The Pit Barbeque

I have been going here for a while and the food was ok but the service sucks! The guys that work there are rude as hell. The tall guy was a smart Ass and the other two are usually just rude! I’ll never go back, I am done with them and no need to go there again when Stiles and Switch is less than 10 minutes away. Do yourself a favor and drive the 10 minutes north for friendlier service and much better food.

So I came to eat with my friends and we decided to have beer on the brewery next door, 8 minutes later they had my car getting the yellow lock on my wheel and charged me 150 $
I went and talked to the owner and he was like yea still pay the ticket and eat here, he was very rude to me and said I don’t think you would eat here. So disappointed

Pit BBQ is an Austin gem. And you don’t have to stand in the heat for hours! The staff are always friendly and willing to accomodate special requests. (I just have to have the juicy burnt ends every now and then!) I love the brisket, my kiddo loves the sausages, so everyone is happy! They are always a good place to celebrate No Cook Fridays! Thank you Pit BBQ!

This place reflect s the character of Austin in the 70’s and 80’s. The food is great and the customer service is warm and friendly.

The pit bbq has subpar quality food. The owner is a liar and thief. Food is awful. I feel like I need a shower after walking in. The service was like being in a meth lab.
I ate here today after work for dinner. I haven’t stopped crapping since 6pm.
Thanks jeff, you and your restaurant make me vomit from my butt.

I think The Pit is extremely underrated and should be mentioned as a top 5 BBQ place in Austin. The portions are large and it comes at a low price. So many people assume BBQ is better when it’s more expensive. This is not the case with The Pit.
While Stiles and Switch (located 2 miles away) charges more and has a better reputation, their BBQ is inferior to that of The Pit’s.
Oh yeah, and their banana wafer pudding is absolutely amazing.

I ordered the brisket sandwich and it was fairly good. The owner (?) seemed friendly and chatty and like a nice guy, but his co-​worker seemed taciturn. I like the décor in the restaurant and was glad to «buy local» by eating here. Overall I’d give it a ⁷⁄₁₀.

Not very good! beans have zero flavor and the brisket is okay. The banana pudding was really good. Also the Bbq sauce sucked. Sorry but not that good at all.

I would give zero stars if I could. This place is absolute shit. And has progressively gone down down hill over the last couple decades. From the food to the service. You want BBQ in Austin? I can think of a dozen places that are better from Rudy’s, Wonderpig, Franklins, County Line, Ruby’s, Stiles Switch, Micklethwait, Salt Lick, House Park BBQ, Lamberts… the list goes on and on. Where these guys truly suck is their shit service.
Brisket is dry and on the edge of turning to jerky. The chicken has no taste. I doubt these guys pass health inspections without some once a year heavy prep work. This place needs to go out of business already. Place would be better served as more parking for Pint House.
They stay in business hawking over their parking lot booting any car that happens to land in one of the unmarked spaces. I parked there at 7:55PM — the place closes at 8:00PM. They booted my car. Boot company said they would remove it without charge if the Pit BBQ OK’d the removal. Talked to the manager of the Pit — explained my situation… that I am a true Austin native, attended high school down the street, and have supported the Pit BBQ over the years. They essentially told me to suck it. Don’t believe the owner’s response that they have no say. Complete bullshit.
Go anywhere else in Austin for better BBQ. I have put up with the progressively shittier food over the years because I liked supporting Austin businesses and the nostalgia kept me coming back. Glad I can finally write this crap place off my list.
Jeff D — you just lost a life long customer.

Last minute stop on a busy Saturday afternoon.
The service was quick and friendly and the order was perfect. I like my brisket lean and have a bit of a taste for sausage. The brisket was cut perfectly and I was given a small bit of sausage just like I wanted.
The price is right and the food was delicious!

Haha. I’ll add to the string of miserable reviews for «The Pit» and highlight a hysterical inconsistency the owner, «Jeff D.» is perpetuating in his responses.
I’m another booting victim of this restaurant, and in the most predatory way possible. They had two intimidating henchmen sitting in a green Toyota Tacoma watching people park. I pulled in, The Pit’s lights were already off, and I checked my phone. 7:59 PM. The parking is reserved for Pit customers until 8 PM, according to jank signs posted on the side of their building.
My girlfriend expressed some trepidation, but I assured her that it would be fine. She’s had a historically brutal week with work and another predatory business, an Urgent Care clinic, so we were headed to trivia at Pinthouse to hang out with friends and try to enjoy the night a bit.
We walked out to a boot on my car and a super phony notice on the window. The two henchmen hopped out of the Toyota and greeted me immediately, saying, «You got booted. It’ll be $ 150. We collect cash or credit card.» Well, I paid them because the last thing that I wanted to do was blow up over $ 150 while my girlfriend faces two grand in bills for having a knee wound washed and covered with one Band Aid. They’re lucky I was with my lady, else I would have waited it out and towed my car myself the next morning and cut the boot in my garage. Someone needs to expose these cut-​rate thugs and pursue legal action, and if some of the other angry commenters are interested, I can initiate this through one of my four or five good friends who are practicing lawyers.
Their practices are predatory and the owner’s story is inconsistent (read his replies to other reviews, where he notes in some that the property owner employs this company, in others that he had to hire them to help the parking situation for their customers). What a crock. This guy makes more money off this mafioso-​thug action than he does off his subpar BBQ. Go anywhere else if you want to fill your mouth with meat, people. This might be an Austin local business, but they are shooting themselves in the foot and all other Austin local businesses in the face. That $ 150 came straight out of my funds for nights out, spending my hard-​earned money at local eateries and watering holes.
I will never, ever recommend the Pit or spend money there. I’m grateful that I can afford to spend $ 150 on crooks, but sorry for the legitimate and upstanding community businesses that are missing out on that money during my self-​imposed austerity measures.

Ribs were ok
Brisket not good
Sauce was terrible
My friend tricked me into going there because he was hungry. He said it was good. That was a lie of a hungry man. Never trust a hungry man. Ever. Ever.

Went here once for takeout, when I came out they had booted my car and demanded $ 150 to take it off. Staff disavowed any knowledge and shrugged their shoulders when I asked them to remove it. Dont ever come here… they make their money from stealing from customers. Plus the food was mediocre… certainly not worth this hassle.

Literally FUCK the pit.
What bullshit. They make their money by fining people based on where people parked in unmarked spots while no one is in their restaurant cuz it sucks ass yeah that’s right sucks the meat is overcooked and it smells like sweaty gym socks

I have been going here 30+ years. I hope their trendy neighbors and rising rents don’t drive them out! No, this is not Cooper’s or Smitty’s, but it is good solid Q. I like the brisket, outstanding slaw and beans.

Tried The Pit BBQ for the first time a few days ago and I’m sad to say that it’s absolutely not worth it.
The beef was dry with a very odd, hard to pinpoint flavor. Something with the smoking method they use, I think. Maybe things could use a cleaning? The place is very run down and depressing and the guys working there act like they don’t want to live.
With so many better options in Austin, why go here? Right down the street is Stiles Switch BBQ. It’s infinitely better.
Avoid!

Your review of The Pit Barbeque
2.0 star rating 11÷2÷2015
Rip off! I had not been to The Pit in a long time, so I decided to go get some chopped barbecue sandwiches. Once I got there, everything smelled so good that instead I ordered ¾ lb of brisket, ¾ lb of ribs and ½ lb of the chopped beef. Based on the prices I saw on the website this morning, I thought it would be about 25.00 with tax. They were busy so I didn’t stop to question it when what was charged on my card was $ 32.66 — Later I called and the guy who answered said their prices increased on the ribs and brisket some time ago from $ 12.49 to $ 15.49/lb. That is quite a hike! I told him about the website prices and he said, «yeah that is old». I told him they needed to update the website — that is false advertising and under the law you have to sell at advertised prices. He said it wasn’t his problem.
WON’T BE BACK.
Jeff D.‘s comment on your review:
Douglas, I’m terribly sorry to hear you are upset about this. While the prices on the website are out of date, all prices in the restaurant are current — I apologize if this caused some confusion. Web sites can be difficult and expensive to maintain, especially for small family businesses such as ours — I hope you can understand that. Still, I’d like to learn a bit more about your visit — which day did you stop in? Hope to hear back, Jeff Duff, Owner
One week ago
My visit was on Monday, November 2^nd at approx. 11:45 AM. I understand that websites are expensive to maintain, especially for a small business, but if you are not going to keep it current, better to get rid of it. Advertising one price on the website and not honoring it at your place of business is misleading and brings customers into your restaurant under false pretenses. This is illegal. Advertised prices must be honored. That the person I spoke with took no interest in the validity of my complaint is not satisfactory. I would like to know what you think is a fair resolution to this issue.
One hour ago
Douglas, I appreciate you taking the time to get back to me and again apologize for any confusion caused by the website and for the handling of the situation on site. Again, thank you for the feedback.
Best
Jeff Duff, Owner
One hour ago
Mr. Duff — I am glad that you are appreciative, but that is not enough to make me want to return. You are sorry. Okay. And? This is where a business owner interested in retaining a customer and ensuring he doesn’t lose even more customers because this customer is dissatisfied, says — «We will get the information on the website corrected immediately», «We will take down the website since it is misleading and is too expensive to update» or «I would like to make this right with you». So — nothing?
Delete Conversation

The management here is unbelievably rude and ignorant. I was harassed and then later physically assaulted by them in the parking lot. Cops involved and everything. I would not recommend going there.

It’s BBQ, quick, cheap and tasty… do you really need any more info? The inside is not glamorous, but that’s okay! There is limited seating, but most folks come in and order to go anyway. I recommend getting the 3 small hop beef sandwich deal to everyone. They have fabulous designated parking so you’re almost always guaranteed to be able to find a spot. Very friendly workers that have been there for years. AND SUPER FAST!

I’ve had bbq from The Pit ever since I was old enough for solid foods but I’ve never been into the actual brick and mortar.
It looks like pretty run down, let’s be honest. The outside looks like it’s just some little bum place and even the inside perpetuates that idea. Fabulous wood paneled walls straight out of the 70’s and plastic picnic table covers.
The place is clean inside (no bugs, no grimy plates or silverware, no dust bunnies in the corner, no sticky tables), it’s just the décor is just dated. that’s just the way I like it.
Joints like this are the only place you ever want to eat at. They’re the kind that don’t care much about the looks of the place because they’re more interested in investing in their bbq.
The guys behind the front counter working the register and slicing up the goods are conversational, knowledgeable, and friendly. Anything you want, they can do. They’ve been around so long that they’re on a first name basis with their regulars. It was sweet watching them greet my grandfather by name and remember exactly what his order would be.
The food is killer. Even the leanest of brisket was falling apart in my hands which is something I don’t run across often. The sausage was good and not very spicy which is something a lot of other bbq joints tend to maximize on so I appreciate the way The Pit does theirs.
The sauce was my only sticking point. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t really a stand out.
There’s no question in my mind that I’ll be back here. I always love BBQ from The Pit!