Great place to get barbecue by the pound. The baked potatoes and chicken poppers are also tasty.

My go to Barbeque when traveling from North Texas to Marfa and Big Bend on the MX/TX border. When they are on their game they are serious contenders for best BBQ in Texas (which basically means the best BBQ in general). Unfortunately it's relatively common to come here during 'off hours' where the quality takes a hit and the BBQ becomes less interesting. At those points you just have to know to ask for which cuts are truly the best at the time and which cuts aren't good at the moment. Fortunately if you ask the pit master at this point they are very good about pointing you in the right direction for the right cuts at the time. I don't know if the quick expansions in the Dallas market resulted in less of a focus at this store but I would hope they get back to their prime because they are the best at that point. All that said - I would still highly recommend coming here if you are in the area. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Great atmosphere - they are the real deal in Texas BBQ. - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

Our go to place for BBQ when in Stephenville. You pick out your meat from the smoker when you enter the venue. They also grill steaks to your specifications. Inside there is a wide variety of side dishes. Everything is wonderful. Be sure & get dessert ( cobblers & banana pudding). You'll have to take it home with your leftovers to go box. Too much food to consume at one time. This place is always busy so expect to wait in line. It will be worth the wait. read more

Really good! What I really like is the complimentary cheese and bacon bits. The potato salad was on point.

Maybe Heart Ache is a better name for this place Unless you like paying big prices for fat filled brisket, Chicken under cooked pink and slimy The greese was overwhelming 4 people almost 140 dollars All food went home On to the cement for 6 dogs who had no complaints They have not submitted a review yet read more

We have been traveling thru Stevenvillie, TX enroute to Port Aransas, TX and making the Hardeight a must stop for several years. We were recently dissapointed with the taste of the rib racks. Just wondering if the quality of your meat selection has changed hands The taste for us was not the same. read more

Very disorganized and unfriendly place. The website said pet friend and then there was a sign that said no pets. Waited 10 minute to order and no one spoke to us, exempt when we were leaving. read more

The ribs were really good. Let me start there. But this is Texas and if the brisket isn't up to par, you're gonna have a hard time competing. I found the brisket blah. The hot bbq sauce is good but brisket shouldn't NEED sauce imho, but this one did. For what the brisket lacked, the ribs made up for. Really good. Nice smoke, tender, meaty, and fall off the bone. No sauce needed here. Yummy! Chicken poppers were all dried out and gross. read more

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Average bbq lacking consistency with high prices. sandwiches and stuffed bake potato are best value, sausage and chicken are decent, average brisket but not consistent - often dry, the ribs, steak, shrimp/chicken poppers are good options, beans and fries are good side options. Bring your wallet and don't expect great bbq! read more

Love the steak, shrimp, bologna & sandwiches!! The Service was very friendly & good. The restaurant in general was a nice place which we will definitely be back. read more

I love bringing my family here when they come to Stephenville. They have a lot of seating and a beautiful restaurant. Try the bacon wrapped chicken! read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Fresh meats - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

Man, this place lives up to the hype. Now just to get this established, I like a fatty brisket. Also, as a guy on keto, I am always jazzed to find a place I can eat with clients, and not draw weird looks for my meals. I was stunned by how addictive their brisket was. It was good enough that I did lunch here for all 3 of my days here. I love the fact that the bark isn't mouth crushingly salty, the meat is tender, and not over handled, and there is enough fat to keep the whole thing just perfect. I have very few five star reviews, and this one is well deserved. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Brisket and slaw, with chicken stuffed, bacon wrapped jalapeños. - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

This place is amazing. We did the stuffed baked potato but substituted a sweet potato for the regular potatoe. All sides were amazing. Atmosphere is rugged west Texas. Smells great, tastes good, beers cold. read more

This place is so yummy! Quick and efficient and super friendly service. The two young boys were very polite and the man offering bread was nice as well. The customer service here is excellent and the food is so delicious! I got the turkey potatoe, with mac n cheese and jalapeño corn. Apple cobbler and strawberry cheesecake is delicious. The girl on the register helped us out cuz my bf didn't have his sandwich made. It was our first time and she took care of that for us. He got brisket sandwich jalapeño sausage, peach cobbler, stuffed jalapeños, ribs. All was perfect, hope to come back soon ! read more

Great bbq adorable and a fun place to eat they have really good steaks you can pick your meat and they cook it how you want it

We were towing the popup and looking for a place to eat that wasn't McDonalds, and passed Hard Eight. The parking lot was big enough to accommodate the large derriere of our vehicle with ease. Little towns with BBQ joints seem to be either awesome, or ehhhh... this definitely fell into the former category. First of all, I can't pick out anything I had that wasn't amazing. The turkey. The brisket. The ribs. Free beans that taste this great? Wow. If I remember correctly the coleslaw was good and not great, but with everything else on our plates, it's no big deal. The service was just fine and the place had a good atmosphere. We almost stopped again on the way back, but I had a craving for Whataburger and that won. Would I drive round trip from Austin just to go here? Nah. However, it would be an anticipated stop along the way going somewhere else in the area. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

Pricy, but the food was great. Good atmosphere. The employees were helpful and fast but not overly friendly. We would go back in a heart beat! They give you enough food that it was a good value! read more

Fantastic BBQ spot. You wait in a line outside that leads to a pit. There were 2 guys working the pit and they were extremely nice and helpful. Just let them know what you want and they do it. I like how they show you what they slice off or chop up and ask if that looks good for you. For instance I had the beef brisket and they sliced off a piece and asked if that was good. I opted for a second slice too. In addition to the brisket I got about 9 bones worth of pork ribs and corn on the cob. They dip the corn into a bucket of melted butter too! After they add everything to the tray they weigh it out and put a sticker on it with the price. Then you head inside and can get sauces, bread, deserts, slaw, and other stuff. Hand the cashier the stickers and she totals it up and adds drinks and extras. The ribs were amazing. The brisket was some of the best I've ever had. Corn was wonderful too. The sauce is a little sweet for my liking but not a sweet sauce overall. The sauce does pair well with the meats. Overall I think it was spectacular. I just think it's a little pricy but then again worth it for the high quality BBQ. read more

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no bake potatoes it would be an hour for a baked potato no french fries. It would be in at least 20 minutes for french fries. We came at 7:05 which is dinner time. Then it took 12 minutes to get our margarita and our can of beer. Third time we've tried them NO MORE read more

Ate here as a recommendation from RV host. Unique concept but was overpriced and very loud. Would chose somewhere else if ever this way again. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - You pay by the pound for meat and baked potatoes $3.75 each - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

Terrible experience. We never received half of our ordered food. Most of our group was done eating and ready to leave and the others in the group NEVER RECEIVED THEIR FOOD. Management was good enough to refund our money but this was a HORRENDOUS experience. Entire meal SHOULD HAVRE BEEN COMPED. And I should get a refund of the tip I gave before being served. NEVER TIP BEFORE SERVICE ONLY AFTER. When in Stephenville we will 100% choose to eat elsewhere. The Cherry Cobbler was nasty. Totally pissed about this meal. Waste of money. Being lied to about our order. Frustrating to no end!!!! read more

I had the sausage, ribs and beans. So good I could take nap. If you are ever down here you must make the stop. Gooood food and great people. Been here over three times. Consistently good with friendly people. Great job. read more

Hard Eight BBQ - One of the many pits. - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

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It starts with very homey decor on the outside. It continues as you approach the pit BBQ and order your meat(s). Once inside you order sides and drinks. The whole place has a really comfortable vibe. Everything we tried was very well prepared and the taste was spot on! We'll definitely be ba k!! read more

Very good Texas BBQ. Food is good and the price is pretty solid for good bbq. Highly recommend

Barely edible bbq. Ribs over done wish no flavor and mushy. Sausage tasteless and barley warm. Chop beef no flavor Won't stop again read more

This place is solid. You can't go wrong on a visit to Hard Eight. The barbecue is on a huge outdoor grill as you enter. You get to choose your items prior to entering. All sides are good. We especially like the cream corn and the beans (they're free). It's always packed here, especially during hunting season. (4 stars only because Texas has a couple of better barbecue joints ........Evie Mae's in Wolfforth!). Nothing better than Hard Eight around here! I'll be back. read more

Traveling here on business. This place is a meat lovers dream. I had the brisket which was the best I have ever eaten. This is high praise since I travel for a living and have visited dozens of Barbeque restaurants all over the US. Also try the bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers. Nothing fancy but damn good! read more

Hard Eight BBQ - One of a few pits - Barbeque Near Me - Stephenville, Texas

You only need one word to describe the place. " Awesome". Some of the best BBQ I've ever had and there are a lot of BBQ restaurants in Texas! read more

We have visited lots of Hard Eight locations. Our first trip to this one (the OG). Did not disappoint. Great food and atmosphere. Ran out of room long before I finished eating ribs, brisket and sausage. All first class. Will be back!! read more

This BBQ is the best. The ribs were fall off the bone tender. Brisket was amazing. Jalapeño sausage was soooo good. read more

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They're the best barbecue place in town and their peach cobbler is to die for... We will definitely be coming back again!!!!!! And again and again and again!!!!!!!! read more

Have been wanting to try this place ever since we moved here last year. Everything was perfect! The employees are friendly and the food is amazing! Will definitely be back. read more

I usually love this restaurant in other cities but when I tried this one I got FOOD POISONING for 4 days. I ordered the regular pound of brisket. Tasted ok not super great. read more

How best to describe this place. A meat lovers dream. The process is confusing at first for the beginners but the staff are great at walking you through it. Order your meat first then go inside for sides, drinks and pay. Then you sit down and enjoy the amazing food. Often your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Highly recommend read more

Another disappointing stop at Hard-Eight. Asked for moist brisket and got dried stringy meat. Still tastes like pot roast. Why do I even stop here??? The shrimp popper was good and so were the pinto beans. Sad they don't know anything about brisket. Bill Miller's is better. read more

Over priced for what you get. They charge for everything. Brisket isn't that great. They run you in like a herd of cattle. Big turn over in staff. They care less if you enjoy your meal or not! read more

I was stunned today by how BAD both the BBQ and the service have gotten here. I had to send back the beef brisket - it was obviously old, dried out and cold. Fortunately, the pit master replaced it with new, fresh brisket that was up to their old standards and good. I was awaiting a cell call from my doctor and tried to get on their internal wireless network. I asked the manager if I could please use their network security password since I was waiting on an important call from my dr. He told me they did that to keep people off their network (WTH!?!?) and he didn't know what their password was ( REALLY?). I told him that was a shabby way to treat their customers, and I will not ever come back to Hard 8 if he couldn't help me. The Mgr mumbled I could try using the password "Trainwreck." I did; it didn't work. I do think this is a very accurate description of this restaurant. I will NOT be back and urge you to pass them up too. read more

Amazing food. Perfect mix of good barbeque and southern hospitality. It made me wanna go back and eat again although it's kinda pricey (but what barbeque isn't) read more

Our trip to Texas was wonderful and this place was absolutely amazing. The food was to die for, oh so yummy!!!! The environment was pleasant and I can't wait to go back. read more

First time eating here and don't plan on coming again! For someone who has never been here it was extremely confusing and not what we were expecting. If you are wanting a normal sit down experience this is not the place for you. The process and set up was extremely confusing and not functional. The staff were not friendly and expect us to know how the place worked. The seating was also uncomfortable. We had our sandwiches fast but sat waiting for our French fries for 10 minutes. The pulled pork sandwiches were fine, nothing to write home about. Overall, it was not the lunch we were expecting to have and will definitely not be going again. God bless. read more