San Diego’s Best BBQ: Coops West Texas Barbeque Review
For many years, good BBQ restaurants in San Diego were non-existent. That is slowly changing as some legit places are now opening up. Leading the way is a small location off the beaten track in Lemon Grove. To kick off our series on San Diego’s Best BBQ we thought we would start off with a Coops West Texas Barbeque Review. Cutting to the chase, Coops is definitely a front runner for best BBQ in San Diego.
Coops West Texas Barbeque
2625 Lemon Grove Ave
Lemon Grove, CA 91945
(619) 589-0478
Coops is located about a mile from downtown Lemon Grove in a small, somewhat rundown strip mall at 2625 Lemon Grove Avenue. The restaurant only seats about 25 people so you may want to do it as takeout. On its sign, Coops claims it was established in 1968. However, the current location only opened in 2010. Our suspicion (not yet confirmed) is that the 1968 date may refer to the birth of founder Brad Cooper, ie Coop. No, he is not the famous actor from movies like The Hangover. Instead Cooper is a Texan who worked as a nurse at Kaiser before starting his own BBQ joint.
There are definitely a lot of fans of Coops so we are just adding to the accolades. In Yelp’s 2016 list of the best restaurants in the United States, Coops came in 47. This even passed San Diego BBQ legend Phil’s which was at 68. In our opinion when it comes to authentic BBQ, Coops beats Phil’s hands down. But, of course, Phil’s is great in its own right as a restaurant. It is just nothing like authentic BBQ you would find in the heart of Texas.
Coops offers standard BBQ fare, 3 kinds of ribs (spareribs, beef ribs and rib tips), pulled pork, brisket, hot links and jerk chicken. On weekends they offer homemade Texas sausage which we have yet to try. The selection of sides includes red beans and rice and collard greens along with standards like coleslaw, potato salad and beans. Plates and sandwiches come with sides and meat can also be ordered by the pound.
Prices are extremely reasonable. A small sandwich with choice of meat and one side is $6.75, with the large version $9.75. A 1/2 pound plate of your choice of meat and two sides is $10.99. However, ribs and brisket cost more. A brisket sandwich is a dollar extra while the 1/2 pound brisket plate is a whopping $4 more. Rib plates with two sides are $15.99.
What we like to order is a pound of pulled pork at $12.99 and the one pound plate that includes half a pound of brisket and a half pound of any other meat plus two sides and cornbread for $17.99. We usually get the hot links as our second meat. This order can feed a family of four for a little under $40 when drinks are added. It should be noted prices are lower during lunch and they run weekly specials. For example, if you go on Thursday you get $2 off on a plate.
Our son has quickly fallen in love with Coops, even though it is a long drive (he hates long drives to restaurants). The pulled pork is not Carolina style (with a vinegar base) but is still awesome. Some of the best ever. Ditto the brisket which is my personal favorite. It is surprisingly hard to find a place that does quality brisket and Coops is probably the leader in San Diego. The hot links are good but truthfully I am not an expert on hot links so it is hard to judge. The ribs get rave reviews but we admit we don’t often order ribs at a barbeque place. We smoke a pretty mean rib at home on our big green egg and I am just reluctant to pay a high price for them. Also good ribs can be found throughout San Diego.
Many BBQ places in San Diego love to douse their meat in sauce. Not Coops which does not use any sauce. There are 3 kinds of sauce on the table (from sweet to spicy) but the meat doesn’t really need it. For sides the collard greens and red beans and rice are the definite standouts. The baked beans are also good but we stay away from the mayonnaise based slaw and potato salad (which are probably fine if you like that thing). On Sundays they offer Candied Yams as a side.
Our mission is to dine at each of the top San Diego BBQ restaurants several times to come up with a ranking. Right now we see Coops as definitely in the top 5 and a solid contender for number one.
