this is my new favorite location. The BBQ is outstanding, the veggies are great and the staff is friendly.

Fantastic food. The brisket was outstanding and the turkey was wonderful. The beef rib was amazing. The atmosphere is family oriented.

Fantastic food. The brisket was outstanding and the turkey was wonderful. The beef rib was amazing. The atmosphere is family oriented.

Great food as always! Great atmosphere. Only problem was the bar wasn’t open . The beef was so tender it fell apart!

Went here with my wife the brisket was absolutely amazing great flavor and consistency. My wife had the Turkey and loved it. Peach cobbler was to die for! Not cheap but good food never is!

Juan

The coleslaw little sweeter than the kfc. The brisket sandwhich real good just served with a tangey bbq instead of sweet. Could have had more bbq options.Turkey is a lot better than most places and super moist. They could use some help if people hel around.

Daniel Lopez

Was driving through San Marcos to get to San Antonio. Got on Yelp and it suggested this place. I had the turkey Sandwich and potato salad. The HEB Texas BBQ place has better turkey and potato salad. The salt lick is better and for an awesome potato salad go to the Slow bone in Dallas. The staff was very nice and friendly. Food just OK.

+8

Alejandro (AlejOpinion)

I recently visited Black’s BBQ in San Marcos, TX. The customer service was okay, nothing extraordinary but efficient enough. The highlight of my visit was definitely the brisket – it was delicious, tender, and full of flavor. However, in my personal opinion, the price doesn’t quite match the place and the overall quality. While the flavor was good, I felt that the cost was a bit steep for what was offered. Overall, it’s a decent spot for BBQ if you’re in the area, but be prepared for prices that might seem a bit high for the experience.

+2

Went on Tuesday the 20th of January. They have half price brisket sandwiches, damn good. I had two great sides, and ice-tea for under \n$ 20.00. I was extremely full when leaving.\nThey also have a g…

Went on Tuesday the 20th of January. They have half price brisket sandwiches, damn good. I had two great sides, and ice-tea for under \n$ 20.00. I was extremely full when leaving.\nThey also have a…

Went on Tuesday the 20th of January. They have half price brisket sandwiches, damn good. I had two great sides, and ice-tea for under \n$ 20.00. I was extremely full when leaving.\nThey also have a…

Loved the beef rib it was great, the spare ribs were not so good, and the sides were ok. The service and sweet tea was good.

Loved the beef rib it was great, the spare ribs were not so good, and the sides were ok. The service and sweet tea was good.

Loved the beef rib it was great, the spare ribs were not so good, and the sides were ok. The service and sweet tea was good.

Loved the beef rib it was great, the spare ribs were not so good, and the sides were ok. The service and sweet tea was good.

This is not their best location. Last it wasn't terrible, but still has not ever been as good as the other blacks locations. \nThis time though was awful. When I go, I like to get down on some meat. …

Good bbq, the pinto beans are amazing! Skip the peach cobbler, over cooked, few peaches, strange texture cobbler.

Smells, dirty and bbq isn't great at all.\nI wouldn't recommend coming- not worth the prices

This is some top level BBQ, meats and sides were delicious! clean and spacious location with friendly quick service! We just moved to the San Marcos area and this has become or go to spot!

The pork ribs and brisket is excellent, never had any better. The experience for the first timer was not easy. Ordering, finding forks, salt, hot sauce, napkins was not that easy. It was just klu…

On the way home from our road trip, we stopped by Black's BBQ in San Marcos for lunch. We ordered cream corn, potato salad, pork ribs and fatty brisket. The cream corn and fatty brisket was rea…

I honestly hate to leave this review. I love Terry Blacks BBQ, love Lockhart location so when I brought my husband on a Valentines Day "BBQ crawl" we stopped at this location for lunch and the brisket was just ok. The moist brisket wasn't even tender. The sausage was awful dry. The mac was meh. Service and atmosphere was excellent! The food was just disappointing. I am trying to tell myself it was a Thursday but I expected better.

I was able to check off a visit to Black’s Original BBQ in Lockhart from my bucket list. The brisket was amazing, I got mine cut from the point. However I was extremely disappointed in the sausage. I did not like the texture as it was very grainy and fell apart once the skin was broken. The pork ribs were very tender and fell off the bone but all I could taste was smoke. The bbq sauce was perfect and really helped the ribs. In addition, the peach cobbler and pinto beans were very good.

lisaraecrowoman

I'm not sure if they were having an off day or if the food is always this way or it's just not to my taste. The brisket was outstanding and the sausage was pretty good too so there's that. The sides and baby back ribs however, not so much. The green beans were so salty we couldn't eat them. The potato salad was super heavy on the mayo, and sweet (?). The taste of the pinto beans wasn't bad but they were insanely gummy. The 3-bean salad was pretty good! The baby back ribs could have been cooked longer so they would be more tender. All in all, I'm cooking the ribs in the oven for an additional hour. I added a ton of water to the pintos. I'm adding vinegar and salt to the potato salad and will also be adding some chopped celery. The green beans will have to go in compost. Sad to say this was a disappointment for the most part. I would like to add the staff was fabulous. Very kind, considerate and accommodating.

Christopher Samples

The first time that I ever had brisket that was pre-sliced, needless to say it was very dried out. The flavor was nice, a little salt and smoke, but too dry to eat. I wish that I wouldn’t have ordered so much. The pork belly was really tasty, it saved the meal, it was cut with the grain, so it was a tiny bit difficult to bite through, top notch otherwise.

Stopped by Blacks while visiting San Marcos for a wedding. Using Terry Black's as a comparison for barbecue this place is mediocore at best. I ordered the half chicken, brisket, baby back ribs an…

I want to start off by saying Kent blacks beef ribs are the best item on the menu! We absolutely have to order these when we visit the area. We drive 8 hours just for beer ribs here! Brisket is d…

I want to start off by saying Kent blacks beef ribs are the best item on the menu! We absolutely have to order these when we visit the area. We drive 8 hours just for beer ribs here! Brisket is del…

Pork ribs 5/5 very tender and delicious \nBeef brisket 2.5/5 super dry. I would not recommend. It was so uncomfortably dry that I had to chase some bites with water \nMac and cheese 4/5 very solid …

Brisket is good but bbq sauce is nothing great at all. Place is running down, old and not so clean.

Nice atmosphere but bbq was just ok. Brisket and pulled pork were cooked perfectly but lacked flavor. Beans were bland and potato salad tasted store bought. There are better bbq places in town.

Stopped here with my wife on the way back from Austin for lunch thinking it was gonna be great. Spoiler alert, it was not. We ordered a beef rib ($45), a sausage link, lean brisket, mashed potatoes with gravy, Mac and cheese, and banana pudding. Safe to say that we had a little bit of everything except for poultry and pork. -beef rib was like 80% fat. Meat was decent when you could find some. Asked an employee if it’s always that full of fat and they said, “Yes, we don’t trim the fat.” Sir, I paid $45 for a bone and fat with a side of beef. -sausage link was EXTREMELY dry. Flavor was decent. Have your water nearby. -wife ordered lean brisket which sure, you expect to be lean, but this batch of brisket was like cardboard. Wife knew she messed up 🤷🏻‍♂️ -mashed potatoes were just okay. Missing some kind of seasoning. -Mac and chz were above average. -banana pudding was mostly pudding and a little bananas or wafers. - $115 for two people for mediocre bbq. Tip included. Maybe it was just that Sunday that we went but nothing about this place was as good as people say it is. I go to plenty of bbq restaurants in San Antonio and don’t have the highest standards. I really wanted this to be a great review but unfortunately it’s not. 2 stars just because it’s sinister to charge those prices based off of reputation and not quality of food. Also, if you don’t believe me, just look at my photos!

Joseph Rodriguez

Brisket was burnt and no smoke flavor. Chicken was dry with no flavor. The ribs looked as if they were cooked in the oven, no smoke flavor. The smoked turkey breast was the best and the green beans were good. Mac n cheese was cold and dry. Sweet tea was also on point.

+4

Way way WAY too expensive for what you are getting!! Save your money, go down the street to Riley's and get much better food for a Much more affordable price !!!! The service came across as ver…

What a disappointment and waste of my time and money. I literally drove out of my way to eat here. This place is run by a bunch of high school aged kids who probably can't even spell BBQ!!! The chopp…

What a disappointment and waste of my time and money. I literally drove out of my way to eat here. This place is run by a bunch of high school aged kids who probably can't even spell BBQ!!! The cho…

I have no idea why people like this place. The bbq is overcooked and the rub they use is clove dominant. The staff is entirely ignorant of how to cut a brisket, let alone manage a reheat. And no of…

This isn’t a place to brag about after traveling all the way from Colorado they didn’t even give me utensils to eat my food nor bar b que sauce when it was a to go order m, I will tell everyone about how bad I was treated by Blacks bar b que in San Marcos Texas I was served by Emily R I paid $35 for 1/2 lb of pork spare ribs over cooked and 2 side not cooked properly what a shame how a name like blacks bar b Que treats their customers the customers don’t matter the food doesn’t matter all that matter is you pay im NEVER going back to blacks if I ever eat bar b Que here again it’s only going to be SMITTY’S BAR B QUE AND NOTHING ELSE!

Brian Acosta

This is the 2nd time we have went to this place. This first was years ago (at least 3) and we were very displeased. Since it’s a local, we visited again and to my surprise it was even worse…. The food (all of it) was dry and under seasoned. The 2 good things we got was corn and the chocolate stuff. The brisket was possible the worst I’ve had, flavor didn’t carry on through out, it was very greasy and not in a good way. The chicken was underwhelming in flavor but was a bit more moist than the brisket. The sausage yep, also sausage - (we ordered a lot) was dry and also lacked flavor. The beans were dry again lacking flavor. Ribs were also quite lackluster. I made a comment to my brother, not sure how this place is in business, I can’t say I’ll ever come back to this place. I shudder at the dissatisfaction I had. The security kitties outside were a joy. Keep them on staff! Additionally your staff was an absolute pleasure to talk to and order with. They were all fun, and engaging., I just wish I could say the same for my dinner ….. Sadly and yearning for Hays Co BBQ. Brian

Jaycruz Food Junkie

The bbq was cold.. and not good i guess we went on a bad day the brisket meat was dry n chicken was old and sausage was just hard.. the ribs was ok The service 1 bad 👎 u ask the staff questions was clueless about very thing on the bbq .. Atmosphere 3 it was ok .. We pay $180 for cold food

+3