Two days ago I finally made it to Jaspers BBQ, probably Waco’s oldest BBQ joint.
It has changed hands a couple times, or at least once that I know of, but it still has its following.
Every time I have driven by it, the lot was decently full and this time was no different.
So me and my father pull in and find a place to park, wasn’t too crowded and the lot is decently sized. We go in and get in line, which is about 4-5 people, and check out the menu. They sell meat by the lb, 1/2lb, complete plates, sandwiches and sides. The offer the basic brisket, sausage, ribs and bologna; with the classic sides of beans, slaw and potato salad, deviled eggs, and they don’t serve bbq sauce… but offer this stuff they call gravy (we’ll get to that later).
I order the brisket plate with slaw, potato salad, white bread, pickles/onions, bowl of “gravy” and 3 deviled eggs. The brisket isn’t sliced like most places, they just do a rough chop on it. They serve a decent size scoop of potato salad and slaw, with enough pickles and onions as requested. Once I paid up, one of the guys carried my plate and sat me at a table… as well as my fathers. Was rather unexpected and nice, none of the joints Ive been to have had that.
The first thing I try is one of the deviled eggs. They are made with dill relish, which give them a less sweet taste, but they still had a very nice flavor and consistency. I really liked the potato salad; it is a mustard mix, with chunky potatoes and still a creamy texture, complete with a nice sweetish flavor. The slaw was alright, not as sweet as I like and was a but tangy, but the veggies were still fresh and crunchy. The brisket was alright, nothing really special…. and maybe it was just the cut I got, but it was a little dry…. It still had a decent flavor and texture. My least favorite thing was the “gravy” which is a juice/sauce I believe is made from the brisket juices with some added hot sauce and seasoning (one of which I believe is cumin, cause it kinda reminded me of Mexican food grease.). I don’t mind the beef juice being used as a sauce, that’s usually one of the best things to use, but I didn’t care for flavor of this recipe… nope didn’t like it at all.
The overall atmosphere of the place was great. All the employees were very nice and helpful. They constantly had a line trailing toward the door, was never really long but stayed consistent. Right before I left I decided to pick up a shirt, but they were out of mediums… so they offered to sell me the one stapled to the wall and gave it to me at a discount… worked for me. Ill deff go back to try more of their stuff, cause I feel I just got a bad batch of brisket…. and that happens sometimes. I mean come on, they've been around nearly a Century, they have to be doing something right!
