The Original Willies Bar-B-Q

The brisket was really good, one of the best I’ve had. The sausage was amazing and spicy; I daydream about it. The mashed potatoes were a bit bland and the macaroni was in my boyfriends words «not that great, it was alright.» The beans were pretty good too. The place had some pretty neat pictures and trinkets to look at, really random things. Cool place, will definitely go again.

I could’ve sworn I’d written a review already. I’ve been her a few times with family. It has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Their potatoes are mine and my sister’s favorites. They’re really big. The set up is almost cafeteria style, where you order your food from a line, pick it up and pay, then seat yourself. So, service is a bit different from other places. But I like it, so I keep going back.

Best BBQ place I’ve ever been too. Their loaded brisket baked potato was delicious and huge. Great customer service as well. This place is amazing I can’t wait to go back.

Some of the best brisket! awesome. The brisket was so soft and the BBQ sauce is not overpowering. I love the outdoor seating. I do recommend the Stuffed Baked Potato. it’s the special on Monday.

Some of the better BBQ I have had in the Valley. Usually BBQ in the Valley puts too much of a Mexican fare influence on Texas BBQ, but this place is different. I had the pork ribs and moist brisket. The pork ribs are tasty, but just a bit over cooked. The bark was quite tough. The brisket in my opinion was spot-​on, well-​flavored. I will definitely return.
:)

Mr.: good solid all-​around BBQ. Tender meat, falling-​off-​the-​bone ribs, good flavor. Sausage, good flavor with medium texture. Brisket good flavor, falling apart, but a little on the dry side. Pinto beans were good and potato salad were good. Wouldn’t make a special trip to go there but definitely would stop again if I were anywhere close.
Ms.: one of the best all-​around BBQ places I’ve had off of Texas Monthly’s top 50 list in awhile now. Potato salad (mayonnaise) was good. Pinto beans tasted «authentic». Disagree with Texas Monthly’s recommendation to skip the sausage. The brisket had a great smell (pecan-​smoked) and was tender but a little on the dry side. The sauce was to my liking – not vinegary. The bread is buttered Texas toast. There was a lot of variety to the menu. Liked the atmosphere – wood floors and long wooden tables. Would definitely come back if I was in the area. After visiting several disappointing places, Original Willie’s is refreshing. Nothing that I ate was bad.

I live in California came out here to visit family in Donna and asked were i can get some good authentic BBQ. BROUGHT me to Willy’s and made me love Texas BBQ.

Some of the most delicious bbq I’ve ever had! We came in for potatoes only to find out they hadn’t been cooked but the manager told us 20 min they would be done. So we waited with a side of mac n cheese and potatoe salad, yummy. Our potatoes were loaded with brisket, cheese, bacon, sour cream and chives with bbq sauce to pour over. You will think you’ve died and gone to heaven. The ribs were also fall off the bone tender. Super staff and nice, clean place to sit.
A must stop if you’re in the area!

Recently, a friend took me here for dinner. I was expecting great brisket, and that is most certainly what I got. We both got plates, with sides. I was in a salad mood so tried the potato salad, cole slaw and carrot salad. All were really, really good. I was most pleasantly surprised by the carrot salad with raisins and crisp pieces of apple. Very refreshing. My friend got mac and cheese, and it did not look so wonderful. But, the take home baked potatoes with brisket were a huge win with my family back home. I would for sure go there again. Loved the décor, too. Rustic but not funky.

Been going to Willies for years. There is no BBQ here in the Valley that will touch it! Fantastic potato salad. Brisket tender. Ranch beans have bite. Sausage is great. Should I keep going? Loaded huge baked potato… loaded with any meat… can you tell I LOVE this restaurant??

Decent bar-​b-​q, nice old school divey atmosphere. Prices are a little deceptive as the $ 7 lunch special end up at almost $ 13 if you add a $ 3 drink to it, by the way, refills are $ 1. The cup was pretty big so I didn’t get a refill and I was okay, but if it was free I would have, hope that makes sense. I would go back here as the food was good and service was fast. Just nothing to write home about.

I always get the 1 meat plate… sausage is very tasty. .mac and cheese and mash potatoes with cheese is also pretty good… would give it more stars… but its pricey for what you get

Was just in Alamo, Tx visiting and wish I would’ve discovered this place sooner.
It’s a little place, kinda divvy, but great food! You order in a line, kind of like subway, where you can see the food and you tell them what you want as you go.
My potato was huge, this is one meal itself, I got the meatless one, but had tons of butter, cheese and sour cream on it, delicious!
I also got the brisket sandwich and potato salad. I wish this potato salad was available by the buckets, it is so smooth and creamy, I added a little salt and pepper and it was heaven!
Highly recommended place!

I barely got a chance to put my review on willies, ive had way better before here. I have been before plenty of times when i used to live in the area. I brought some family here that came to visit and boy O boy was i disappointed, The brisket was super dry, and i mean super. Even with a ton a barbecue sauce it was hard to swallow. Somebodys slipping out the in Alamo. Before they wouldnt charge you for sauce, bread, pickles etc. Now they charge for all the trimmings you would need to enjoy BBQ. I ordered for myself and daughter to share a pound of dry, cold brisket and a potatoe no meat i saw it was almost 27 without drinks or bread, pickles you can do the math. Will never be coming back. I live in mission and would not mind going to Alamo. count us out. i would put 0 stars but i dnt have that option. Saved your time and gas dnt head out this way .It Has changed so much.

Definitely get the pecan cobler. Best thing I had there.
Service and facility were fantastic.
The BBQ was good but needed more acid to it, nothing a grip of hot sauce couldn’t cure.
Went in for lunch got the 2 meat 3 sides. Got brisket and a beef rib. For my sides I got the mac and cheese, potato salad and a cob of corn. Both beefs needed that hot sauce but the sides were great.

Old building… the floors squeak! I had a brisket plate with cole slaw, green beans and pinto beans. Everything was very good, but the brisket was amazing! Cut with a plastic fork tender… this is the beef brisket I have missed since leaving the Lone Star state!

Small, difficult parking lot. Order like at a tiny buffet. No beer. Large restaurant, wood floors, rustic feel, plastic ware, sorta serve yourself water and doggy bags, etc.
I had brisket sandwich and coleslaw. Friend had BBQ ribs plate, with soupy beans, toast.
My sandwich was fine, would not order again, as it kept getting stuck in my teeth. I put some of their little tub of BBQ sauce on it to sweeten it up. Then put my coleslaw on top of sandwich, taking top bun off. Tasted great that way to me, and had enough for breakfast in the morning.
My friend’s ribs looked really good, and she ate all of them. Her beans were way too spicy, which she said with every bite, but she ate them anyway. She had only the apple pie for take-​home. I got the two rib bones for my dogs to enjoy.
They had alot of people stopping in and picking up to-​go orders.
I wouldn’t go back on my own accord.

Best BBQ I’ve had in the McAllen area. A real home made back yard BBQ flavor with outstanding home made Cole slaw, potatoe salad, macaroni and cheese, charro beans and sweet tea

Ok finally made it to Willy’s and it was very dissapointing. I had ribs and chicken and both were super dry and tastless. Don’t waste ur time I spent 17 bucks on just 2 ribs and quarter chicks no sides and a drink, so not only was the joint dissapointing it was also super expensive. Never again!!!

Willie’s has its ups and downs — so if you know what to order you can get a pretty terrific meal. In my experience it was not uniformly good — but it was a solid place to get some smoked meat, especially with not a lot of competition around.
I stopped in at the Original Willie’s due to its inclusion on Texas Monthly’s Top 50 BBQ joints. Willie’s looks like a BBQ joint should look. The building looks like somebody’s weekend project to build a shed. The floors are scraped everywhere by boots and chairs and are somewhat uneven, possibly even rotting through in places. There are about a million ways to trip or step in a hole and kill yourself. They put a sign up out front claiming they are not responsible for injuries, but good luck with that in court. The walls are a particle board with various cowboy kitsch nailed to it. I especially liked the wagon wheel chandeliers and the cedar log columns. It’s kind of a cool vibe.
The menu at Willie’s is rather large and not restricted to BBQ. You can get burgers, sandwiches, and other nontraditional side items. I was here for one thing only — the BBQ. I ordered a deluxe 3 meat plate, with a beef rib, brisket and fajita meat ($ 13). The sides were mac & cheese, rice, and potato salad (which they forgot to put on my plate).
The beef rib was terrific — possibly the best I’ve ever had. It was moist and tender — it fell off the bone upon lifting it up. The rib meat had been cooked perfectly to the point where the fat was so sweet and juicy that it was like candy. Unfortunately, the rib was criminally underseasoned. I don’t know if they even use a rub at WIllie’s — everything is so bland. In order to get any seasoning at all, you are forced to use their very sweet molasses BBQ sauce, which was good in its own right, but I would have loved to just eat that rib with just salt, pepper and spices.
The meal started off very high, and then declined from there. The brisket was tender, but not very moist and again completely underseasoned. Can a brother get some salt and pepper in this joint? WTF? The few slices on my plate were mushed in a pile, and were devoid of much flavor without the addition of sauce. The fajita meat was so scorched and tough, it was inedible. The two sides that made it to my plate were mediocre — I was sad about the potato salad not being served, but I decided it wasn’t worth fighting the line.
One side note is that Willie’s makes their own lemonade from scratch, and it’s pretty damn good. They do gouge you $ 1 per refill, but their cups are so large that refills are likely not needed.
Altogether, it was a decent to good meal. I don’t think it was good enough to make the TX Top 50, but maybe Willie’s was included because they had to have at least one place in South Texas. I’d come back, but I’d stick to the ribs.
beef rib — 4.5 stars
brisket — 2 stars
fajita — 1 star
sides — 2 stars
sauce — 3 stars