After moving to Katy from living in the loop, I hoped we could get some decent BBQ out here. Everyone told us that this was the place to go. Too bad, Brett's is just OK. The service was pretty good and they have a full bar. The ambiance was dive-bar'ish so we took our food to-go. Here's how it panned out: Brisket - Good. This is the only thing they have going there. Chicken - Bad. No seasoning. Skin was leathery. It was cooked enough to be done but not enough to taste good. Too chewy. Too pink on the inside. Tasted more like a barely done rotisserie chicken than a pit-smoked chicken. Pork ribs - Just OK. Not tender enough. They're not supposed to be "fall off the bone" like many people think; but these ribs were too chewy. Potato Salad - Bad. No seasoning. Needed salt, pepper, maybe a little sugar, some paprika, dry mustard or Old Bay seasoning and it will be ALOT better. Pinto Beans - Mediocre. Again, no seasoning. Mac & Cheese. Par. Typical shells and cheese. Nothing special.
Marv M.
I really enjoy the atmosphere and the food here. Hands down love THE 9-NAPKIN OMG BRISKET BURGER. Take avantage of the happy hour special between 3 to 6pm over here everyday. Also no one could beat how comfortable the barstools are at the bar.
Thomas Fisher
I had half pound of brisket and half pound of pork belly burnt ends with Mac n cheese. It had amazing texture and flavor. Would definitely go back
David Chastain
Really wanted to give this location 5 stars. The original shop on Mason seemed to be more about the BBQ. Prices here are very high, but the portions are good. Meat is seasoned well, smoked well and tastes good. It just wasn't warm/hot enough. I understand it won't be fresh off the pit, but chicken, brisket, and ribs were all room temperature. We went at 5 pm on a Wednesday. I would try everything again in hopes of a better experience.
Sean C.
Traveled to Katy for work and brought the family. Our best friends live in Houston so we got together for dinner. They'd heard good things about Brett's so we took a chance on a Sunday evening. Now... Sunday evening BBQ restaurant means the menu would be abbreviated... and by that I mean sold out of a lot of items. Those who know BBQ understand and accept that. If a BBQ joint ISN'T sold out of a few things by 6:30p on a Sunday... it's not a good sign.So... ribs, sausage and Turkey were sold out. Ended up getting brisket, burnt ends, chopped sandwich and and several sides and a brisket burger. I ordered the "9 Napkin Brisket burger." I honestly thought it would be a slab of brisket on a bun... but it was a ground burger patty... with grilled onions and cheese and all sorts of yum. It was $10 and came with tots. The brisket I had was juicy and tasty and the rub had the right spice kick. As you do as a bbq place... I sampled everything everyone had.The stand-out side was the cornbread casserole. It was like a creamed-corn bake. VERY tasty. The only "meh" items to me were the potato salad and Mac & cheese. They were ok.. but not on the same playing field as the rest. The restaurant itself was clean, nicely decorated with Austin City Limits Music Fest posters and the music wasn't too loud so we were able to have some good conversations. The manager checked on us and the staff actually remade and reserved a few things due to an onion allergy at the table (took care of it with a smile and were amazing).Highly recommend. Looking forward to coming back earlier in the day to sample the Turkey & ribs.
D G
I’ll say this, the bbq is good but that’s only when they have all items and if you’re willing to cough up the money for their steep prices. I had their ribs and burnt ends a while back and they were expensive but very good. I’ve walked in several times in the last month only to see that over half their menu is scratched out each time. And there’s no real help online or on their social media with this (menu). I really like this place and I want to support a local business but they make it tough to do so. Sorry folks, but I’m not gonna keep coming back on the off chance you have what I’m looking for. Also, maybe take a closer look at your business plan because those prices are a little rough to deal with.
Ken Hawley
We've been following the Brett's story since they first took over the old Nonemacher's on Mason. We eagerly anticipated the new opening on Kingsland. We stopped by for a late lunch today and were roundly disappointed. First of all, the ambience is terrible. It's like being inside a tin drum; you can't hear yourself think, or talk comfortably with others, including the person trying to take your order. To make it worse, they play the music so loud it just reverberates the whole place. Strike 1. Next, the portions were lame ... $13 for a 1/3 lb pulled pork sandwich. I didn't have my scale with me, but I would bet it was barely 1/3 lb and then only because the meat was so wet it dripped grease. Also $2.75 for an off-brand fountain drink? C'mon. Strike 2. Finally, service. They brought me a turkey sandwich instead of the pulled pork that I ordered. Then I watched the guy at the sandwich counter scrape off the turkey and replace it with pulled pork. This sketchy, homeless-looking guy (that made my sandwich) also visited the bathroom twice in the half hour we were there. Not a big confidence builder. Strike 3.The meat is good, just not as good as the original, and the price/performance doesn't justify a return trip.
Jessie Saunders
Decided to go here as a great smell wafted across the street. Unfortunately, the smell outside was the best part of our visit.I had the "brisket" burger ($15), but it wasn't what I expected as it didn't have any brisket on top of the burger or any taste of brisket in the burger. The best thing I can say is the tots were good, but not much better than anywhere else.DH had the triple meat platter ($45!!) with pinto beans. Everything was covered in excessive amounts of salt and pepper, so he barely ate 1/2 of his plate.Won't be back as absolutely awful and overpriced food. I'd rather go to Spring Creek.
Dani Siem
I’m in no way a brisket type guy but this place was recommended to me by a good friend and let me tell you, it did not disappointed.Moist brisket. Mac and cheese crazy amazing. Tea and drinks are well made.Give them a try
James Hamrick
We won’t be back… my first truly bad review.Other than that, where to start?What they’ve done here is to copy places like Pinkertons in terms of price and ingredients, but they forgot about the food.1) value- with no drinks and a tip, a 3 meat plate and half chicken with two sides total (not each) was $80. That’s ridiculous. It’s literally half that elsewhere.2) service - what the hell did I tip for? They call you for your order…. You serve your own sauce from a messy ladle to tiny cups… you serve your own drinks… you bus your own table. Although there were only 3 groups there when we arrived at 1pm on a weekday, we struggled to find a clean table… and the floor beneath ours looked like 4 toddlers had just eaten3) food - it truly is ‘prime’ brisket…. But even ‘select’ brisket is tender… so that was a waste. The bbq had an off flavor from the smoke… not sure what it was… reminded me of cedar… wasn’t a smoke flavor that I am familiar with, like mesquite or oak or hickory or any fruit wood…. and way too much pepper on the bark. The best item was the cornbread pudding. The potato salad was generic. The rest looked amazing, but only tasted okay. The picture doesn’t do it justice as we had already pulled back the chicken skin…. But it was all downhill from there. The sauce was vinegar and tomato, which I generally like on brisket and sausage. It was decent, but they need bigger plastic cups or a pump. Ladles and tiny cups are a mistake.4) location- this place was perfect for us so we really wanted to like it…. As we eat bbq regularly…. But we just didn’t.I understand this is a chain so perhaps little can be done to change things, but this isn’t anywhere NEAR the mark.
I went to their previous location and this location is a big improvement. Thankfully parking is not going to be a problem here. Not sure why they are rated only a 3.5 currently, we shall find out.There was a small line of about 10 people in front of me.....when I arrived. It turned out to be a short wait...then ordered, and it was a short wait for the food too.I ordered the holy trinity for $45. I'm not sure this is exactly a deal by any means. You get 2 slices of brisket (about 1/3 lb, most of a sausage link (ends were cut off), and 2 pork ribs., also one small side and a plain baked potato. If you order all items from the holy trinity separately, ....you actually save $2, so they got me there. The meat was definitely the star of the show, with the brisket being moist and delicious, ribs were tender, juicy and falling off the bone, and sausage in my opinion was the best thing on the plate. I was able to sub the daily sausage special, piquin pepper and cheese sausage, for the regular with no extra charge. I still feel they may have given me the regular sausage, as I didn't see any cheese in this sausage. They also failed to give me the bread, pickles, onions and jalapeños it comes with. When I went to go ask for it....their immediate response was to question me and say well you need to ask for it. No, when the menu says it comes with it already, they need to give it to you on your plate. So they were out of line there!The sides were okay. I used my side from the holy trinity to try their cilantro jalapeno cole slaw. I also added a small Mac n cheese. The slaw was a nice refreshing cole slaw, only 2 problems, I didn't ever taste any jalapeno OR cilantro! Did they forget to use cilantro? Because it's pretty obvious in taste and smell when you add it to a dish. I did see diced jalapeno, but it was not spicy in the least, nor did i ever taste it. The Mac and cheese was in curled pasta and had some black pepper on it, sort of a modern take on mac and cheese. I would have preferred a traditional one with more cheddar cheese.The baked potato came with cheese, sour cream, and butter and was a little pricy at $10. I think Rudy's is around $7, for comparison....for same size.Overall. I enjoyed the new restaurant and the food, but I'm only giving them 3.5 stars for all the mishaps I experienced.
Jorge Sesin
Very good BBQ joint near Katy Mills if you're looking for a BBQ place. Definitely visit Brett's as it's one of the top places in Texas. The fried burnt ends were good. Overall, a little too greasy for my tastes but it was worth the drive.
Raymond Boothe
The food was good. I had a sliced beef sandwich and potato salad. Decent portions. The service was below average. The line was very slow to order. The food came out pretty quickly after sitting down. The restaurant was obviously clean and new. Unfortunately, it was very loud for this old man. The music was too loud and the acoustics made it so we could not even have a conversation at our table of three. Could not wait to leave. Maybe that is the goal? Definitely set up for the younger crowd that can hear well. Finally, a little expensive for BBQ. Sliced sandwich, small potato salad, drink and my buddy had fried brisket ends with cole slaw and no drink. With verteran discount, drive out was $37. Doubt I will go back but if I do, will take it to go.
Helen Maldonado
With all the hype about this place, we expected much more! 1st, we were yelled at as we walked in that the menu is up above (way too high up!) and that "what is on the menu is it, nothing more, nothing less!" The OMG 9 napkin burger was not nearly as big as hype photos make it look! The 1/3 lb. of brisket, 2 slices was fine, however when we ordered we were told the burger that my husband ordered takes a good 10 mins. to prepare so they would wait till that was ready to slice my brisket. That would have been perfect, since we were there to eat together! However like 2 mins later they called our name to come get my brisket. I said I thought you were going to wait till my husband's burger was ready to slice and serve my brisket, so we could eat together! She said her boss told her she needed to serve mine now! Wow! That is stupid! So, mine was cold by the time his came out! Then, I noticed that he had tots as a side included with his burger, but Tots were not on the sides menu, so since we were told "the menu is all we have, nothing more/nothing less" I did not know I could have gotten tots! I later went up and ordered some to try to warm my brisket! Anyway, I am sure you get the picture. The experience we had been anticipating, due to all the hype about how great it is, was a real let down! Not impressed! For the prices, We expected so much more! Please get a lower menu option, paper menus or even a QR code! That menu is up almost to the ceiling! Not sure I can recommend this place at all. Sorry.
Timothy Carroll
This restaurant was listed on Top 25 New Restaurants by Houston Chronicle, so we tried it out for lunch. Thought the Cornbread Casserole was a unique dish. After ordering food, it's pretty much self-service.
After moving to Katy from living in the loop, I hoped we could get some decent BBQ out here. Everyone told us that this was the place to go. Too bad, Brett's is just OK. The service was pretty good and they have a full bar. The ambiance was dive-bar'ish so we took our food to-go. Here's how it panned out: Brisket - Good. This is the only thing they have going there. Chicken - Bad. No seasoning. Skin was leathery. It was cooked enough to be done but not enough to taste good. Too chewy. Too pink on the inside. Tasted more like a barely done rotisserie chicken than a pit-smoked chicken. Pork ribs - Just OK. Not tender enough. They're not supposed to be "fall off the bone" like many people think; but these ribs were too chewy. Potato Salad - Bad. No seasoning. Needed salt, pepper, maybe a little sugar, some paprika, dry mustard or Old Bay seasoning and it will be ALOT better. Pinto Beans - Mediocre. Again, no seasoning. Mac & Cheese. Par. Typical shells and cheese. Nothing special.
I really enjoy the atmosphere and the food here. Hands down love THE 9-NAPKIN OMG BRISKET BURGER. Take avantage of the happy hour special between 3 to 6pm over here everyday. Also no one could beat how comfortable the barstools are at the bar.
I had half pound of brisket and half pound of pork belly burnt ends with Mac n cheese. It had amazing texture and flavor. Would definitely go back
Really wanted to give this location 5 stars. The original shop on Mason seemed to be more about the BBQ. Prices here are very high, but the portions are good. Meat is seasoned well, smoked well and tastes good. It just wasn't warm/hot enough. I understand it won't be fresh off the pit, but chicken, brisket, and ribs were all room temperature. We went at 5 pm on a Wednesday. I would try everything again in hopes of a better experience.
Traveled to Katy for work and brought the family. Our best friends live in Houston so we got together for dinner. They'd heard good things about Brett's so we took a chance on a Sunday evening. Now... Sunday evening BBQ restaurant means the menu would be abbreviated... and by that I mean sold out of a lot of items. Those who know BBQ understand and accept that. If a BBQ joint ISN'T sold out of a few things by 6:30p on a Sunday... it's not a good sign.So... ribs, sausage and Turkey were sold out. Ended up getting brisket, burnt ends, chopped sandwich and and several sides and a brisket burger. I ordered the "9 Napkin Brisket burger." I honestly thought it would be a slab of brisket on a bun... but it was a ground burger patty... with grilled onions and cheese and all sorts of yum. It was $10 and came with tots. The brisket I had was juicy and tasty and the rub had the right spice kick. As you do as a bbq place... I sampled everything everyone had.The stand-out side was the cornbread casserole. It was like a creamed-corn bake. VERY tasty. The only "meh" items to me were the potato salad and Mac & cheese. They were ok.. but not on the same playing field as the rest. The restaurant itself was clean, nicely decorated with Austin City Limits Music Fest posters and the music wasn't too loud so we were able to have some good conversations. The manager checked on us and the staff actually remade and reserved a few things due to an onion allergy at the table (took care of it with a smile and were amazing).Highly recommend. Looking forward to coming back earlier in the day to sample the Turkey & ribs.
I’ll say this, the bbq is good but that’s only when they have all items and if you’re willing to cough up the money for their steep prices. I had their ribs and burnt ends a while back and they were expensive but very good. I’ve walked in several times in the last month only to see that over half their menu is scratched out each time. And there’s no real help online or on their social media with this (menu). I really like this place and I want to support a local business but they make it tough to do so. Sorry folks, but I’m not gonna keep coming back on the off chance you have what I’m looking for. Also, maybe take a closer look at your business plan because those prices are a little rough to deal with.
We've been following the Brett's story since they first took over the old Nonemacher's on Mason. We eagerly anticipated the new opening on Kingsland. We stopped by for a late lunch today and were roundly disappointed. First of all, the ambience is terrible. It's like being inside a tin drum; you can't hear yourself think, or talk comfortably with others, including the person trying to take your order. To make it worse, they play the music so loud it just reverberates the whole place. Strike 1. Next, the portions were lame ... $13 for a 1/3 lb pulled pork sandwich. I didn't have my scale with me, but I would bet it was barely 1/3 lb and then only because the meat was so wet it dripped grease. Also $2.75 for an off-brand fountain drink? C'mon. Strike 2. Finally, service. They brought me a turkey sandwich instead of the pulled pork that I ordered. Then I watched the guy at the sandwich counter scrape off the turkey and replace it with pulled pork. This sketchy, homeless-looking guy (that made my sandwich) also visited the bathroom twice in the half hour we were there. Not a big confidence builder. Strike 3.The meat is good, just not as good as the original, and the price/performance doesn't justify a return trip.
Decided to go here as a great smell wafted across the street. Unfortunately, the smell outside was the best part of our visit.I had the "brisket" burger ($15), but it wasn't what I expected as it didn't have any brisket on top of the burger or any taste of brisket in the burger. The best thing I can say is the tots were good, but not much better than anywhere else.DH had the triple meat platter ($45!!) with pinto beans. Everything was covered in excessive amounts of salt and pepper, so he barely ate 1/2 of his plate.Won't be back as absolutely awful and overpriced food. I'd rather go to Spring Creek.
I’m in no way a brisket type guy but this place was recommended to me by a good friend and let me tell you, it did not disappointed.Moist brisket. Mac and cheese crazy amazing. Tea and drinks are well made.Give them a try
We won’t be back… my first truly bad review.Other than that, where to start?What they’ve done here is to copy places like Pinkertons in terms of price and ingredients, but they forgot about the food.1) value- with no drinks and a tip, a 3 meat plate and half chicken with two sides total (not each) was $80. That’s ridiculous. It’s literally half that elsewhere.2) service - what the hell did I tip for? They call you for your order…. You serve your own sauce from a messy ladle to tiny cups… you serve your own drinks… you bus your own table. Although there were only 3 groups there when we arrived at 1pm on a weekday, we struggled to find a clean table… and the floor beneath ours looked like 4 toddlers had just eaten3) food - it truly is ‘prime’ brisket…. But even ‘select’ brisket is tender… so that was a waste. The bbq had an off flavor from the smoke… not sure what it was… reminded me of cedar… wasn’t a smoke flavor that I am familiar with, like mesquite or oak or hickory or any fruit wood…. and way too much pepper on the bark. The best item was the cornbread pudding. The potato salad was generic. The rest looked amazing, but only tasted okay. The picture doesn’t do it justice as we had already pulled back the chicken skin…. But it was all downhill from there. The sauce was vinegar and tomato, which I generally like on brisket and sausage. It was decent, but they need bigger plastic cups or a pump. Ladles and tiny cups are a mistake.4) location- this place was perfect for us so we really wanted to like it…. As we eat bbq regularly…. But we just didn’t.I understand this is a chain so perhaps little can be done to change things, but this isn’t anywhere NEAR the mark.
Restaurantji Recommends
I went to their previous location and this location is a big improvement. Thankfully parking is not going to be a problem here. Not sure why they are rated only a 3.5 currently, we shall find out.There was a small line of about 10 people in front of me.....when I arrived. It turned out to be a short wait...then ordered, and it was a short wait for the food too.I ordered the holy trinity for $45. I'm not sure this is exactly a deal by any means. You get 2 slices of brisket (about 1/3 lb, most of a sausage link (ends were cut off), and 2 pork ribs., also one small side and a plain baked potato. If you order all items from the holy trinity separately, ....you actually save $2, so they got me there. The meat was definitely the star of the show, with the brisket being moist and delicious, ribs were tender, juicy and falling off the bone, and sausage in my opinion was the best thing on the plate. I was able to sub the daily sausage special, piquin pepper and cheese sausage, for the regular with no extra charge. I still feel they may have given me the regular sausage, as I didn't see any cheese in this sausage. They also failed to give me the bread, pickles, onions and jalapeños it comes with. When I went to go ask for it....their immediate response was to question me and say well you need to ask for it. No, when the menu says it comes with it already, they need to give it to you on your plate. So they were out of line there!The sides were okay. I used my side from the holy trinity to try their cilantro jalapeno cole slaw. I also added a small Mac n cheese. The slaw was a nice refreshing cole slaw, only 2 problems, I didn't ever taste any jalapeno OR cilantro! Did they forget to use cilantro? Because it's pretty obvious in taste and smell when you add it to a dish. I did see diced jalapeno, but it was not spicy in the least, nor did i ever taste it. The Mac and cheese was in curled pasta and had some black pepper on it, sort of a modern take on mac and cheese. I would have preferred a traditional one with more cheddar cheese.The baked potato came with cheese, sour cream, and butter and was a little pricy at $10. I think Rudy's is around $7, for comparison....for same size.Overall. I enjoyed the new restaurant and the food, but I'm only giving them 3.5 stars for all the mishaps I experienced.
Very good BBQ joint near Katy Mills if you're looking for a BBQ place. Definitely visit Brett's as it's one of the top places in Texas. The fried burnt ends were good. Overall, a little too greasy for my tastes but it was worth the drive.
The food was good. I had a sliced beef sandwich and potato salad. Decent portions. The service was below average. The line was very slow to order. The food came out pretty quickly after sitting down. The restaurant was obviously clean and new. Unfortunately, it was very loud for this old man. The music was too loud and the acoustics made it so we could not even have a conversation at our table of three. Could not wait to leave. Maybe that is the goal? Definitely set up for the younger crowd that can hear well. Finally, a little expensive for BBQ. Sliced sandwich, small potato salad, drink and my buddy had fried brisket ends with cole slaw and no drink. With verteran discount, drive out was $37. Doubt I will go back but if I do, will take it to go.
With all the hype about this place, we expected much more! 1st, we were yelled at as we walked in that the menu is up above (way too high up!) and that "what is on the menu is it, nothing more, nothing less!" The OMG 9 napkin burger was not nearly as big as hype photos make it look! The 1/3 lb. of brisket, 2 slices was fine, however when we ordered we were told the burger that my husband ordered takes a good 10 mins. to prepare so they would wait till that was ready to slice my brisket. That would have been perfect, since we were there to eat together! However like 2 mins later they called our name to come get my brisket. I said I thought you were going to wait till my husband's burger was ready to slice and serve my brisket, so we could eat together! She said her boss told her she needed to serve mine now! Wow! That is stupid! So, mine was cold by the time his came out! Then, I noticed that he had tots as a side included with his burger, but Tots were not on the sides menu, so since we were told "the menu is all we have, nothing more/nothing less" I did not know I could have gotten tots! I later went up and ordered some to try to warm my brisket! Anyway, I am sure you get the picture. The experience we had been anticipating, due to all the hype about how great it is, was a real let down! Not impressed! For the prices, We expected so much more! Please get a lower menu option, paper menus or even a QR code! That menu is up almost to the ceiling! Not sure I can recommend this place at all. Sorry.
This restaurant was listed on Top 25 New Restaurants by Houston Chronicle, so we tried it out for lunch. Thought the Cornbread Casserole was a unique dish. After ordering food, it's pretty much self-service.