Welcome to Schoepf's

Schoepf’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que
702 East Central Ave
Belton, TX 76513
(254) 939-1151
Schoepfs


The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You
Part X

“Schoepf's is a Texas favorite and has been featured by Texas Monthly Magazine, Ride Magazine, Texas Highways, The Food Network, and PBS. At Schoepf's, we pride ourselves on the fact that we repeatedly have been given the highest ratings for our great barbecue.”

Today after taking my dad to the Temple VA for a checkup, we decided to head further south down to Belton for some supposedly excellent BBQ. Schoepfs is a 16 year old family owned and operated Texas BBQ Joint, who excels at customer service and food.

As we pull into the lot you can see the smoke, huge load of lumber and several pits in the back. They burn the mesquite wood in a large "furnace" (pit) and when it burns down to coals; they use those coals to cook all their meats. This is where the technical term of BBQ gets tricky though.  When you use just coals, it might not seem like true Barbecuing... but it most definitely is, you just don't get as strong of a smokey flavor. That that doesn’t mean it isn’t great food. Now let us get to the food and the inner operation… shall we.

As you walk in there is a counter with two cutters behind it, and behind them is 2 more giants pits with several meats on them ready to be devoured, and a big ole menu above them. There is a lot to choose from: sirloin, brisket, turkey, four kinds of sausage (including venison), thick pork chops, chicken halves, pork ribs, and chopped beef or pulled pork for sandwiches. You can buy a sandwich, buy the by the pound, 2 different sized 2 meat combos plates (one is 1/3lb & one is 1/2lb), and they also have family packs for take-out. They also have a few sides, different kinds of breads and plenty of desserts to choose from.

I decide to go with the large 2 meat combo plate and get some brisket and their venison sausage. For sides I snag some slaw and potato salad with some of their jalapeno corn bread. So we get our food and our drinks, I pick up a shirt and then we sit down to chow down.

The first item I try is the venison sausage. Hands down some of the best sausage I’ve ever had. The venison was flavorful, the seasoning was good, the casing wasn’t too tough. The brisket was good flavor and tender, not very prominent smoke ring or smoky flavor due to their cooking process; but still pretty good. The slaw was fresh and crunchy with a little sweetness and just enough juice. The potato salad was pretty dang good; they leave some of the potato skins in for flavor and texture, throw in some pimentos, pepper, other seasoning and such and you got a great white German potato salad. The jalapeno corn bread was pretty good, was a little disappointed that it was served at room temp and not warm… but it had good flavor and wasn’t dry. Last but not least, their house BBQ sauce. It was like a sweat and spicy ketchup…. Was pretty good.

After eating I decided to get something to eat later for dinner, because I didn’t feel like cooking tonight. So I went back up to get a pulled pork sandwich. While waiting, once of the cashiers came up to the cutter asking about the price of so much sausage, instead of using meat from the pit to get the wait, he grabbed some trays and put them on the scale one at a time until they got the desired weight. Really surprised the cashier and I; it was pretty quit thinking on his part. So I got my sandwich and picked up a piece of butter milk pie. The pulled pork was pretty good; had great peppery flavor, with a hint of the BBQ sauce, was juicy and tender. The butter milk pie was the most disappointing. Was kinda dry, had a smoky flavor to it, and wasn’t very sweet…. Nothing like the butter milk pies I am used to.

Besides the pie, I was greatly pleased with my dining experience and would really like to go back there to try more of their dishes. I would also like to go back one day when they are hosting a concert. Ya, that’s right, behind the restaurant, they have a huge concert area; stage, bar, etc. They’ve hosted bands like Stoney LaRue and Whiskey Myers.

So if you are every heading down south on I-35, they are a great place to grab a bite to eat…. Right off I-35.