Chisholm Trail Icehouse & BBQ

We happened to be the only people there but hey, great service. We only wanted a beer or two but all went well.

When I go again I'll try more than there amazing sausage and I will add more to this review.. The only reason I am reviewing before a complete meal is because they had this really cool Stella Atrois sign that said "If you like us let us know on YELP".

SO there ya go. Went for a shiner and left w/a half pound of sausage from the gal that traveled to Hawaii to find out she loved Austin more :)

Time is a cruel mistress. Especially if you are a strip mall along 183 / Research Blvd.

This hodgepodge collection of businesses includes everything from a small bank to a Big Lots to BBQ and a very dated True Value Hardware store along with a number of upstart Asian restaurants and an Asian grocery with a dentist and a cleaners thrown in for good measure. It's an eclectic group to say the least and a lot to take in as you wind through the parking lot.

Today's visit was to Chisholm Trail Ice House and BBQ. I had my usual 3 meat plate that I get everywhere I can which help me compare brisket to brisket. It's an interesting restaurant, I can't tell if it wants to be a sports bar or a BBQ joint or what.

Turkey - Their turkey is 4 to 4.5 stars. Very tender and moist, good flavor. The best meat I had on my visit.

Brisket - Good smoke ring, had some bark. Unfortunately my piece was not my favorite cut and had more fat marbling in it than I prefer. 3 to 3.5 stars.

Ribs - I had some issues with their ribs. They had a great smoky flavor and 2 of the 3 fell off the bone. The end piece I had was all dried out unfortunately and too chewy to finish. Also they had been in the smoker too long where the rub had just turned into that blackish even glossy texture. the flavor was there, but they had been in the smoker a little long.

Sides of beans and green beans were standard fare, nothing to write home about.

Pricing was decent.

Very mediocre BBQ with a weird environment. It was very traditional, Texas old-school. You grab your own sides and then tell them what meat you want. Being from KC,MO I was expecting Texas BBQ to be on par. It was not. At least not here.

It was expensive and the meat was given in super small portions. The staff wasn't very friendly and the inside didn't look like it has been cleaned in a while. If you give this place a try get the pork ribs and not the beef ribs. The beef ribs had no meant and were expensive for the quality.

Just stick to yelps bbq recommends in the area.

Some co-workers and I stopped in after a day of work that we were more than willing to call rough.

We stepped up to the menu and ordered. We all got various barbecue sandwiches and ordered a few buckets of Coronas (all at pretty amazing prices). The burger was cooked fresh, and being that it was being slow cooked, the barbecue was ready on the fly. The staff are all very accommodating and happy to help you.

After we finished, one of the employees stopped in to inquire as to our thoughts on the food. I appreciated this mostly because it was genuine and not a toss off. He actually spoke with us about what they wanted to accomplish. They immediately took action on any issue that was expressed (one member of our party stated that the bun on their sandwich was not so fresh).

These guys know barbecue pretty well, they know customer service, and they know business. It's nice to have some decent local barbecue in North Austin. They might not be flashy, but they certainly provide good food and great service.

Stopped in for lunch...cleaned up our plates with no problem so I'd say it was pretty good. Lean, tasty and well cooked. They catered an office party and we wish they would offer some of those items on the daily menu...brisquet quesadillas, stuffed jalapeños, and shrimp diablo. I'd consider them great take out for football games at home.

Whaaaaat?!?! I've lived up north now for eight months and *just now* found out there's a Chisholm Trail up here? I was led to believe there was only one in Lockhart.

It's mighty delicious barbecue, folks. Run, not walk, there and get yourself some ribs!

Housed in one of the former Richard Jones barbecue locations -- and making good use out of one of that late franchise's original smokers -- Chisholm Trail really hit the spot!

Definitely try the fall-apart-on-your-fork, melt-in-your-mouth brisket -- their specialty. For a side I advise ordering the squash casserole. I also had the turkey on my most recent visit, which was very tasty though a bit dry like most barbecue turkey is. The owner, Randy, told me that they only use salt and pepper as seasoning. The flavor, he said, comes from nearly a week's worth of smoke and the flavor seeping out of years of "love" put into that smoker (which he said used to be in the front of the house, until a fire a decade or more ago).

It's truly a unique NW Austin place, as it's not squeaky-clean and boring, and doesn't try to impress with anything other than the food. And it's family owned, so your money stays local. I'll definitely be back.

I'll start out by saying I am not a fan of BBQ but my friend is so we used a Nab the Deal coupon to try this place out. Very friendly service and the owner's father was there and talked to us a lot about the place, their food, and just general conversation. Very nice guy.

The brisket had almost no marbling on it but was still very tender and moist. My friend had the sausage and really liked it and I had the ribs and thought they were good as well. He said it was really good BBQ so I will take his word for it since I haven't had a lot of BBQ to compare it to. I enjoyed mine, though, and would eat it again.

As far as sides, they have some roasted potatoes that I didn't try because he said they were roasted with serrano peppers and were hot. I got cole slaw and didn't think it had very much flavor to it and my friend got the green beans w/ garlic and also said those didn't have a lot of flavor to them either. He really liked their potato salad but I didn't care for it because it had some onion in it, though it didn't have celery in it. It is a mayo-based potato salad. The guy said they also had a squash casserole that was really good but not on the menu, though he said they frequently sell out of it by the end of the day.

Overall, it had a great, local feel to it, friendly people, and good meat. I will definitely come back and try the squash casserole for a side this time. They seemed to have a lot of spicy options so if you like kick to your food, this is the place to be!

The trick here is to be careful what you order. I did my research before coming in, so I knew the sausage and the turkey were great. Lucky me, I love sausage and turkey. I tried a tiny bite of brisket and it was totally dry and the chopped beef looked to be mostly fat. The pepper-crusted turkey was very juicy, but that might have also been partially aided by the extremely runny sauce. I can't quite figure out what's going on with that sauce, but I'm not really digging it. There's a strange flavor to it and I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

So just be advised that you're not going to get anything close to Lockhart-grade BBQ here, but if you order the right thing (and come at lunch when it's fresh instead of dinner when it's not) then you'll get a totally edible BBQ lunch for less than $7.

I ordered brisket, sausage, and venison sausage as well as a couple pieces of apple pie to-go.

The pie had green mold and black fuzz on it!!!! I should have cancelled the entire order when I saw that. I got refunded for the pie and let them pack the rest up.

The remaining food was no better. The brisket was grey, the kind of grey that indicates the meat had been around a long time. It also tasted like it had been steaming for during that time instead of smoked. No smoke ring or smoke taste to be had.

The sausage was awfully salty and the venison was the same. I watched the server cut open plastic wrap releasing sausage links. That was shocking to me that it's stored in plastic bags and not smoking in pit as the typical Texan bbq joint.

The macaroni and cheese was so bland and soggy that the noodles just fell apart upon touch with a fork and the cheese tasted like cheese powder mixed with water. The coleslaw was also soggy and just disgusting to behold no less eat. I could not tell until I got home, but the slaw was starting to turn brown

If you want to experience good BBQ please do NOT go to Chisholm Trail, the only thing this place can do is steal Rudy's BBQ slogan because THIS IS THE WORST BBQ IN TEXAS - I promise you.