CJ’s Texas Barbeque

Now Re-​Opened under NEW ownership. Defeinitely NOT the same old CJs either:(
Still in the same location and still the high tech smoker & picnic tables in the dining room but no more LCD menu boards, no more troughs of ice cold drinks and no more store room in the dining room. And the food is different too.
Same great bbq sauces and both beef, pork and links on the menu, the menu looks pretty much the same minus the cheap prices. I decided to get a brisket place with 2 sides. The brisket had very little seasoning if any and it was VERY fatty. Served sliced on a roll NOT chopped on a bun like it used to be:(As off as the brisket was I still had faith the texas chili would save the day BUT no its not quite the same as before:(neither are the cornbread muffins:(
Hate to say it but as good as CJs used to be and it failed this place doesnt have a chance:(

Oh CJ’s, how you’ve changed. Back when CJ’s first opened it was almost like a small taste of home being from Austin. The meat (esp. the ribs) melted in your mouth, the greens were the right texture and firmness and they even had the delicousness that is Blue Bonnet ice cream all served in a comfy little area with picnic tables. Well, I don’t really live on that side of town so I kind of forgot about it until recently this past weekend when I happened to be next door to it. Well, I was told by the person at the front that they are under new ownership and I have to say, food wise this place has changed. There was a little construction going on and since it’s under new ownership that’s understandable, but the place just seemed dead which is the complete opposite of when I first went there.
I ordered the ribs, beef brisket, greens, and mac and cheese. Let’s start with the sides first: The greens — still delicious, with a hint of bacon in them, the M &C — not bad, pretty good no real complaints, the beef brisket — tender, but wayyyy more fatty than I last remember and a little saltier too but still not bad.
However, the ribs I’m sorry but I have to give them a solid D-​. They were rubbery, barely seasoned, chewy and gristly, and no amount of their delicious barbecue sauce could compensate for their overall lack of quality. I couldn’t even get the dog to eat the leftover ribs, and that’s saying something since he would probably eat a rock covered with barbecue sauce if his teeth were strong enough. I don’t know if this is due to new ownership and changed meat quality or if maybe my taste buds have changed since I was last there but this is not how ribs are supposed to be. Well CJ’s if you go back to your old self, me and the fam will come back more frequently but if this is what you’re doing with your ribs, I think I’ll just stick with Lucille’s BBQ over in the District.

reopened again after landlord/​lease problems & back on
also

Being from San Antonio I think I have an idea what good BBQ is. I went here when they first opened a couple years back and it wasn’t bad. Interior was set up like a Texas BBQ and it made me feel like I was in Texas. Stopped by the other day noticed a sign «Under New Management» This could be good or bad. It was bad. Inside had changed to a bland setup with no character the worse part was the food. $ 9 for a brisket sandwich that was terrible, it came with tough fatty meat with little flavor and a side of bean’s (Maybe 3 spoonfuls) in a terrible sweet sauce. Bill Miller’s puts this place to shame and that is a big chain in San Antonio. I guess I will just have to wait for my trips back to Texas to once again get a decent BBQ. Service was slow but staff was friendly. I don’t think this place will be around for long but maybe it will due to fact that locals might not know real Texas BBQ.

These guys genuinely smoke their meat properly in a great big smoker, so that’s a plus. The baby backs have a nice sour-​sweet taste that penetrates all the way to the bone, and they’re pretty good. However, their dry rub tastes overwhelmingly of cumin and the rub they put on the beef ribs is so salty that it’ll mummify your tongue. The beef ribs are also fatty, not very meaty, and very tough. The standard house BBQ sauce is awful and tastes like straight tomato sauce. The honey chipotle sauce is actually pretty good though, but you’d better like spicy sauce if you want to taste any sauce flavor in this place. Bottom line: don’t come here for a good variety of sauce and don’t eat the beef ribs. And don’t order the jalapeño cornbread as a side. It’s a tiny little muffin that doesn’t taste like jalapeño at all. I used to cook in a pretty decent BBQ joint in the south, so you can trust me on this stuff.

I’m a fan– their Frito Pie is delicious and if you are a TRUE Texan then you will know that Blue Belle ice cream is AMAZING and hard to find– but they have it here!!! Friendly staff, clean restaurant, and good quality, affordable food.

It is my understanding that CJ’s has discontinued
certificates as of May, 2009. That is really too bad as it was a great way for visitors looking for good barbeque to save some bucks and enjoy their good food. Hopefully, they will reconsider and sign up with
again soon. Nevertheless, we will patronize when in Vegas with the longing for BBQ.

Fast food barbecue? Will never go back. Everything tasted bland

Being a Texan myself I was really excited about the prospect of a Texas BBQ place here in Vegas! I can say they need to take the Texas paraphernalia because this place is NOT TX BBQ. It’s decent BBQ mind you, but it doesn’t compare to anything I’ve eaten back home. Beef brisket was OK, creamed corn was gross. It was like corn sitting in corn water with tons of pepper. Nothing like creamed corn is in TX! Also the serving size is the saddest «small» for $ 1.99 I’ve ever seen in my life. My fiancé (a creamed corn fan) declared it the worst cream corn ever made. I’d have to agree!
The issue with the meat is that instead of big slices of meat falling of the sandwich you get *diced* meat. You don’t DICE meat at a BBQ restaurant as it’s just a ploy to hide fatty gross pieces in your sandwich. A place with quality brisket actually wants you to see pretty slices and doesn’t have anything to hide. The serving size on the sandwich was also very small — no wonder their prices are a litte lower.
I was also disappointed to find out there were no combos with a sandwich and a potato. I asked if I could pay more to get a potato with my sandwich combo. «SURE», «ok great». «So did you want me to ring it up as a sandwich combo + a potato or as a sandwich + a potato + a drink?». HUH, how is that paying extra to upgrade a combo? I’m just paying full price for everything?
Overall I was pretty disappointed. The state of TX wants it’s name back! Stop labeling any old crap as «Real TX BBQ — Honest» Honestly this stuff is nothing like real BBQ in TX.

If you love BBQ and love to BBQ this place is a place to check out. Every one has been giving it a 5 star rating and a 4 star rating, and i can understand why that is. but when its your first time at a restaurant and they have hardly any BBQ left to try its hard to give it a high rating.
That is exactly what happened to us. I guess that is a really good sign, because that means that this place is really popular and the food is aw some.
We went for what ever they had left and I have to admit it was some great tasting BBQ. Next time we will show up earlier in the day to try more. Thanks to my elite wife of mine she grabbed some rub and BBQ sauce to take home. Both are excellent tasting.

Where do I start with CJs???
I was so excited to get some great BBQ that had such high reviews! I was also excited to take my dad there being that he’s from Texas and he loves BBQ! We walk in not many people in there but there messes were left on the table’s so you know it had to be a good place to eat!
We get up to the from after grabbing a Texas favorite drink Big Red and all can’t wait to order our food! I wanted me some brisket or some maybe some beef ribs I was undecided? I finally asked for the brisket and was shot down they were out? So then for my second choice and I’m shot down again they are out of that as well so I decide to order a baked potato with chili and guess what they are out of potatoes… WTF??? At this point I’m so upset I wanted damn BBQ and wanted to eat something off a bone and they had nothing left so I ask what they do have left so I can alteast sample something it wasn’t much but I ended up getting a «Frito pie» with a side of cream corn which wasn’t all that. I had wanted corn bread with it and guess what they were out of that as well. So all in all I was so bummed out! It was only 515 you would of thought they would of had some food left???
I think they only deserve 3 stars but because I was able to buy their rub and sweet BBQ sauce to bring back home with me to Cali I gave them the 4 stars!!! The sweet BBQ sauce is good I sampled it by itself and I was amazed how good it was! Maybe next trip to Vegas ill be able to actually get me some meat!

CJ’s Texas Barbeque offers great value with its prices being about 20% below those of most of its competitors while offering superior smoked meats. In particular the pork ribs (babybacks) and the pork loin are smoky and delicious. The sides are pretty standard except for the chili which is excellent. So, place your order, get yourself a sweet tea, sit down, and prepare to enjoy some very good ‘que.

hit CJ’s this weekend — group meal.
ribs, turkey, brisket, chicken, pulled pork sammies, mac n cheese, chili, slaw, potato salad, corn, bluebird/​bluebunny/​somethin’ or another blue ice cream — mint chip. A WHOLE LOTTA FOOD !!!
the winners — the ribs and the turkey — GREAT !
loser — pulled pork — kinda tough, not very smoky.
Another BBQ place that has improved (slightly) since my last visit.

If this is «real texas bbq» I don’t get what all the hype is about. The meat was dry. I went there for lunch and ordered a bbq chicken sandwich… simple enough to get right. My friend didn’t enjoy his meal either. The dessert wasn’t all that great either.
On the plus side, I think the restaurant has a pretty cool atmosphere for the most part.

Good place for BBQ on the run. No styro boxes here just some parchment paper and your meats. I picked up on my visit the 3 meat combo of BBQ pork ribs, Beef Brisket, and Spicy Sausage. Nice smoke flavor but the sauce was unremarkable I am assuming with all the SYSCO supplies they have around the building its not made fresh. So far the only sides I’ve had are the Mac-​N-​Cheese, Potato Salad and the regular cornbread. None of them were memorable in the good way, the cornbread was dry and the Mac was gritty like KFC’s. Avoid the filler and get the Meats.

4.5 Stars
Texas Barbeque… Hickory smoked lowwww and slowww, served sans sauce so you get to add sauce to your liking, the way good barbeque is supposed to be.
Today we tried out:
— the Smoked Brisket
— The Classic BBQ ribs
— Chopped Beef Sandwich
All the meats were soooo tender and juicy you can practically cut it up with a plastic fork. I loved the ribs with their hot sauce and the brisket with their mild sauce.
On the side we had
— Red Beans
and the Potato salad
— The sides were exactly as I expected them to be, which is fairly average, which is not a bad thing, but they weren’t anything earth shattering.
My absolute favorite on this vist though was their home-​brewed sweetened iced tea. just what I needed to fight off the 120 degree day that I had.
Prices are way better than every other BBQ place in town
½ lb Brisket — $ 5.79
½ lb Classic Ribs — $ 5.49 ?? Unheard of!
Lucille’s is still my place for Beef Ribs (Dry– no sauce) but for Brisket and everything else, CJ’s is my new spot.
I’ll admit that it’s not the best BBQ I’ve ever had, because hey, nothing beat MY Home Cooked BBQ, but it ranks pretty high up there, especially when you factor in the great prices and the convenience factor (Sahara/​Buffalo)
— TIP — Wear your grungy clothes if you are planning on eating at the restaurant because you WILL come out smelling like you’ve been slow-​smoked.
— Update — Several visits later and I STILL Love the Brisket and the sweet iced tea. I am absolutely addicted to it. It seems that this place is getting more and more popular which is a good thing. The bad news is that it’s so popular that there have been times where they had to shut down early because everything was sold out. AWESOME.