big lou's burgers & bbq

bestbbqi've had in sa!!!. i have to say, i live right around the corner from this place, went over a year without noticing it and one day just decided to try it.....well....that was history...i am addicted to big lous burgers and bbq! my family and i have visited this place over 6 times in the last month....from the burgers to the chopped beef to sliced brisket, from the pulled pork (my favorite) to the seasoned so great chicken strips....i absolutely love this place. we have yet to try everything on the menu yet, but hope to soon! now, onto the sides...i love the pinto beans, seasoned to perfection...green beans are too good to ever pass up....potato salad....mannnn....i dont ever eat anyones potato salad, but my own, and this is about as close as it gets....absolutely wonderful! i cant say enough good about big lous burgers and bbq. i work on the entire other side of town and have referred all of my coworkers to come visit this place...most people know of the pizza place, but fail to realize there is a burgers andbbqspot right up the street! i even carry the to go menu in my purse, to pull out and brag about how good this place is....like i sd, im addicted and so is my family....let me just go on by saying, i have a very big, greedy husband, that loves to eat just as much as i do....and he never leaves this place anything other than fat full and completely satisfied! long story short....i love big lous burgers and bbq!!! defiantely worth the $ and drive!

no match to their pizza joint. don't go at lunch the service was very slow and our meals came out at different times. two people in our group had to get to go trays and eat in the car on the way back to work. my wife's jalapeño burger was good thebbqhad large brisket servings probably an 8oz serving on a plate. the brisket was dry, and it was a cut off of the point and it was cut with the grain not across it. the chicken was ok and fairly moist. my friends rib play had two bones and rib tips. now the brisket was cheep i have no idea how they can sell it for $11.00 a pound. i probably will not go back and would not recommend it and that is sad because i love big lou's pizza b

good bar food. first visit to this place, it is a small restaurant with many food choices. parking is to the rear of the building and so is the entrance so when you walk in your not greeted at all, you have to walk to the front of the restaurant to place your order.
the staff is nice and courteous, but a little slow refilling drink.

the food was brought out quickly, we had their buffalo wings. the wings are fried, spicy, and they come only one flavor, with your choice of dipping sauce. the wings tasted a lot like spicy fried chicken. they look plain but do not taste plain.
also tried, the mushroom swiss burger, the burger was great, well-seasoned, the swiss cheese actually had flavor, which isn’t usually the case with other restaurants. good size serving of french fries, their menu stated that the fries were steak fries but i got crinkly fries which i didn't mind.

we also had the 1⁄2bbqchicken plate with two side, green beans and mac and cheese. the chicken and mac and cheese were nothing special, the green beans were well seasoned and flavored with bacon. but you can get the same thing at bill millers.
over all good experience, they have a full bar and beer drink specials everyday of the week. my family and i would return, this is a low key spot to watch a sports game, and enjoy some bar food.

great bbq. have been there about 5 times never have tried the burgers because thebbqis so good have tried brisket chicken ribs cannot say anything bad very flavorful not dry and very filling but i would be nice if they added rice as a side to go with the beans

really good burger andbbqplace to complement its sister pizza place. the brisket burger was really good and thebbqsauce has a smoked pecan taste. the place has a biker bar/rustic look which i personally like for a burger joint. great place to watch football with all the tvs

unbelievable food. i have now tried this restuarant twice (during the week) since it's sort of close to my office and i have been happy with their pizza place. i was amazed at the care that goes into this product. when i ordered a cheeseburger with tot's they asked me "do you want it homestyle"? i asked them what this meant and they said that they make the buns homemade ( in the pizza ovens next door, i later learned from the kitchen manager) and hand form the patties. i said yes! when it came out it was heavenly, with fresh veggies, a wonderfully seasoned and thick meat pattie, and a very generous amount of tator tots (which are sometimes hard to find at many places). the homemade bun was epic! also during our meal, michael (kitchen manager / co-owner) came by our table to ask how everything was which i thought was a fantastic touch! later one of the other owner/managers, will, stopped by to ask us how everything was. then someone from the kitchen brought us sample cups of their new mac & cheese they were now offering as a side... i could not believe the hospitatlity and personal service we received from such a busy new restaurant. my friend had abbqplate and said the sausage, sliced beef, and sides were all very, very good. it's thumbs up from me on this place and i highly reccommend you give it a try, i believe you will not be dissapointed.

good food and great service.. we dropped by because i had been wanting to try theirbbqjoint. i have been going to big lou`s for years and i have never had any problems at the pizza joint. thebbqjoint was ok, the service was great. the brisket was tasty and the sides were nice and hot. i will defintely be coming back for more!

owners response to negative "reviews". please allow me to apologize for this comment in advance as i do not believe in writing reviews for yourself. this is intended solely as an effort to point out a few observations that some of the "reviews" that we have received are an obvious effort to sabbotage our business from a nearby competitor. i am identifying these obvious observations due to the fact that urban spoon does not appear to have any sort of means for filtering, monitoring or removing obvious erroneous, false or malicious "reviews." i attempted to contact them via email to address these concerns and have yet to hear a reply in nearly two weeks, so i felt it was finally necessary to respond to some of these attacks.

please note that 6 of the 9 negative "reviews" that we have received have been by one-time reviewers. all with a very similar theme and all usually within a few minutes of each other. what are the odds that such a high percentage of negative "reviews" were done by people on their very first experience with urban spoon at our particular restaraunt? could it be that the same person is creating a new computer identity to attempt to undermine a nearby business?

the reason i say this is that "reviews" posted by people like "rob" (who has 7 "reviews" under his belt........all of localbbqplaces within 5 miles of us and all of his reviews were done on two different days and everybbqrestaraunt in the area was horrible except for one that was "the bestbbqin the city." what are the odds that this "person" visited 3 or 4 differentbbqplaces in the same day and that 6 out of 7 local eateries were "horrible" or "sucked" but was able to find the bestbbqin the city at the same time? is it possible that the one good place is his own? he even took the time to write a second negative review a month after his first one wondering "why the long lines" were here. most people would tend to leave their one time "review" and not go back if they indeed had a bad experience somewhere. they probably wouldnt keep stalking the place and wondering what was wrong with the rest of the world. that is.... unless....this is an obvious effort to undermine someone elses hard work and that they are apparently jealous for some reason. please move on "rob." i would encourage you to spend your time working on your own business rather than wasting time trying to figure out why someone else is doing well.

second observation.....if you will notice, there is a drastic difference of opinion on the quality of the food and the service that is provided. it seems that the burgers and particularly thebbqare either "excellent" or "the worst ever" and that the service is "excellent" or "that management doesnt care."

it is hard to imagine that a 100% angus pattie served on a fresh butter toasted bun with fresh produce that is delivered on a daily basis could be the "worst burger/fries ever". especially when we have received nominations from the express news for "top ten wings in the city" and high scores from professional food critics in full page write ups. cleto and his crew loved the food as did the s.a. living staff. i understand and accept the fact that it is possible that someone might think the food was just average or "ok" or that they might not particularly have cared for it..... but i am quite certain it could not be the worst you've ever had with the high quality of product that we use here.

again....i apologize for the length of this comment and for its existence in general. i wish that people could just write real reviews and leave sites like this to be used as a reliable refferal resource, but unfortunately... it is very easy to create "friends" and write "reviews" without ever having met someone or visited their establishment.

finally.....the comments about the staff and the management not caring.....folks....this is our livelyhood. please come in for yourselves and see that we absolutely do care. we make every effort to visit every table and to ask how our customers experience was so that we can gain insight into what might make their experience here the best it can possibly be. we do this in a personal (face to face) fashion in an effort to get to know our customers the old fashioned way and to give them an opportunity to express their actual "reviews" while they are physically here. we place very little merit in the "reviews" that are blasted from an anonymous "reviewer" from their lazy boy that either didnt have the courage to express their dissappointment while they were here to give us an opportunity to correct their concerns.... or to offer a resolution..... or that they didnt visit our establishment at all.

this "review" site (and others that are similar) hold very little clout and are too easily manipulated by individuals that have nothing better to do with some of their time than to attempt to undermine someone elses livelyhood. we will continue to place a higher value on those who actually visit our establishment and make personal reviews (good, bad or indifferent). we would like to encourage you to be your own judge and to give us a chance based on the recommendations of the professional critics and the other 80% of the reviews that were highly positive. thank you for your time and understanding and we hope to see you soon.

thank you cleto!!!!! so glad we took the drive.....bbqwas fantastic, ambiance was great and gooood service, couldn't ask for more!!! we will be back!!!


-----19 feb, 2012-----

best burgers andbbqthis side of the mississippi! tops in my list of burger joints!

far the worstbbqin texas. first time and last, not even our dog would eat it. my husband and i had the choppedbbqsandwich and it was the worstbbqwe have ever had, it was burn't and had no flavor, the buns were soggy. all i to say, is i don't know how they are going to stay in business with food that bad.

had a birthday party and happy to say its so very worth the wait! we had a little but of everything.bbqperfection, juicy burgers, wings... big lous is big on our favorites!

excellent!!!!. burgers were delicious and juicy. and huge. onion rings like they are supposed to be made and service was great. can't wait to go back and try thebbqand other stuff.

everything i expected (and more). the staff was friendly from the beginning! the cashier didn't hesitate to service us and was informative of the beer selection. i'm a lonestar/lonestar light type of guy but a coor's light did the trick. it was a party of 2 and our total bill came out to $30. we ordered 1/3lb cheeseburger combo, 1/2 bacon cheeseburger combo, a beer, 1/2 order of onion rings & 1/2 order of wings (i love to eat).

both burgers had a lot of flavor in them. they were cooked perfectly and i had to do guy's "the hunch" because the juice was running down my hand!

onion rings are a must however if you're a full batter type of guy/girl then these rings will not do justice. you can tell these rings are passed through the batter once or twice however their flavor makes up for the batter being flaky.

the wings had a unique flavor, you can tell the they had a special 'oriental' blend. as we ordered the wings a young lady mentioned that their sweet chili sauce was going to put the restaurant on the map........it was a miss. it tasted like bottled oriental sweet/sour sauce with chili peppers mixed in it.

the place was filled with several families, a handful of couple's and a few groups of elderly men having some good food with their beer. the atmosphere was relaxed and upbeat. our waitress (ruth or beth) was friendly and checked on us 2-3 times while we were enjoying our meal.

drinks consistently stayed filled, food was great, beer was cold, bartender was local, staff made the place and big lou's is going to turn this side of town into a hot spot!

cons: get lonestar/lonestar light on draft or bottle, staff needs t-shirts to identify who works there (they appear as customers).

pros: great burgers, cold beer, friendly staff, awesome atmosphere


-----17 dec, 2011-----

big lou brand poster child..... my family and i eat at the pizzeria 2-3 times a week because their wings, calzones and salads are really good. today we are going to try their burger andbbqplace....i'll keep everyone posted

awesome burger and bbq. just had my, well let me correct our b-day party wife and i and our friend. best service best price and just awesome great service. i was so happy they could fill all in 25 people showed up and they had a table ready in 30 min. the burgers andbbqwas great and affordable, and the waitress and bar tenders were perfect and so nice. diff would have to recoment this place to anyone looking for a great day out eating.

finally open. big lou's burgers andbbqhas finally opened. i had a chance to have lunch there on day three. the parking lot was packed. i stopped outside to check out the menu on the wall by the front entrance. the burgers come in two sizes only, 1/4 lb and 1/2 lb. that kind of put me off since i'm a more 1/3 lb burger guy. the place is done up really nice inside with a rustic feel. they have a full bar including around 15-20 beers on tap. you can eat at the bar or sit at a table in the front dining room or in the back dining room. i sat at the bar and opted for the 1/4 burger combo with cheese. the 1/4 lb burgers are served on buns that are only about 4 inches round. it looked like a kiddie burger for $8.50 for the combo. they say the 1/2 lb burgers are served on larger buns. they are $1 more. that would put a lunch time burger meal at around $10. the burgers tasted pretty good but 1/4 is too small and 1/2 would likley be too much for me unless i'm really, really hungry. the fries were very good. the downside is they bring you the ketchup in a little plastic container rather that having the ketchup and other condiments at the table. they have bar bq also but i never saw anyone ordering it. all i saw coming out of the kitchen were the little burgers. i didn't see any smoke or smell any evidence of bbqing going on. it was only day three, perhaps the pit was not yet operational. i should have asked about that but i forgot. otherwise things were running very smoothly for being day three but i'm not suprized. this is not big lou's first rodeo. i fully intend to go back at a future date and try thebbqand maybe the 1/2 lb burger. hopefully he gets the burger thing going better. i wish them all the best. we need a good burger joint in the neighborhood. my locally all time favorite burger is all the way across town. i was hoping big lou's would take their place. i'm still hoping