Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q


Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q is a barbecue restaurant established in Leon Springs, a district of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas in 1989. The company operates restaurants in Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado and sells products online. Rudy's generally dropped the slogan "The wurst bar-b-q in Texas," when the company was acquired 1996, with only some Austin and San Antonio-area locations using it.

History

Rudy's was established by Rudolph Aue in Leon Springs, Texas in 1929 as a combination business consisting of a filling station, automobile repair shop, and grocery store. In 1989 Rudolph added barbecue to the food menu, combining the grocery and new restaurant element to make a "country store" feel. Their signature barbecue consists of 100% oak wood smoked meats rather than the usual Texas Mesquite smoke, and special in-house spices.
Rudy's later expanded to 45 locations through the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. Now more of a self-service sit down restaurant style establishment, the retail store portion usually consists of a small corner of each location. The company's head offices are currently located in Lakeway, Texas.

Menu

Rudy's has an instructional video on "how to cut" brisket, but also serves turkey, pork ribs, sausages, beef, pulled pork and breakfast tacos.
Sides include coleslaw, creamed corn, spicy pinto beans, new potatoes, potato salad and bread by the whole or half loaf. Soda and beer are sold as beverages and both feature regional selections.

Accolades

The Daily Meal writes their favorite menu item "is the extra moist brisket". The former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, dubbed Rudy's in Austin "the best of the best". On May 31, 2017, Daniel Vaughn of Texas Monthly writes "It’s the best statewide barbecue chain in Texas".

NASCAR sponsorship

Rudy's initially jumped in to NASCAR by sponsoring driver Brad Coleman and team Joe Gibbs Racing for three Xfinity Series races in 2009, under the name rudys.com The name "Rudy's Country Store & BBQ" was used for the company's re-entry in 2016 with Garrett Smithley and JD Motorsports.