VooDoo BBQ & Grill
2601 S IH 35 Ste B100 (Round Rock, 78664)
238-7000
30.48367°N, 97.67246°W
WiFi: maybe. (They don’t have an open WiFi network, but you might be able to hit Home Depot’s WiFi across the parking lot, depending.)
Pepper grinder rating: 0.
Men’s room: 2.5.
Dwight’s comments:
Tyler Cowen argues that if you want good barbecue, you should look for it in towns of less than 50,000 people. I like Cowen’s work a lot: at some point, I still plan to write a longer review of An Economist Gets Lunch
But sometime you find an exception. Or, if not a total exception, at least someplace worth noting.
VooDoo BBQ isn’t going to replace Stiles Switch or any of the places in Lockhart or even the Salt Lick at the Dell Diamond in my affections. But they do very reasonable “New Orleans” style barbecue.
From what I can tell, “New Orleans” style means more chicken and pork, and less beef. I thought their brisket was actually pretty good, thin-sliced, moist, and tender. The sausage was just kind of generic, like too many other barbecue places, but they do very good pulled pork and jerked chicken. They have a pretty good selection of sauces, including a vinegar-based one that reminds me of North Carolina. And they have a good selection of sides, including mac and cheese and a really good sweet potato soufflé.
What this reminds me of, more than anything else, is the late lamented Captain Tom’s BBQ on North Lamar. It isn’t true Texas barbecue, but it is darn good. I’m glad it exists, and I’m glad it is close enough to my office that it makes a convenient stop on the way home.