Good For A Field Goal

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Coach’s Bar-B-Que

925 W. McGregor Dr.

McGregor, TX 76657

254-236-0045

Coachs BBQ

For a couple months now, my father has wanted to go try The Coffee Shop Café, out in McGregor and owned by a Citrano. We finally made it out a couple weeks ago, and while out there I noticed a new BBQ joint has popped up right beside them. This really peaked my interested. So after eating lunch at the Coffee shop, I went by Coachs to take a “sneak peak” for myself. We’ll talk about The Coffee shop later though, don’t worry.

            The first time I went by, was just to snag a look at the menu and any of the food that might be out. I talked to the cutter for a bit about the food they serve, and about the upcoming concerts that plan on having. Told him I’d be back soon to try some grub. The second time I finally got to chow down on some of Coach’s BBQ. After pondering, I decided on getting half a chicken and a /4lb of sliced brisket. My father got some brisket and some of their jalapeno sausage. When the guy asked me what kind of brisket I would like, I said “Top Cut”… apparently this threw him off and he ask me if that meant the “bottom, lean half.” For those of you who don’t know, in the BBQ business we call the fatty, juicier section of the brisket “Top Cut”- mainly because it is on the TOP of the brisket. The bottom half, is called the Lean cut… it is usually much drier and obviously more healthy for you. Then he proceeds to cut the entire brisket from the back end, which gave me Top cut and Lean Cut… with a nice ribbon of fat in the center. Never seen brisket served that way, but to each his own I guess…. Not as much waste this way I suppose. Also, they had all the meats plastic wrapped… I wonder how much that costs them a day. haha

            After getting our BBQ, we moved onto the sides. They offer a few items to choose from, I went with the standbys- Potato salad and Cole slaw, and my father got their beans and potato salad.  Proceeding forward, we then notice a large cast iron skillet full of what appears to be home-made Peach Cobbler. IT looked and smelled delicious, and we decided to get some, but we’d get it after we finished eating so it’d be nice and hot.

            The first thing I try is obviously the brisket. It has a nice looking, solid, smoke ring and doesn’t look dry. It tastes pretty good, nice and tender, juicy… but I didn’t get any predominate smoke taste. Apparently they smoke with pecan, one of my least favorite woods. So I was surprised I couldn’t really taste it. For some reason, I think the plastic wrap might be partly to blame…   Next, I dive into what looks like some delicious chicken. It wasn’t as tender as I expected, I had to really pull to get the leg off. You could definitely tell it had been smoked by the pinkish hue of the meat. I sensed a nice amount of smoke flavor in the chicken, and the skin was good. But I didn’t taste much else. Either they didn’t season it much or it just didn’t pop. Was a very mellow tasting chicken… it was still good and juicy. Thank goodness, cause so many people dry out their chickens.

 The slaw was pretty dang good, probably my favorite thing of the meal. It was made with long shredded, fresh and crunchy veggies. The dressing on it was nice and sweet, didn’t over power the veggies but wasn’t weak and underwhelming. The potato salad was the most interesting dish of the meal. It is a German style White potato salad. You don’t see to many White potato salads around anymore, which is odd considering Texas and BBQ history. IT was pretty good, it had a nice amount of mayo and you could taste the seasoning used, along with the hint of vinegar used and with a nice chunky texture to top it off. It took me a while to realize the BBQ sauce was on the table the whole time, but I finally got around to it. Made me think of a slightly more vinegary Rudy’s BBQ Sauce.

            While eating, I looked over the building. It’s a nice large building, plenty of seating, with a bar in the back for nights with concerts I suppose. Looks like it must’ve cost them a pretty penny, fo-sho. Apparently the place is owned by a couple of retired football coaches, who’ve known each other a while and decided to dive into the BBQ world. The place looks great, the employees are definitely friendly and wanna make your experience a good one. The food was alright, nothing special, based on what I ate. But I’ll definitely go back one night for one of their concerts and probably try some of their turkey, ribs and some of the Mac n cheese.

             The price won’t really hurt your pocket, and you will definitely leave full and with some decent Q in your belly. But I wouldn’t really say you should drive all the way out there for their Q, especially with gas going up up up. Waco has plenty of good BBQ joints of their own. If you are out in the area, I’d say, stop by and give them a shot. I’d really like to see them improve and get a great following.