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Dining Guide

Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que

When we compiled our last list, in 2003, the Cooper’s in Mason was in our top five. (The more famous Cooper’s, in Llano, is operated independently.) Sadly, it has now fallen out of our top fifty. Each piece of barbecue we sampled—from the brisket to the pork ribs to the cabrito—was very dry, and this was before the lunch rush. Slightly redeeming the overcooked meats was a deep, complex mesquite flavor.

City: Mason

Cuisine:

Rating: ★★

Address: 810 San Antonio, Mason, TX

Hours: Open Mon-€“Fri 9-€“5:30, Sat & Sun 9-€“6.

Phone: 325-347-6897

Last updated: May 3, 2013

Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Totally agree with your takes on that Joke in Junction and the Mess in Mason Coopers. Walked into Coopers Junction to find ALL the meats stacked together under a heat lamp and all looked dry as a bone. Asked the old man if they ahd any “fresh” BBQ and he pointed at the stack and said, “Right there”. I turned and headed toward the door and ate some pretty avg. BBQ at Lums down the street. Went to Mason next morning and ordered a half chicken and some brisket and both were horrible as well as overpriced and no free beans here. Cooprs Llano is solid and has really good chicken and goat but when they raised the price to $21.99/lb I stopped ordering that, Free beans are some of the bst anywhere. Coopers New Braunfels is by far the most “customer friendly” as the manager comped my entire $50 tab just because the meat cutter accidently charged me for goat when I had two big chops. This place is close to Llano in overall meat quality and similar pricing. Worth going to if closer than Llano. Never been to the one in FW.

  • That’s a lot of Coopers… Most of the BBQ we have here in north Florida is oversimplified. The largest chain is Sonny’s which is ok, but lacks good smoke flavor most of the time.

  • Anonymous

    Been going to Iraan once a month on a construction job and have stopped the last two times at Cooper’s in Junction. Asked for “moist” brisket and that’s what I got along with jalapeño sausage. Both were good, nothing to write home about. The sides were so so and puny sized servings. Potato salad was obviously “manufactured” and beans not very well spiced. All in all this BBQ is extremely overpriced considering the portion sizes. Next month I’m trying Lam’s. If that doesn’t work then maybe the remodeling work on the McDonald’s across from Cooper’s will be complete!!

  • Anonymous

    I just visited Cooper’s BBQ for the first time (New Braunfels). I really don’t appreciate the way the whole place is set up period. You’re walking up towards the entrance, you smell the bbq, it smells great, then you enter, and the first thing on the left, is the pit with all of the meat, it looks great, and you would think that you can afford to try a variety of meat or something, but THINK AGAIN! Plan to get ONE BEEF RIB FOR EIGHT HARD-EARNED DOLLARS – OR – THE PORK CHOP AND BAKED POTATO FOR TEN DOLLARS, AND NOTHING ELSE! ITS TOO EXPENSIVE. Everything else is too expensive. The ribeye is 23 dollars. If you get what appears to be a normal portion of beef ribs, about 3 ribs, you had better expect to pay at least 17 dollars! 3 beef ribs for about 17 dollars. Next, you enter the next room where all of the sides are arranged, all packaged up and ready, and not worth paying the extra price, DON’T GET THE SIDES. They have a huge pot of beans that are out of this world, and they are FREE! Yes, all u can eat out of this world beans. Therefore, you really don’t need to waste your money on sides, right? Get your beverage, pay for it all and sit down and eat all u can eat out of this world beans. The bbq sauce is gross; its watery, tastes like vinegar, nothing like Rudy’s at all. By the way, the beef rib will have enough fat on it to make you cough up phlegm for the rest of the night. If you want to pay a high price for a sample of good bbq, then maybe it’s right for you, but if you want to maintain your savings account, then I would suggest not stopping at Cooper’s to find out why the parking lot is often empty, but they still manage to stay open. On a scale of one to five, Cooper’s BBQ gets a one star-rating from me, based on value. That’s one star.