County Line Barbeque

12/04/09

Awful

by Bonzy22 at Citysearch

IF you want real bbq, DO NOT go here. It's very disappointing. The food is very "touristy". The brisket was tough & dry, the sauce mediocre, to say the least.

At least the staff was decent.

• Pros: Location - Riverwalk
• Cons: the food

05/13/09

Very Over Rated Indeed

by drtj at Citysearch

I made my way to this restaurant based on it being voted best of city search. I have a special place in my belly for barbeque and wanted the best of what the south has to offer.

The Service: The wait staff was attentive, although the waitress was a bit socially awkward (she meant well). The restaurant was clean and has excellent seating on the river. I asked for the waitresses recommendations and she quickly and confidently recommended one of the combo meals with pork ribs, beef brisket, and sausage. She described the barbeque sauce as being sweet with a hint of orange.

The Food: The fresh loaf of dark wheat bread was a treat, coming complimentary with the meal. It was served with individual packets of honey butter. I would have preferred the honey butter served in a small bowl, as the individual packets of butter are the first clue that the restaurant may not be going the extra mile in terms of using fresh ingredients and making an appetizing presentation. A very minor point.

The meal itself came very quickly. I took the waitresses recommendation and ordered the aforementioned combination with sides of beans and french fries. The presentation was fine, they had healthy portions of each meat slathered with plenty of deep red sauce (I like a lot of sauce, so point to them).

First the good, the beef brisket, while a little dry, had a light flavor that was well complimented with the sauce. My favorite part of the meal were the spicy sausages. They had a nice firm texture with excellent flavor. They were well cooked. The spiciness of sausage melded perfectly with the sauce.

The not so good started with the sides. The french fries tasted of rubber and were cold. The flavor and temperature screamed that they had been sitting for some time. The beans were warm but completely bland of flavor. Quite a disappointment considering the abundance of meat in the beans, they appeared very appetizing but did not deliver on flavor.

Finally the ribs, a good barometer for any barbeque restaurant, they were served as the showcase on top of the other meats. They appeared to have plenty of meat and were a nice deep red black color. They had a strange combination of spices on the outside that did not mesh well with the sauce. They were overcooked and cooked too quickly resulting in tough meat. I always look for that fall off the bone tenderness when eating ribs, and they just did not even come close. Further, the ribs had not been trimmed of fat making the bite into nothing but gristle very common place. These ribs were a major disappointment in every regard.

I will continue my quest for more respectable southern barbeque in hopes of finding a better representative than this "best of city search."

• Pros: Great location
• Cons: Poor food quality

04/06/09

Over rated b/c of its location

by lkhernandez at Citysearch

I knew before I ate here that it was not going to be good just b/c every restaurant I've eaten at on the riverwalk was not very good. They only get tons of business b/c they're on the riverwalk and the tourists don't know any better. I live in San Antonio and attended a conference downtown at the Mariott. A few of my friends who are not from around here wanted to go here b/c they wanted bbq. I warned them that they weren't going to get any good bbq on the riverwalk. Honestly, I haven't had great bbq in san antonio in my past 2 years of living here. South Carolina has the best bbq I've ever had...hands down. Anyway, to the food...I got the pulled pork sandwich since it was the lunch special. The pork was just okay, not very flavorful. It didn't taste smoked...just like it was roasted in the oven with no seasoning. The sauce was weird...definitley not my idea of a good bbq sauce. I swear, it tasted like it had apricot preserves in it. It was really sweet. Again, w/the South Carolina bbq thing...I like my bbq sauce smoky and tangy (love mustard based bbq sauce). Experienced BBQ eaters will not like this establishment. I think the rave reviews came from out of town tourists who don't know much about good BBQ. Sorry, it's the truth.

• Pros: Sitting on the riverwalk is nice when it's not too crowded
• Cons: not good bbq, sauce was gross, sides were gross