Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q: All the Taste Without the Frills

After you've spent your day at Sea World San Antonio eating overpriced, tasteless food, you want a place where you can kick back and have a good meal. If you're looking for some tasty barbecue without all of the frills, then Rudy's is the place for you. It is located just outside of Sea World San Antonio at 10623 Westover Hills Blvd. and offers a gas station, country store and great food.

The Menu

The menu is simple. They offer meats and side dishes. For meats, you can choose from lean or moist brisket, turkey breast, sausage links, or pork spare ribs. The choices for sides include potato salad, cole slaw, pinto beans, cream corn, and peach cobbler. You can also add onions, dill pickle, or jalapenos. The meats, for the most part, are $10.99 per pound and can be ordered in ¼ pound increments. The sides are available in individual or pint size servings and the prices range basically range from $1.59-$4. They have a variety of bottled beverages available for purchase including water, beer, and soft drinks.

Atmosphere

Rudy's is not a fancy sit down restaurant, but the atmosphere is exactly what you would expect when you think of Texas BBQ. To order your food, you enter a line. Bottled beverages are located along the back wall, and you choose those while you are waiting in line. As you approach the counter, you order your sides, and then you order your meat. The meat is sliced right in front of you and is wrapped in butcher paper. The sides and meat are packaged in a blue bin. They provide you with generous portions of bread to complete the order and then give you sheets of butcher paper for every member in your party to use as a "plate." Plastic utensils are available in the eating areas.

You can sit inside or outside to eat your meal. Outside, there is a covered patio with long picnic tables and there is also a long counter that faces the parking lot. The heat wasn't that bad, but the flies were. We opted to sit inside. There are two different seating areas inside. Both areas have long tables with vinyl red checkered table cloths and folding chairs. Depending on the crowds, you may end up making friends with other families that are seated at the same table. Each table has several bottles of Rudy's signature "Bar-B-Q Sauce." There are paper towel dispensers on the wall, and you will need them. You clean up your own table and throw your trash away when you are through eating.

The Food

We ordered both moist and lean brisket, turkey, sausage links, creamed corn, and beans. The creamed corn is unlike any other creamed corn I have tasted, and I really enjoyed it. The beans also had a lot of flavor. The moist brisket is very tender, but also has a lot of fat on it. I preferred the lean brisket because it did not have all of the extra fat. The turkey was tender and tasty, and the sausage links were also very good. The meat on its own is comparable with what you could find at many other barbecue restaurants. What makes the meal here is the "sause." Rudy's Original "Bar-B-Q Sause" has hearty flavor with a bit of a kick. You can't help but want more, but after awhile, you end up reaching for your water glass or for a slice of bread to try to cool your mouth. We quickly learned that a little food goes a long way here. We had quite a few leftovers and they were more than willing to provide us with to go boxes.

Rudy's Country Store

Rudy's Country store carries many of your typical convenience store items in addition to gift items with the Rudy's logo such as shirts, hats, sauces, and rubs. We opted to buy a large bottle of their barbecue sauce. It was $8.50 for 32 ounces, and we figured we wouldn't enjoy our leftovers as much without it. They also serve Blue Bell ice cream by the scoop.

Summary

If you're looking for true Texas BBQ with an atmosphere to match, Rudy's is the perfect spot. You will walk away satisfied, and you won't blow your budget.

There are several locations throughout Texas, and you can find out if there is a location near you by visiting their website. You can also order their sauce, rubs, and other merchandise online.