Hill Country Barbecue

Doesn't Recommend

foodydaniella

Joined 2 years ago

Mediocre at best. The pitmaster special left me wanting more BBQ, the food was not worth the calories. I love eating, but if it isn't good, it isn't worth it.

The mac n cheese was dry, the white bread reminds me of wonder bread, the chicken was ok, the ribs ok, the brisket lean and moist was ok.

The cutlery was disgusting and the meat cutter always cuts heavy, we ordered 1/4lb and got 1/2 lb on our brisket and the ribs were also heavy.

MEH! Will not go back. There has to be way better BBQ in NYC.

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the quickthinker

Joined 4 years ago

Great food!. I love going to this place but I have noticed a few things after repeated visits.

Some hosts/hostesses always have the warmest smiles and the others always look miserable. Same goes for the bartenders. I won't sit and eat at the bar if certain bartenders are working (and I'm eating alone).

The brisket (moist) is amazing as well as the pork spare ribs. The mac n cheese is a little different than your standard but tasty nonetheless.

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TardyKat

Joined 10 years ago

Costs add up quickly depending on what you order. Came here for lunch recently. The meat by the pound was expensive, I thought. The brisket was tender and moist. We also ordered the bbq beef sandwich special which comes with choice of sides and drink. It was more than enough for lunch. The green bean side was too mushy for my taste. I couldn't finish my lemonade so I took it to go. The lady behind the bar topped it up for me. Sweet!

Doesn't Recommend

SamanthaM

Joined 3 years ago

not so great. I had a first date here a few weeks ago and what a mistake. Messy and loud, loud music. The chicken was ok but not great, I care about what I put into my body and the sauce has a lot of sugar in it. My date had ribs which he said was ok but not the best he's had. I won't go back, there are better places.

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paulo1

Joined 5 years ago

Nice Attempt at Authentic BBQ, but.... I am a BBQ fan and have always wanted to try this restaurant after reading all the good reviews. The opportunity finally arose earlier this week and just my luck - Monday is all you can eat for $25!

The atmosphere is western-ish, a lot of exposed, weathered wood and brick adorned with simple, framed black and white photographs with a scattering of chalk boards advertising menu items, etc. It was nice, definitely a change from the usual NYC restaurant atmosphere. Music - a bit on the loud side, be prepared to speak loudly to each other in order to hold a conversation.

The special advertised all you can eat for $25 pp but, upon closer reading of the menu, it turns out that the most popular sides such as Mac-n-Cheese, collard greens, Chili, and baked beans are $2 ea. extra. Everyone at the table has to order the special (to prevent the other guests from taking advantage of an unlimited procession of beef and pork products without paying for it. The food arrives on a big tray lined with red paper, very similar to the way BBQ is served in many Texas restaurants with the sides in small cups.

Digging into the selections that comes with the special (ribs,brisket, and chicken) I immediately noticed that they were dry. There was no moistness to the meats, only the chicken was on the juicy side. You could tell that the flavor was there, the smokiness of the ribs were apparent, but damn, why was it so dry? Did they pre-cook everything too early in the day and let it sit until it became that way? Subsequent orders of ribs and brisket did not see a change, they were still dry. I found myself reaching for the BBQ sauce over and over to help remedy the situation. Pity, as I stated you could tell the flavor was there, trying to make it's way out but either the overcooking or the pre-cooking/wait prevented that from happening.

Dessert - the bourbon pecan pie arrived in a tart-sized dish, a bit on the smallish side for the $6 charge, and the red velvet cupcake at $4.50 was slightly larger than a Hostess Cupcake, but as was with the food, it too was dry.

Our waitress was very attentive; she had a cheerful way about her which was nice. Our subsequent orders of BBQ came relatively quickly, in their own separate paper boats (that is what you eat on BTW, a larger version of the paper boat you get with some fast food fries such as Nathans).

Overall - an OK experience, but I will give this place another go since, as I had stated, the flavors were there. Perhaps Monday and All-You-Can-Eat night is not the way to go, will keep my fingers crossed for moist and juicy BBQ meal the next time around.

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cechansler

Joined 3 years ago

Great BBQ in New York. One of my favorite places to go in the city. I go there usually for birthdays and other special occasions. The food is great the service is always good.

Hill country is very busy so i would recommend getting there around 6:30. When you enter the place you will be seated and be given a meal ticket. The meal ticket is your check they mark your food and drinks and you give it to a cashier when you leave. DO NOT LOSE the meal ticket because it they will charge you 50 buck and then they will figure out your tab.

THey have several choices of beef, pork, a chicken. I would reccommend the moist brisket and pork ribs. THey sides are very good usually a german potato salad, beans, or mac and cheese (the best i have ever had).

The atmosphere is good everyone there is friendly and will tell you their recommendation.

Alot of people complain about the system to order and its actually a pretty good system. By having customers get the food themselves it is less hectic and the waiting staff is really only there to serve drinks to people downstairs when a live show occurs. Also this food is NOT healthy and i have seen alot of people complain about that. You have to realize that it is fattening and it is pretty pricy this is not a once a week place more like two or three times a year. Keep that in mind.

Bottom line is if you want good BBQ and have fun with your friends go to Hill and Country

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Athena Chang

Joined 3 years ago

Amazing Ribs & Side dishes. I invited my two other friends as well as my boyfriend and we went for the Sunday Dinner Special, which is $20/person that comes with 1/4 chicken, 1 beef rib, 1 baby back rib, 1/4 lb of beef brisket and 2 small sides as well as a selection of dessert.

So we went and got 4 orders of that, which means we got to try pretty much all the sides and all the desserts! We got the sweet potato bourbon mash, mac and cheese, collared green with bacon, chili, baked bean, potato salad, and corn pudding!

Man we are so stuffed after we had so much meat. The cow rib is absolutely juicy and flavorful. Baby back rib is great too. The brisket I tried is not as tender as I wanted it to be but still good. I couldn't even touch my chicken.

As for the sides, I think my favorite is collared green, sweet potato mash and mac and cheese. I think their chilli is a little too greasy.

As for desserts, we got the pecan pie, PB&J cupcake, German chocolate cake and Oreo ice cream. I like every single one but the cupcake is not very moist. It tastes more like a regular sponge cake in PB&J flavor.

I think all my male friends are ready to come back here for more meat fest!!!

Doesn't Recommend

halli620

Joined 9 years ago

Good sides, bad chicken. The "market chicken" was awful, but the pinto bean and mashed sweet potato sides were very good (though kind of small for $4.50 each). I think the chicken was just way too industrially-raised, rather than cooked wrong. The texture was just awful. Not that I was thrilled with the sauce either; Famous Dave's and Brother Jimmy's have much better bbq sauce. Also, I only picked this place because they said that they would have the Country Music Awards on with sound at the bar, and the speakers were apparently not hooked up. The bartender and hostess tried their best to get the sound to work, but no luck. Either way, I dated a southerner for a while and now I look for pulled chicken and pulled pork at bbq restaurants, and this place had neither, but I sure hope the other meats are better than the market chicken because it was just unacceptable.

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ajk1

Joined 5 years ago

Good meat. My husband and I are big BBQ fans, so we decided to try this place out. The setup was cafeteria style where you stand in line in the "meat station" and the "sides station" to order your food, and you order only drinks from your server. The line was quite long when we went, but I can see how efficient this set up can be. We ordered basically one of everything: most brisket, pork ribs, beef ribs, pulled pork (and I forget what else). Some of the meat was a little salty for me, but it was really good. And I'm a big sides gal, so we got 4 different sides: the baked beans are really good, but the "famous" mac and cheese was not so good (Brother Jimmy's is WAY better). All in all, a very good experience, and even though we ordered enough for 4 people (we had a TON of leftovers), our check was very reasonable. Would definitely go back.

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EyeGuy

Joined 3 years ago

Everyone's Top 10 List. It's tough to know where to go for BBQ in NYC. I think the problem might be as New Yorkers we're not raised on BBQ to really know the difference between good and great. I've been to most of the Top 10 places in the city for BBQ and would say the ribs at Hill Country deserve to be on that list. The staff was incredibly knowledgeable about ribs and brisket and very friendly...and you definitely feel like you're in a real "BBQ joint" with their atmosphere. I would go to Hill Country again. Their BBQ is definitely above average for the city. My only complaint is that the brisket was a little too fatty for my taste...but what do I know, I'm not from Texas, KC or Memphis. You wanna talk pizza, you talk to a New Yorker.