Pappa Charlies Barbeque

I can say without a doubt this is some of the best barbecue in Houston. I’ve been here twice and greatly enjoyed my first experience. The brisket left something to be desired, the fat wasnt as rendered as i wouldve liked and was a bit dry in parts of the brisket. Coming back the second time a few weeks later, a huge improvement was apparent. The brisket was extremely well seasoned, the fat was marbled and melted itself into the brisket and the outside had an outstanding char.
The pitmaster there, who is extremely nice and tentative, always makes an effort to make you feel as though you’re a valued customer. He simply knows his product and knows how to sell it. He let us in on how he cooks the briskets. He smokes them extremely high at 325 and cooks them very quickly. He uses only ground black pepper and salt, with a heavy emphasis on the course black pepper, much like John Mueller, a close friend of his. All of this culminates in a succulent top tier brisket. (A-​)
His pork ribs are without a doubt the BEST ribs I’ve ever had. The ribs are unbelievable. I can’t stress this enough. The ribs are full flavored and have a tacky, sticky outside, that are dry on the outside and moist on the inside. These are without a doubt, a must try. (A)
The chicken was pedestrian yet refreshing if you’re looking to break up your smoked red meat. (B-​) He doesn’t offer turkey right now due to low supply, but I would image it would be solid. The sausage is decent, it didn’t seem to be in house, but nonetheless pleasant. (B-​) The barbecue sauce compliments the meats well. As for the sides the macaroni and cheese and pinto beans are the star of the show. Its not a soupy mess of cheese sauce. Its truly one of my favorite mac n cheese’s ive ever had.
I can’t really sing the praises of Pappa Charlie’s more than I am right now. I walked in hoping for some decent BBQ and left floored. I could get used to not having to wait 2 hours to get top tier barbecue in Texas. Well done, I can’t wait to go back.

Picked up a pound of ribs, ½ of brisket & ¼ sausage to-​go, on my way home from work. I was pretty disappointed because Everything had a really good flavor, however the ribs & sausage were pretty dried out and the brisket was pretty much all fat. I’d like to give this place another chance and will make sure I go earlier in the day because I’m guessing I got the last of what was left since it was an hour before they closed. I’d give 4 – 5 stars if it weren’t for the meats being dried out.

When the place isn’t closed for maintenance, you will have hard time finding a better bbq place.
Beef brisket is fatty and juicy. The outside is crispy and full of peppercorn flavor. The Beef is moist and slow cooked with attention to detail. You can’t get enough sauce. It’s sweet, spicy, homemade and thick. Adding the sauce is a home run but might be a little spicy for some.
Ribs are even better. Smokey flavor on the outside. Not over cooked but charred for a crispy yet moist cut of baby back ribs. It’s outstanding. Start with the brisket and then Go to the ribs. It will make you happy as well as make vegetarians cry. There’s no need for sauce.
Sides are not overwhelming or anything to write home about but home made with care. Recommend skipping the sides and going for a sammich or rack of ribs.
Since it has opened its really become popular but again, it’s such a let down when it’s unexpectedly «closed for maintenance»

This place is always a hit. Fresh BBQ and great service. Your order is ready within minutes after you order and there are enough items to choose from on the wall menu.
I recommend the two meat plate! Brisket and sausage are good and the ribs are fantastic. For sides, I recommend the Mac and cheese, cole slaw or potato salad. The Cole slaw has a little bit of a kick; they mix sriracha into it.
The only reason for four stars instead of five is for one reason: dessert. My coworker made a good point of pointing out the fact that there is no dessert. Banana pudding? Something would be great. Maybe even some fresh cookies.
Very close to my office and it’s worth the quick drive if you want to escape the boring downtown tunnels.

I’m going to try to keep this review short because barbecue reviews can get long winded and ain’t nobody got time for that.
I’ve eaten here twice and had very positive experiences both times. The pit-​master/​manager/​proprietor (not exactly sure who what he is) clearly enjoys greeting, interacting, and making sure his customers are having a positive experience. His effort and the efforts of his staff are evident.
The brisket and pork ribs absolutely steal the show.
The primary seasoning of the brisket is the coarse ground pepper, which I’m a huge fan of. Its a perfect amount of pepper to compliment the meat. Similarly, there is a perfect amount of rendered fat throughout the tender thick cut pieces of brisket. This brisket is as good as any I’ve ever had.
It’s quite possible that Pappa Charlies makes the best pork ribs I’ve ever had. They are a bit different than some of the other barbecue joints I’ve been to though. Places such as Killen’s, Franklin, LA Barbecue and the like, all seem to have a more «wet» rib. At Pappa Charlies the ribs have a consistency similar to what you would find at a Chinese buffet, but in the best way possible. The sauce gets tacky and a little sweet. There’s less unpleasant fat to chew through and more deliciously tender rib meat. If nothing else, I’ll keep coming back for these incredible ribs.
Of the sides I’ve had, the spicy cole slaw is my favorite. The spice adds a unique approach to a barbecue stable. The mac and cheese, pinto beans, and barbecue sauce are pretty great too. Its clear that all their sides are made in house.
I almost hesitate to tell all my friends how much I like this place or giving this place such a good review in fear of finding a line at the ordering counter next time I go. Its refreshing to get truly excellent barbecue without a 2.5 hour wait. But, credit where credit is due. Keep up the great work.

We love good food and one of the things we look for is exceptional barbecue when we travel. You know how it is when you’re on vacation and you spend lots and lots of time reading reviews on Unilocal to try and find that special place? Well, this wasn’t it. So disappointing. Wish we could take the meal back and eat somewhere else, that kind of disappointment.
First, the brisket was amazing, melt in your mouth, moist with a nice peppery bark. If you go for a brisket sandwich, you’ll probably be fine. Other than that. .. the ribs were dry and had no flavor. The chicken was dry and had no smoke taste or any taste really. The potato salad
was so BLAND, no taste. Pinto beans tasted like they came out of a can. Spicy slaw — good. Mac & Cheese, probably the highest calorie thing we ate — delicious, creamy, but hard to mess up fattening mac & cheese.
Portions were generous, couldn’t have finished it all, even if we had wanted to.
You walk up to the counter and order. They call your name when it’s ready. Nice people, friendly, no complaints about service. Nice atmosphere. Craft beers.

I had high hopes for this place and it came out to be kind of the opposite. My girlfriend and I got the 2 meat 2 side meal. I got the brisket and sausage while my girlfriend got brisket and ribs which there was a $ 3 dollar up charge for the ribs but whatever. I got the burnt ends as well since I love those. I was so excited to get my food since it looked so good but the brisket was not as juicy as I expected it to be nor was it melt in your mouth. The ribs were nice and tender though. The sides were plentiful and good but still disappointed the brisket wasn’t up to par to the rest of the meal. Service was good!

This is a damn fine bbq option, especially downtown and even more so for the hotel and conference crowd. The guys behind the counter are super nice and welcoming, and they know and love to talk about barbecue. We had a similar issue as others, that they run out of food late in the day – the price you pay for good meat smoked daily. We were coming from Seattle and Wisconsin and had missed it two days in a row, so they stayed open and fixed us a plate of brisket (off the high side) and potato salad. This was super customer service. The brisket was very good, tasty with a mix of bark and fat. The potato salad was clearly homemade and fresh, creamy and mild. I would recommend this joint to anyone looking for a good bbq option, particularly downtown. It’s better than the pappa’s chain, by a good piece. Get there early.

Every time I’ve been in the area has been around dinner hours, and usually to visit somewhere other than Pappa Charlie’s. That said, I’ve almost always seen a sign on the door telling potential patrons that they’d run out of food. Having pulled into the lot one day (intending on grabbing a drink at EaDo’s) and seeing the lights on and no sign on the door, my girlfriend and I decided to grab some barbecue instead.
The two people behind the counter were very friendly. We each opted for a two-​meat, two-​side combo plate. They had a decent selection of beers on tap and in bottles, but I wasn’t in the mood to drink. They chopped up and served everything right in front of us, while helping my girlfriend resolve which item she wanted for her second meat.
The brisket was thick cut and fatty, with a thin peppery bark. I’ve had better brisket elsewhere, but this was a solid option, and the heavy pepper flavor made it distinct. The jalapeño boudain was surprisingly mild, but was well smoked and full of flavor. It had a nice balance of meat and rice, unlike a lot of boudain I’ve had that basically tastes like rice sausage.
The mac & cheese was thick and creamy, and was lightly seasoned with pepper. Whoever runs this kitchen is definitely a fan of pepper. I ended up taking a few bites before opting to save it for the end of the meal. Sadly, the potato salad was forgettable. You could tell that it was made in house, but there was just something bland about the flavor. My girlfriend opted for a very similar meal, but got the cole slaw instead of the potato salad. She finished most of hers, which I’ll take as an endorsement.
Normally, I’d put this place down for four stars, but the inability to reliably get food at this place after lunch hours is a bit off-​putting, so I have to drop it to three. That section of EaDo really gets busy in the evenings, and if you’re set up to run out before the listed closing time, why have a closing time so late to begin with?

Good BBQ place. I’m not from Houston but every time I visit H town I try a diff BBQ place. Todays pick was this one. No complains up until we ordered more of our two fav meats and they only provided us with 1 small container of sauce and no extra bread. I mean com’n we were 4 people and ordered a second round of multiple pounds of meats and had to go ask for extra bread and they only gave us 2 slices. Other than that small hiccup, the place is nice and my fav meat was the brisket and sausage. The spicy BBQ Sauce was great as well!

As a person who was placed in a cardboard meat box in a restaurant kitchen when they were only 3 days old… I can say that I have been in the food business my entire life. I am extremely proud of my heritage and I am grateful for the blessings bestowed upon me. I have served US Presidents, The British Royal Family and millions of others on 3 continents. Appeared on the Food Network, Travel Channel, CBS, ABC and NBC national programming and even winning an Emmy for a PBS documentary. I recently read a review for Pappa Charlies BBQ in downtown Houston Texas. A person named Vlad V who made some unflattering comments about something I believe is very special to me. My Mikeska Brands Texas Sausage.
Vlad said…
«The sausage tasted like the stuff you can buy at the store with a little pepper. Nothing special»
This is a very special sausage. A recipe that’s over a century old handed down by generations. It’s not a commercial emulsified conglomeration. It’s a whole muscle, course ground natural product that is one of the most popular sausages in many of the best BBQ Joints in the US. In over 15 States. Texas Monthly rated it at one of the best sausages available in Texas BBQ’s.
Vlad went on to say…
«If you were to ask me to recreate the sausage and mac and cheese, I could do it. And trust me, I’m no gourmet chef.»
I doubt you and your MBA would allow you to recreate a ham sandwich much less my Mikeska Brands Texas Sausage. Pappa Charlies BBQ could have selected any sausage. Wesley Jurena picked mine and I am honored because I think Wesley produces some amazing BBQ. Many others think so too. And to assure his Houston customers receive the freshest product, my Mikeska Brands Texas Sausage is flown to Houston aboard my company airplane. It takes only 40 minutes. That’s right, it’s flown in… I imagine no other BBQ joint in Houston has fresh product flown in. But that’s what Pappa Charlies believes is necessary to ensure their customers receives the best food available.
Of course, Vlad V is entitled to his opinion. That’s America. I suggest you put your MBA to better use. I stick to the specialty that I was trained in… meat.

Great meats, recommend the ribs! Sides are generous and great place to have lunch and watch the game on TV. Basically a hole in the wall type of place but the food justifies the questionable area.

Quick and Honest Review:
To-​go order around and hour or two before closing on a Friday (cheat day!)
Service was friendly enough. Pretty chill place on the inside.
For the 2 of us, we could only finish our sides and half of the meat. Saving the rest for another meal. The only thing that bothers me a little is that they don’t actually weigh the cuts of meat.
However… will plan on coming back!
Total cost: ~$ 40
Ordered:
— ½ lb Brisket (Moist…not at all dry. Not too fatty. Good seasoning, very tasty!)
— ½ lb Ribs (pork) (Tasty as well — all the meat just comes right off)
— ½ lb Jalapeño Boudin (Very good spice/​heat)
— 2 mac & cheese (Probably the best M&C I’ve had in a while)
— 1 Collard Greens (Has a sweet note to it)
— 1 Potato Salad (very lackluster no nonsense potato salad)

I feel like I should stop going to new BBQ joints because once you’ve had a taste of heaven, it’s tough to come back down to reality. We all know where the holy grail of Houston BBQ resides, and it’s outside the loop. With that being said, years ago, you had to venture outside the loop to get good BBQ. Recently, a decent number of spots have been opening up inside the loop. Pappa Charlie’s Barbecue is located downtown in the same shopping center as Lucky’s Pub. Small parking lot, but unlike many places downtown, there is an actual parking lot.
A lot of BBQ spots are only open for lunch and serve until they run out. Pappa Charlie’s is also open for dinner but expect a limited menu. As I’m not really a lady who lunches, I’m more of a dude who dines, my options upon arriving at 5:30 were turkey, brisket, sausage, and jalapeño sausage. Part of my issue with this spot is that they set things up to bump up their profit margins but limit the customer’s choices. I have a MBA so obviously I would know. If you want a plate and not a sandwich, you have to go with 2 meat and 2 sides. Plus a drink, you’re paying close to $ 20. What if I want 1 meat and 2 sides? Or 2 meat and 1 side? Not allowed. Most BBQ joints give you options so you can order as much or as little as you would like. There’s also a $ 3.50 surcharge if you get ribs.
I had the brisket and sausage with double mac and cheese. Yup, couldn’t help getting double mac. The sausage tasted like the stuff you can buy at the store with a little pepper. Nothing special. The brisket was better with a combination of lean meat and fatty bark. They give you some BBQ sauce but you can’t pour it yourself so you have to ask for more if you would like more. Another cost-​cutting measure, hike up those profit margins boys! The mac and cheese was creamy but similarly lackluster. If you were to ask me to recreate the sausage and mac and cheese, I could do it. And trust me, I’m no gourmet chef.

I just wasn’t that impressed with this place. Mostly it seemed overpriced. You can get meat by the pound and sides a la carte ($ 3 each) or they have a 2 meat 2 sides for $ 13 and some change. However since I wanted 1 meat and 2 sides and had onto order a la carte I ended up paying almost just as much as the 2 meat option. My friend had the brisket sandwich for 8.99 and it seemed like it had a lot of meat… but drinks and sides cost extra. They advertised greens, but had green beans instead. Wished there was a bread option, but didn’t see one unless I wanted to get a sandwich.
Anywho, the staff was nice enough. You get your food right away as the carving station is right by the cashier. Seemed like they had quite a few beers. The sweet and unsweet tea labels were switched, but I said something and they fixed it. Tea Yates fresh. No lemons though :(.
The food was pretty good. Brisket was tasty enough and not too stringy. Sides were good too — especially the pinto beans. However the bbq sauce tasted like glorified ketchup. I’ll be honest that I’m not a bbq connoisseur, but it seemed too tomato-​ish with just a little zip added.
Will I go here again? Probably not. Should you? Eh. I guess give it a try if you really like bbq. There were other people eating that seemed like they had been there before, so some people clearly like it. (Ps: this is in easy walking distance from the convention center)

Welcome to the neighborhood Pappa Charlie’s! Downtown Houston finally has a reputable BBQ joint. How can I stick to my diet when I can smell the meat smoking from my bedroom?
A friend of mine was in town from LA and requested some Texas BBQ so I decided to bring her to Pappa Charlie’s and boy am I glad I did.
The menu is written on a chalkboard and shows what’s available at that time. Burnt ends were sold out, but that was to be expected considering the time of the day we visited.
I ordered ribs and boudain with Mac and cheese and potato salad. The ribs were tender, the boudain was smoked to perfection, the Mac and cheese was creamy just like I like it and the potato salad really surprised me! The potato salad was more like a potato with potato salad flavoring (does that even make sense?), but I liked it a lot!
They offer a variety of beers and there appears to a stage for live performances as well. I will definitely be back in the future to explore more options on the menu.

This place has really good burnt ends! I would come here just for that. The brisket was also pretty good and tender. Sausage was a little dry and no different from any other BBQ place. I didn’t like any of the side dishes we tried, especially not the potato salad. Stay away from that. Get the burnt ends!

Arrived at Pappa Charlie’s around 2:30/3 p.m. on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and got the most perfect parking spot right in front of the door. I knew that most bbq places close whenever they run out of meat, I just didn’t think they’d be out of meat so fast. I’m going to have to assume that it was due to all of the NCAA finals stuff going on last weekend.
When we got there they still had brisket, sausage, and boudin left. As we got closer to the register, a member of the staff proceeded to cross brisket off of the list. You should’ve heard the moans and sighs coming from our group. But the cravings for bbq were real, so we stuck it out. The lady at the register said she was giving us a discount since they were basically out of everything (not sure if they usually do this or not). I didn’t remember to check my receipt before I threw it out, so not sure what the size of the discount was. I asked about the burnt ends and she told me that they’re probably going to stop serving them pretty soon because they can’t find a reliable source for them.
Decided to have some sweet tea — it wasn’t the sweetest. All of our food was great. We ordered regular sausage but some of it had cheese in it, which some people didn’t like. Everyone kept checking on us to make sure we were okay. Very welcoming environment. We made the joint decision to come back again, maybe an hour or two earlier next time. 4 stars only because I wasn’t able to try much of the menu.

It lives up to its hype (Allison Cook’s 1.5 pages of accolades)! Clearly in the run for the best BBQ in town.
Arrived at 1130 AM sharp — a small line had formed and a line was to the door was present the entire time we were dining. But it moves pretty quickly.
Now for the plusses:
— The meats — we had brisket — moist, tender, heavily peppered, and sauce on the side; their sausage was excellent.
— Sides — and why they are contenders for «tops». These are not your run-​of-​the-​mill «fillers» or afterthoughts of many BBQ joints. The mac and cheese, potato salad, and beans were all well above par.
— Price — 2 meats + 2 sides = $ 13.99 — compared with $ 18.99 at Goode Company.
— Quantity — now this may not be good for you BUT the amount of meat was HUGE. Neither of us could eat all on our plates.
Negatives:
— None (unless you consider «too much food»).
So try what may be the best in town. Note that they typically run out of food every day so don’t go too late.
Parking lot is small but there is parking nearby on the street.

Came here with some friends and decided to order a bunch of food and share. Plenty of parking when we got there. First thing I noticed was the smokey smell from the smoker outside when I got out of the car. Made me extremely hungry.
We ordered everything off the menu (brisket, ribs, chicken, sausage, and all the sides). The brisket was a little dry but had a nice smokey flavor to it. We got both lean and fatty pieces but the fatty pieces were much better. The ribs were tough but had a nice semi spicy rub on it. The chicken was juicy but nothing special. The sausage was actually my favorite part of the meal. It was super juicy and flavorful. Non of the sides were amazing but ok overall. The spicy slaw was very liquidy. I did enjoy the potato salad because it wasn’t as mayo heavy as other bbq joints. I did not like the bbq sauce they gave us. It is tasted like marinara sauce for some reason.
Overall not a bad bbq joint but the it’s the best around me and also close to where I live. I personally like killen’s much more in terms of taste. After reading some reviews, I’ll try to get the burnt ends next time I’m here.

Be Warned — After 5:00 pm expect a limited menu!
Came here yesterday before the Rockets vs Spurs game for some pre-​game BBQ & beers. I got here right at 5:00 pm and already half the menu was crossed off which was a little disheartening. As my friend and I stood in line, we watched all the menu items slowly get crossed off one by one. By the time my friend and I got to order, we were stuck with either turkey or boudain which were not our top choices (I wanted sausage and the NY strip). Anyways, I ordered a ½ lb. turkey and the coleslaw and pinto beans because they were the only sides left to order. Also, they were out of their draft beer except for 1836 which isn’t my favorite, but it went well with the BBQ.
I got my turkey and sides plus the only BBQ sauce they had at the time (mild). The turkey rub was a bit too spicy for my taste, but the turkey meat was moist which was a plus. I loved the pinto beans, but found the coleslaw a bit watery. Overall, it was a ‘meh’ experience just because I couldn’t really order what I wanted. I get this is a freshly made, smoked-​daily BBQ place, but at least have enough food to last throughout the full store hours.
Don’t know if I’d be back, though my friend’s BBQ orders seemed pretty good (they got there a bit earlier than I did). I wanted to like this place, but ended up greatly disappointed.

I went by for dinner one night last week to this relatively new BBQ restaurant. It is located on Rusk in a small strip shopping center between Lucky’s Pub and the GRB. Looking at the menu I noticed that they don’t carry chicken. I asked and was told that they mainly offer turkey as their poultry product and only offer chicken when they can’t get turkey. So one of my faves (chicken) was not available. I decided on my second choice which is a sliced brisket sandwich ($ 8) with a side of baked beans ($ 3).
The food was ready within 5 minutes. First the sandwich was large with plenty of brisket to justify its cost on a fresh bun. The brisket had a nice coarse black pepper crust that I really liked. It was a very good sandwich with a nice smoky flavor (4). The beans were also very good (4). I really liked them but had one complaint about them. It was the quantity. $ 3 for a small serving of beans is a little pricey to me. The small container only allows you to receive an amount of beans that the container will hold. With potato salad, cole slaw, etc. you can overfill a container to provide the diner with more product. With beans you can’t do that or they will spill over. Anyway, it was a good meal that I would order again. (see pic).
At the end of the meal the manager/​owner approached me to ask how I enjoyed the meal. I discussed him my desire for chicken and he offered me a slice of turkey as a substitute taste test. The slice I had was again very good with that same smoky taste and black pepper crust. I would be happy to order that too.
Prices for brisket, ribs, etc. are high like they are at so many places so don’t expect to eat cheap here. My only recommendation for improvement would be a larger bean serving. However, my meal was very good and I will return. With Jackson Street BBQ nearby you now have two very good BBQ options in this area.
Update: second visit was for the 2 meat plate. Chicken and brisket with pinto beans and potato salad. They were serving chicken on this visit but only boneless breast meat sliced. I though the chicken was a 3. Ok but nothing more. I like bone in chicken much better. The brisket was again a 4. I really like that coarse pepper rub. This day the beans were more like a 3.5 and the mustard based potato salad was a 3. It is chunky style. Both meat servings size was large. Plenty of meat.
After two visits I think my fave meat is the brisket. I am not a rib fan so I can’t comment.