Loved the BBQ and all the sides! What a great place with a great atmosphere. Service was good, the cafeteria style was a little overwhelming but we figured it out. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Brisket baked potato and cherry cobbler. - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

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Great service and amazing food. Highly recommend this Barbecue. My brother told me this place was great and it did not disappoint.

This place is decent, and would be a good place to come back to in this town. Friendly staff, food was good brisket was fatty but that makes it juicy. Everything was warm, the only difference is the sides were priced individually or for two people, whereas normal BBQ places serve quart sizes. So this provided more options to us for the family. The wait was not too bad, it goes pretty quickly but I didn't visit in the middle of summer. Left side of the dinning area past the main dinning is warm due to that's where they smoke the meats etc. Otherwise this is your typical (not in a bad way) Texas BBQ joint. read more

Always good. Serving size of the sides has been huge both times I've been there. Good taste, nice seasoning.

Ok for those of you that follow me you all know I can put down some BBQ. I was really excited to see that this restaurant was on my route today. I was a tad disappointed to see the "Meat Market" ordering concept. If you have seen my previous post I have had no luck with this method of service. Today was a bit of the same.... I ordered moist brisket, 1/2 link of sausage, coleslaw, and onion rings. This was tough brisket to say it was "moist" flavor was ok, but very tough. The sausage was great, and it was moist. Coleslaw was tart and the onion rings had NO flavor. Look guys I know all of theses sights are the authors "opinion". In my opinion this will be my last attempt to eat at the "meat market" concept service, to me this is a recipe for dried out BBQ... Not worth the $30 for dinner.... read more

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So even though there was a line, it went quick. There are lots of options, especially when it comes to sides. The sausage was on point, the baked potato was cooked to perfection. The little area where you can get your sides for your potato including pickles was pretty cool. First time here and got a steak, only complaint the steak could have been seasoned better, but a little salt and pepper it was perfect. I'd recommend trying them they have so much you can't sample it all in one go. read more

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Hey, I know y'all in Stephenville love it, but it's no where near as good as most places in Austin. Bland, fatty, no bark brisket with equally boring sides. With Franklin, Terry Blacks and too many others to mention blow Hard-Eight away. Sorry, but you need to get a new pitmaster. read more

BBQ isn't bad but I will not go to a bbq place where I have to pay extra for potato salad and get a small scoop for a outrageous price. All you can eat beans but still? I don't dine there if there is any other choice. read more

Always great BBQ and cheap drinks. Usually about $100 for 3 or 4 people but it's quality food and worth it. My only gripe tonight was the amount of ice in my "on the rocks" margarita. I really got 3-4 sips of margaritas and the entire glass was ice. Even after we finished dinner maybe 45 minutes later it was still an entire ball of ice filling the entire glass. The frozen is a much better option. Otherwise the staff is great, the cream corn is great etc etc no complaints. read more

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Delicious brisket, pork, bbq sauce. You choose the size of your serving. Coleslaw very fresh and crunchy, not sweetened. I wish they had cornbread. read more

Loved the food and barbeque sauce!! The fries were such a special treat! Brisket cooked perfectly..

Great staff and good food. I don't even have to write long review for this place. This place is what makes Stephenville known on a map!

As always. Amazing BBQ. I had the brisket stuffed potato and fried okra. Everything was fresh and delicious. Topped it off with some sweet tea. Can't wait to go back soon! read more

Great Place with Great Food and Service. A little pricey, but we'll worth it for what you get. I'll be back. read more

The best BBQ. Love the ambiance. The walk up to the pit and order your meat. It's literally off the grill. Go inside and get sides and drinks. Super yum. read more

Garlic Butter Dipped Chicken The best you will ever have A must Jalapeno Sausage ,SandwichBacon , Wrapped Shrimp are also really good they make a great stake anyway you want it .. best suggestion try all of it everything on the menu do you won't be disappointed and great wait staff there to help read more

*Disclaimer: I am not a BBQ fan* I always put a disclaimer when I review BBQ places because for the most part, I do not like BBQ. However, this Hard-Eight was a different story. First, we flew into the Stephenville airport, which is a municipal airport that happens to be around the corner from Hard-Eight. If you call when you land, they will send a car over to pick you up and take you to the restaurant. Huge win! I have been to another Hard Eight location so I knew what to expect with the set up (stand in line, big BBQ pit outside). And I was fully ready to be disappointed with the food. However, this location had more selection for meats and the meat actually had flavor, vs just being dry and bland. We had 4 people so we split several options for meat as well as sides. I am not a pork eater but everyone else was so we had turkey, steak, sausage, bacon wrapped jalapenos, and brisket. We chose mac and cheese, jalapeno sweet corn and fries as our sides. I personally wish the corn had a little more kick to it, but otherwise, everything was cooked well, not dry and had a good flavor. I also liked that they had a singer there on this Friday evening. He added some ambiance to the outdoor eating area. read more

Came in at 11:30 AM. Brisket was left over. It was probably pretty good when it was fresh, but tasted old today. Smoke ring was not pink. Pork chop had bright pink smoke ring but was either over done or had been sitting around for a while. Paid $40 for 1 large pork chop and 2 slices of brisket. For those prices we should have gotten product not meat carried over from previous days. read more

Fabulous BBQ! Never disappoints! If there is a line, it al and moves fast! The meat was smoked to perfection and the pinto beans with jalapeños are so good! Try the poppers! read more

Has this place changed hands? My last two experiences were not good. Dry ribs which tasted like they had no seasoning. And not including the bbq sauce that I requested in my "to go" order did not make them any more palatable! read more

Travel to South Texas frequently and always arrange to stop by either coming from or going to. Unfortunately, the last 3 times have been very disappointing. One trip - brisket so dry and weird color. I took it back. 2nd time wasn't much better, looked a liiiiittle more moist, wrong. Two trip - I take sirloin home to the better half. This time so tough with inedible grisly type membrane down middle. Disappointing. Third trip - ribs so dry and tough. The one rib of 8 was ok because it was shielded by fat. It is frustrating to pay for bad Q, now consistently bad here. I know Q is not a science. Maybe the pit master has changed, who knows. I won't be back sorry. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

My sweet girl friend was excited to take me to Hard Eight, and the food was good considering the meats, though right off the grill, were cold. But as others have stated, there has to be a better way to reduce lines and to get though the inside line to pay... it took so long that the meats were cold by the time we sat down to eat... and though its taste was good, who likes to eat cold BBQ, especially when they paid the excessively high prices this place charges? Had the lines been better organized and faster getting us to our table, I would have given this 4 stars. The extra star comes off for the prices. It costs $58 to feed the 2 of us before tip! On person in our party pointed out the prices were almost twice what they were the last time they ate there... and we didn't eat steak, we ate brisket and ribs. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

Great food. Only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars, is because to me, the ordering process was a little confusing. Friendly folks.

Another #carclublife Yelp addition with Ol' Rooster visiting Stephenville, TX and Hard- Eight BBQ. Austin peeps, don't let the travel time scare you. Lots of beautiful back roads from our start point in Ding Dong, TX. Where in the heck is that you ask? About 10 miles outside of Killeen. Only place marking the location was a convenience store. We met up with a club member who is a UPS driver in the area; obviously knows ALL the back roads in these parts. We drove along the Lampasas River for a good bit; onto Maxdale, Okala, and Fairy before arriving in Hico. Wished I could have had pie at the Koffee Kup; somehow the allure of a never tried BBQ joint kept me from veering off. About thirty more minutes thanks to a construction zone and our group pulled into the parking lot. Initial impressions remind me of BBQ joints closer to Austin. Could be looking at a copycat Cooper's and Opie's. One second here folks, they have onion rings and fried okra? Steaks too?!?!? Wish some of the BBQ joints around my area would take notice and expand beyond the usual offerings. Seems we caught the line at the perfect moment. Barely a wait versus what we saw while heading back to our cars. I can honestly say I haven't had this many choices at a BBQ joint with the exception of Black's BBQ in Lockhart. Gotta get the one criticism out of the way; stupid cornbread salad or whatever it was called. Put that dish in an oven and bake that MOFO. The ribs were amazing as was the stuffed jalapeno shrimp popper. Loved my single slice of brisket, beans, and the sauces. Borrowed a buddies onion ring from his plate; finished out the meal with a small serving of cherry cobbler. Prices aren't over inflated because of the tenure of the restaurant. read more

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Well if you like cold bbq and cold fried sweet potatoes this is your place. We got there and the line was not too long. Got out meat and proceeded inside to the line to pay where we picked up the sweet potato fries under the heat lamp. They we're already not hot but we got them anyway. By the time the checkout girl did her makeup and nails.... Just guessing that's what she was doing as she was as slow as Christmas....we had cold bbq and cold fries. The meat tasted good. The fries tasted good. But who on the heck wants cold food? I would have paid extra for a microwave oven. The time between getting your food and paying for it while it's hot needs to be way shorter. Let me sit down and eat and pay when I leave or something. Rediculous to have people ready to eat stand in line so long. Who designed this process a monkey? Just plain stupid. read more

I ordered the 16 oz. ribeye steak (medium rare). My sides were corn on the cob, grilled onions, grilled jalapeño and a baked potato. Everything was cooked and tasted perfectly !! My grilled jalapeño came out just a few minutes after the rest of my food. A short time later, the cook brought me some ribs and chicken poppers. They said they were sorry the pepper was out late. I never even said a thing about it being late. This is customer service at its best !!! I will return the next time I'm in Stephenville ! Go get Full read more

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Probably some of the most mediocre barbecue I've had in a while, I don't understand the hype, super dry and pretty chewy/stringy, staff seemed relatively friendly though read more

Wife and i have eaten here before years ago and thankfully we were able to stop again while traveling through. You can smell the smoked meats while pulling in and the aroma is luring as if I was a carnivore searching for dinner lol. You walk through where the pit area is, that's where they're smoking the meats, cooking steaks and you choose your meats. Go inside and get your sides, we definitely recommend the okra - it's crisp, seasoned too. The Mac & cheese is fantastic & creamy, the loaded potato salad is great as well and the mustard base was my choice, corn of the cob was delicious and buttery and the beans are flavorful. The brisket is flavorful, moist and tender, ribs smoked well and seasoned, smoked sausage was okay a little dry for my liking. Definitely recommend this BBQ and I'm not a big rib guy but their ribs and meats are darn good. read more

Service was amazing, we called from the stephensville airport and they picked us up and brought us here. The vibe was perfect and the food was outstanding. Pork ribs were my favorite thing followed closely by the onion rings. Best onion rings I've ever had. 10/10 experience, and I do plan on returning. read more

The food service was great. Staff was very friendly and there seemed to be plenty of workers. The ribs were good. Brisket was not as tender and seemed a little overcooked. We loved the shrimp poppers and Jalapeño sausage. Unfortunately they were sold out of the turkey by 2 pm. The sides were good including unlimited cheese, bacon and butter for the baked potato. Unlimited beans for the dine in customers were very flavorful. The ice and tea outside were bad and were not refreshed the entire time of our visit even after notifying the staff. The ladies restroom was very dirty and the one toilet was overflowing and unusable. Again, no effort to correct the issue when the staff was notified. For a $35 per person meal, I would have expected a working ladies restroom or at least prompt attention to the issue. Overall, the food was very good, and we would try it again on a less busy day. read more

First time coming here. The place looks great. Great items to choose from and you get to see what's in the pit. The ambiance was great as was the service. The food just wasn't there for me. Brisket over cook and sausage was chewy. Hopefully I happen to catch it on a bad day. read more

Excellent food, great employees who are courteous and helpful. No way to go wrong by eating here. I look forward to being there every time I get to Dallas. read more

Two words.. No brainer! Unique Texas atmosphere and great food. Several main course options along with multiple side options. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Brisket, jalapeño sausage, poppers, - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

The food was amazing. The brisket and ribs were delicious. The ribs fell off the bone and the brisket was moist. The sausage was cold but still delicious. The beans were all you can eat and free. The coleslaw had a good taste. The potato salad had too much mustard for my liking. I highly recommend this place if you are driving through like we did!! read more

Excellent barbecue! The smell from the smoke as we walked up was great. We haven't had much luck finding good barbecue so we tried the brisket. It tasted wonderful and wasn't dried out. It was midafternoon and tasted fresh, not like it had been cooked at 5am and sat drying out all day. The staff were friendly and efficient and the restaurant had a good vibe. I've been to two other Hard 8 BBQ's (and which were ok but the meat was dry) and the Stephenville location is the only one I'll be going back to. If the locations in DFW were as good as this one, they'd make a fortune. read more

We visited the Stephenville location after a tour of Tartleton University. The ribs were tasty the brisket was outstanding and the corn casserole was out of this world. I can't wait to visit the Fort Worth branch. But it's pricey so it won't be right away. read more

The food was absolutely delicious and some of the best BBQ in Texas. Love it so much, I had to do take out for later. Highly recommend it.

Their service is very good. Their food is amazing has really good flavor. The place is amazing. The restaurant has a very home feeling.

The food is OUTSTANDING! Bring your retirement $ though. I bit expensive. 2 stuffed potatoes, 2 sides, and 2 drinks $60

Expensive but it was good. I'm not big on bbq but had heard about it fir years to tried finally. Ribs were good and the baked potato salad was very good. read more