Coopers BBQ Ft. Worth

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Stopped in to coopers for a little lite lunch today.

Coopers is one of those places that isn't on the Top whatever lists but I always enjoy it for what it is. Anyplace you choose your meat from an open pit by saying "I'll have about 3 inches of that fatty brisket, a beef rib and some sausage" and the dude pulls it off the pit, cuts it and dunks it in a pot of sauce, is ok with me. Not the best, but always good.

GATraveller

Looks pretty damn solid from where I'm sitting.

SGH

Sounds like my kind of place. Looks like a winner to me. I certainly wouldn't pass it up.

nolaegghead

Except Scotty would like to see about 9 more dino bones on that plate for his voracious appetite

The Cen-Tex Smoker

SGH said:

Sounds like my kind of place. Looks like a winner to me. I certainly wouldn't pass it up.

It's definitely your kind of place. I didn't get a picture of the pit because it needed to be restocked but they usually have 150 lbs of meat to choose from at a time. Huge chops, whole chickens, briskets, smoked sirloin, beef ribs, pork ribs, sausage. It's a carnivore's delight

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Here is the pit you order from:

The Cen-Tex Smoker

That cast iron pot at the end is full of thier sauce. They just dunk everything in there and throw it on a red plastic tray. The weigh it all inside and you sit at picnic tables and eat it off the tray.

theyolksonyou

Wow, just wow!

bdub60

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Coopers is one of those places that isn't on the Top whatever lists but I always enjoy it for what it is. Anyplace you choose your meat from an open pit by saying "I'll have about 3 inches of that fatty brisket, a beef rib and some sausage" and the dude pulls it off the pit, cuts it and dunks it in a pot of sauce, is ok with me. Not the best, but always good.

Cooper's is good.  Not the best I've had in Fort Worth...that would be Billy's Oak Acres on N. Las Vegas Trail just north of 820 but I like it.  Cooper's shows up quite often as one of the tops in TX BBQ but they're referring to the location in Llano most often.  If you haven't had Hard 8 it's very similar to Cooper's.  There's a location in Roanoke and Coppell.

Also, if you like spicy salsa next time you're in Cooper's look for a salsa called Damn Good Heat.  They have a habanero garlic (big kick, be careful but taste is great) and a jalapeno garlic.  They're awesome.

stlcharcoal

Damn! I walked right past that place about a week ago. I wish I would have known. I ate at the steakhouse just next to it in the old hotel.

bdub60

stlcharcoal said:

Damn! I walked right past that place about a week ago. I wish I would have known. I ate at the steakhouse just next to it in the old hotel.

Cattlemen's or H3 Ranch?

KennyLee

Angelo's and Railhead Smokehouse (the original) both close to downtown are good also. 

stlcharcoal

bdub60 said:

stlcharcoal said:

Damn! I walked right past that place about a week ago. I wish I would have known. I ate at the steakhouse just next to it in the old hotel.

Cattlemen's or H3 Ranch?

H3.......looked like a nicer place.

bdub60

stlcharcoal said:

stlcharcoal said:

Damn! I walked right past that place about a week ago. I wish I would have known. I ate at the steakhouse just next to it in the old hotel.

Cattlemen's or H3 Ranch?

H3.......looked like a nicer place.

Yeah, I like H3.  Nice enough to treat yourself but not overly fancy.  I've never eaten at Cattlemen's but I just always assumed it was a hokey tourist trap kind of place just from the outside.  I've heard it's okay but I've never wanted to try it.

Did you by chance have the pork taco appetizer at H3?  They're fantastic.

stlcharcoal

bdub60 said:

stlcharcoal said:

stlcharcoal said:

Damn! I walked right past that place about a week ago. I wish I would have known. I ate at the steakhouse just next to it in the old hotel.

Cattlemen's or H3 Ranch?

H3.......looked like a nicer place.

Yeah, I like H3.  Nice enough to treat yourself but not overly fancy.  I've never eaten at Cattlemen's but I just always assumed it was a hokey tourist trap kind of place just from the outside.  I've heard it's okay but I've never wanted to try it.

Did you by chance have the pork taco appetizer at H3?  They're fantastic.

Nope, I had the small sirloin / enchilada combo.  The steak wasn't that great, but overall it was a good meal.  Cool place.

Then to take in the whole cowboy tourist cowboy experience, I looked at $1500 cowboy hats at Leddy's.  Then I went to the boot shop about 1/2 mile north of there on the left and saw boots made out of elephant, anteater, ostrich, hippo, rhino, and just about every else but dodo bird.  Went to the stockyard museum and the a few of the other shops as well.

First place I went was the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for the tour.  I didn't think I was actually going to see the process, but they showed the WHOLE process live from the walkways above.  Absolutely fascinating.  I would say that was the highlight of the trip, but I was there for a week of flight training at Bell Helicopter.

dayzed&confused

I have been to Coopers in Llano, Tx countless times. Good smoked meat but I don't care for their sauce, just a personal thing I guess as I see others wolf it down. My favorite thing there is their pecan pie cobbler. If you ever go try the cobbler, it's good!

thetrim

I've been to Llano only once but it was worth it, and I have to say is my favorite BBQ place by location and the food is top notch too. Food is a close second to the McRib )
 

Eggcelsior

@stlcharcoal my wife used to do investigations at BEP and Mint locations. Those machines are nuts!

anton

That pit looks like a dream come true man!!
:-bd

ChicagoEgghead20

My kind of place! :ar!

stlcharcoal

I ate at a place called Lone Star BBQ on N. Beach Street in Fossil Creek.  I'm not a Texas style BBQ guy, so I don't really have a taste for it.  It got good reviews on Yelp and was 5 minutes from my hotel.

Also got to visit Tom up at the Ceramic Grill Store in Denton last Thurs......that was fun too.  Got me a spider and wok!

I hit up IKEA on Thursday night, and took some pictures at Dealey Plaza before leaving town Friday.

Hotch

@stlcharcoal First Welcome to Texas. I hope you had a great time. 

Ft Worth has a lot of great BBQ, next trip to Ft Worth Stock Yards I recommend you try Joe T Garcia's for some great Tex Mex fajitas and enchiladas. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

dayzed&confused said:

I have been to Coopers in Llano, Tx countless times. Good smoked meat but I don't care for their sauce, just a personal thing I guess as I see others wolf it down. My favorite thing there is their pecan pie cobbler. If you ever go try the cobbler, it's good!

I like it all. Llano is definitely the best of all the coopers. The Ft. Worth and New Braufels Coopers cook on gas pits. Llano still cooks over oak the old school way. 

They are all fun to visit though. Love the huge pits and they are all good in their own way. 

bdub60

stlcharcoal said:

bdub60 said:

stlcharcoal said:

stlcharcoal said:

Damn! I walked right past that place about a week ago. I wish I would have known. I ate at the steakhouse just next to it in the old hotel.

Cattlemen's or H3 Ranch?

H3.......looked like a nicer place.

Yeah, I like H3.  Nice enough to treat yourself but not overly fancy.  I've never eaten at Cattlemen's but I just always assumed it was a hokey tourist trap kind of place just from the outside.  I've heard it's okay but I've never wanted to try it.

Did you by chance have the pork taco appetizer at H3?  They're fantastic.

Nope, I had the small sirloin / enchilada combo.  The steak wasn't that great, but overall it was a good meal.  Cool place.

Then to take in the whole cowboy tourist cowboy experience, I looked at $1500 cowboy hats at Leddy's.  Then I went to the boot shop about 1/2 mile north of there on the left and saw boots made out of elephant, anteater, ostrich, hippo, rhino, and just about every else but dodo bird.  Went to the stockyard museum and the a few of the other shops as well.

First place I went was the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for the tour.  I didn't think I was actually going to see the process, but they showed the WHOLE process live from the walkways above.  Absolutely fascinating.  I would say that was the highlight of the trip, but I was there for a week of flight training at Bell Helicopter.

Small world, I actually work at the BEP in the visitor center.  Might of even talked to you at some point.  HAHA!  Glad to hear you had a good time and enjoyed your tour.

stlcharcoal

 

Small world, I actually work at the BEP in the visitor center.  Might of even talked to you at some point.  HAHA!  Glad to hear you had a good time and enjoyed your tour.

I was there 10/28 about an hour before close. Talked to the girls and the upstairs and downstairs desk, the guy on the shuttle, and guards on my way in and out. It was a great tour and experience......could have stayed another hour watching the machines perform all those functions.