Schoepf's BBQ
They burn mesquite down to coals and cook straight over the fire in steel box pits, and the two-inch pork chop that comes off them is a dish Daniel Vaughn has praised twice. Ronnie and Staci Schoepf bought the place off his parents in 2007 and rebuilt it.
Why go
Schoepf's opened in 1993 and Ronnie and Staci Schoepf bought it from his parents in August 2007.4 The method is Hill Country direct heat: mesquite burned down to coals, meat cooked straight over them, then wrapped tight in foil.1 The pits sit behind the cutting room and you can look at them over a fence, though walking in is discouraged.1 You can see the building from I-35, and the red billboards start well before that.1 They say it shuffs
.1
In March 2026 Texas Barbecue Online Magazine put Schoepf's first on its inaugural Top 50, judged by almost a hundred volunteers who toured the state from 2 January 2025.3
Order this / avoid
- Order: the pork spare ribs. Vaughn's own steer if you want the fire rather than the foil.1
- Order: the pork chop, two inches thick and dappled with pepper.1
- Avoid: the late-afternoon service. Vaughn timed his review visit for 10:30 because later trips had turned up dry meat.1
What locals & experts say
- Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly (2015):
The sliced meat comes out juicy and tender, but more like a good pot roast than smoked brisket. If you want a taste of the fire, the pork spare ribs are a better option.
1 - Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly, honorable mentions to the 2025 Top 50:
This stalwart is serving its best brisket ever, along with a masterful, juicy half chicken cooked over direct heat.
2 - Ronnie Schoepf to KWTX, on the years behind the first place:
There were so many days where we weren't sure there'd be another.
3
Good to know
- The 2025 Texas Monthly listing is an honorable mention, on the roster that runs alongside the Top 50 rather than in it.2
- Live music runs at Schoepf's Backyard, started in 2009. The site claims a Texas Country Music Award for Live Music Venue of the Year and prints no year for it.4
Jeff's take (his words)
- His review (Jeff, first-hand, 5 stars, 18 June 2024): "Stopped for lunch on a brisket tamales day. Loved the brisket tamale. I would've liked a bit more texture to the meat and while it had nice chile flavor, it overwhelmed the brisket. The brisket nachos were massive and delicious. The jalapeno sausage was moist and flavorful. The brisket was very good (although sliced a bit thick-overcooked?) Despite being peak lunch time, the pork ribs weren't ready yet. And the prices are starting to be a bit high for the food. That said, I look forward to returning and trying the beef rib and quail."
Verdict
should-visit — Direct heat over mesquite coals is a dying method in Texas and Ronnie and Stacy Schoepf have run it for more than thirty years, which is the whole case for stopping here. Vaughn's two readings eleven years apart are the useful evidence: he called the sliced brisket closer to pot roast in 2015 and called it the best it has ever been in 2025, and a kitchen that moves in that direction is worth eating at. The ribs and the pork chop take the fire more directly than the brisket does. It sits short of the top rung because his 2025 line is an honorable mention rather than a Top 50 place, and because the meat dries out later in the day by his own account.