Coop's West Texas BBQ

My husband and I tried this place called COOP'S WEST TEXAS BBQ. The inside is not that big of a space, they have long shared tables inside, it can be tight inside when there are a bunch of customers ordering to-go or dining in. We stayed to dine in 'coz I loved the BBQ smell inside :) We had: *BEEF BRISKET *PULLED PORK*SAUSAGE *PORK RIBS *JERK CHICKEN The moment we got our food omg the smokey smell from all the meats was lovely. I will usually take individual photos of each food and post them after here on Yelp, but I couldn't wait to eat so I just took one photo and ate right away :). I love their Brisket, it's so tender and goes perfectly with their BBQ sauce. Their sausage was good, it had a light spiciness. I Like the Jerk chicken too, it's so tender and tasty. Their ribs don't fall off the bones easily, but I like it still, they are very good smokey ribs.I wished to spot Mr. Cooper inside to see who was responsible for these yummy BBQ's :), but no luck, he wasn't around the day we came. We planned to visit again, and surely I am gonna order more than I ordered on our first visit, they are good BBQs. Parking was easy for us to find around.

My partner and I finally stopped by in Jan 2024 after years of hearing so much hype. To our dismay, it just did not live up to all the praise. We were so disappointed that we were disappointed! It was as if Mr. Coop's heart was just no longer in it because most of our selections -- the brisket and jerk chicken to be exact -- were just so plain and unexciting; a clear lack of smoky character and absolutely no seasoning. The jerk chicken was not even spicy, to top it off. The ribs, on the hand, showcased some promise. They had that fall-off-the-bone character which BBQ snobs claim ain't right, but it made them more enjoyable. These had *some* smoky character, at least more so than the 2 aforementioned items. In general, the BBQ sauce seemed to enhance our food greatly as it was exceptionally well-developed: it was sweet and possessed a twang and smokiness. This is what a BBQ sauce should be, but it should serve as an auxiliary piece, not a replacement of flavor. Mr. Coop was smoking some wieners in the parking lot during our visit which smelled mighty nice. We almost thought we had ordered the wrong thing. I do believe we need to give Coop's another try as not shortly after our visit, they announced their closure and then eventual peeling back of their hours of operations instead. Alas, I cannot imagine when that re-visit will occur, but I imagine since Mr. Coop is not as strained with the new refined hours, he might have improved his product to an extent.

Scent of mesquite smoke fills the air.  I watch smoke pouring out of the smoker.  Reminds me of some great bbq joints I visited in North Carolina.  Set the smoke free.  It appears tales of Coop's demise were premature.  Coop decided to stay in business with reduced hours.  He has also been tinkering with his menu.  Rib tips are now available.  Sometimes beef short ribs and fried fish are available.  This information is posted on either facebook or instagram.Rib tips are from the tip of the rib.  Some parts are hard while some are tender.  Lots of smoky flavor and some peppery flavor from the dry rub.  Pretty good.  My favorite ribs are the baby back ribs which are always juicy and tender.Beef short ribs were $25 per rib.  Beef was tender and juicy.  Love the mix of flavors from the beef, smoky mesquite, and peppery dry rub with a bit of sweetness from the brown sugar.  These are some of the best bbq beef short ribs I have had.Braised oxtails were $35 per pound and only sold in 1 pound quantities.  Oxtails were extremely tender and juicy.   I was impresssed how the oxtails were melt in your mouth tender.  Loved the flavor. Next time I'll have to visit when Coop has fried fish.  Great seeing Coop's West Texas BBQ is better than ever.

Excellent bbq meats. Juicy brisket, excellent spareribs and wonderful beef short ribs. Very much comparable to Texas bbq. Beef rib as good as Louie Mueller's in Austin. Lucky to have this gem in San Diego.

Love it when the community comes together to save a small business from fully closing. Coop's is now open on Fri-Sun 10-3. CASH ONLY.We came on a raining Sat and was the first in line by 9:15am. We placed our order at 9:57am and got our order in 15 mins. Rainy day special of 10% off.We got a 1/2 slab pork ribs, 1/2 lb brisket, 1/2 lb jerk chicken, 1/2 lb sausage, candied yams, Mac n cheese, corn bread (requested corner piece) and sweet tea.Everything was so tender, moist with a smokey flavor of oak wood (they ran out of mesquite wood). The sausage and chicken was our least favorite. The pork ribs and brisket were our top two. The ribs had so much flavor deep into the bones and didn't need sauce. Both had the right amount of fattiness.We asked for corner cut pieces of the corn bread to get the extra crispiness on the edges. Sweet tea is a must at bbq places. Be prepared to take on that pre diabetes goodness.My fiancé said it's one of the best Mac n cheese he's had. I'm not a Mac n cheese gal but I liked it bc it was cheesy without being cheesy.Know that Coop's bbq is Texas dry rub style with a thin wet layer, not drenched in sauce. They do give you spicy and non spicy bbq sauce. Parking is in a small lot with tons of street parking. Four picnic indoor tables. Across the parking lot, there are outdoor seatings in the former Coop's chicken and waffles building.

Farewell to Coop's West Texas BBQ as we know it as this will be the last weekend of business at their longtime Lemon Grove location. As one of the OGs of this BBQ style in the SD area, it has been one of my favorite dining spots. The no frills setup with multiple smokers on the opposite side of the parking lot reminded me of popular barbecue joints in the Southern states. Four picnic tables were available for inside seating so the dining space was limited. The majority of orders was for takeout, and they only accepted cash.The place opened at 10:00 and by the time I showed up, there were a dozen customers ahead of me. For this final visit, I bought a Knockout Sampler which was three pounds of meat (each had to be different) and two large sides. My picks were the Beef Brisket, Pork Ribs, and Homemade Texas Sausage along with Red Beans & Rice and Mac 'n Cheese. A small serving of Peach Cobbler and a slice of Buttermilk Pie rounded out my selections. The ribs and sausage were still on the smoker when I ordered which meant I had to wait another hour before those two meats were ready.The Pork Ribs were the best of the bunch. There were six bones with such deep smokiness to them that I didn't need to apply any barbeque sauce. I saved it for the pound of Beef Brisket that was cut into small slices. It was on the fattier side compared to places that offer more lean meat. The Texas Sausage contained a blend of spices (jalapeno?) which imparted some heat. The Red Beans & Rice were ordinary while the Mac 'n Cheese wasn't the gooiest blend I have tasted, yet it was still satisfying. The Peach Cobbler was the winner of the dessert battle as the sweetness of the peaches was terrific.Coop's does plan to have future pop-up events, and they will also provide catering if you have a function that desires this type of BBQ. Thank you to the owners and staff for your 13 years of service to the greater SD community. You will be missed!

Got to go in person today to grab some food for 6 for Mother's Day! And chose the Posse sampler platter with 5 lbs of meat. Doesn't include the choice of beef short rib. Group wanted ribs, so I got half slab (pork only), brisket, sausage & jerk chicken. Beef short ribs are $25 per rib. I'll try that another time to see how it is for 1 rib for $25. Got me thinking of Chris Rock character on New Jack City. "How much for one rib?" Anyhoo, I digress. We got sides greens, beans, and potato salad. Let me start by saying! I've yet to find any other place that has beef brisket as tender, flavorful & and mouth-watering as Coops yet! So that's my absolute favorite thing on the menu so far! The report on the pork ribs was okay but not as tender. Mom's said she would've like more of smoke flavor with the sauce & more tender on the ribs but wasn't bad. Dad had some of everything & it was all good. My grown children liked the chicken but said it lacked jerk flavor, but we all liked it regardless. That chicken was tender & juicy with a smoke flavor. Greens were great as we're the beans not sweet or overly vinegary & no meat included. Mac n cheese was mackin'!The service was great. Greeted from the moment I walked in by The Man Coop himself & Rachel(I think was her name) at the register. She explained everything well & was kind & did everything with a smile. It's a good thing when you pay attention to the employees who work with a smile & a great working demeanor. The inside had about 4 bench tables for seating to eat inside or wait. Outside, there are some tables at the other part across from them at the closed down restaurant, Da chicken Coop. My dad told me about it before I saw it. I kept saying that for the day, if you knew about this gem, why didn't you ever share the details? Now I have lived in Daygo all my life & my Daygo fam & peeps really let me down with this info. I also let myself down realizing I have driven by this spot a number of times, oblivious. Now Coops is only open the weekends Friday, Saturday & Sunday until 3p. I used to order from them via Doordash & when I couldn't get them online anymore. I went in search & my friend told me he closed the business in March 2024 she read. And when I got on Yelp, it was true. But soon after, I found he just decided to do weekends & catering/ events. That made my soul, tastebuds & stomach happy Much gratitude Coop!

BBQ In San Diego is hard to find let alone good West Texas BBQ. Me being a Second generation San Diegan from the area had known only Fargos And the BBQ pit growing up. Since then we had some attempts by others to compete and some gentrification of neighborhoods took place. About 15 years ago Brad Cooper "Coop" was shown by his dad who was raised in Midland Texas and was taught his pit master skills. My cousin who swore by Coops for years and used to promise we'd have to check it out. After my lack of finding a bonafide Texas BBQ I had saw an article on NBC about the possible closure of Coops a month ago. Yesterday I finally was able to head out from Chula Vista to Lemon grove. Easy to find with plenty of parking . The first thing I noticed was the Smoker set ups in the parking lots, Oak and Pecan woods used to create the magic. These setups match up to the Texas based BBQs such as Hard 8 in Dallas , Hutchins in Frisco , I knew I was at the right place. Once inside there's a clean and modern kitchen and smokers that were grandfathered in for smoke producing heat( rare) for indoors anymore. The line for ordering was about 12 deep with a half dozen waiting and other families devouring their orders. The Menu pretty straight forward, Brisquit , Short ribs , Sausage , sides numerous, cornbread, peach cobbler, greens, MacNCheese, potato salad, coleslaw. Numerous combos, meat weights and solo variations. Everyone inside seemed to know the staff, older folks greeted by first name and thanks you'd abound. The Tip jar was full and Brad Coop was checking on everything and everybody. We waited about 25 mins for our order but with much anticipation our food was on our table lids open and my mouth watering. My brisquit , chicken, my wife's pulled port moist. I first sampled the coleslaw then potato salad figuring if this ain't right then forget it. Both sides were authentic and delicious, a bite of cornbread was moist and fresh. Onto the Brisquit first, I lathered it up with the sauce then sliced the meat effortlessly with the blunt plastic knife like warm butter. Taking the first bite I could smell the smoke as the mouth combination of sauce and meat hit my taste buds. The Magic was Done ! West Texas was now in Lemon grove transported by pit master Brad Cooper and team. The chicken and pulled pork equal in flavor and it was actually so filling we couldn't eat everything in one sitting. We didn't get to try the short ribs , MacNCheese or baked potatoes , all the more for coming back regularly and bringing friends and family.

Had food catered today by Coops West Texas Barbecue. Coop and his daughter pulled up with the smoker/grill; I knew it was going to be gooooddd!!! We had three different meat to select from: meat selections were pork ribs, brisket and southwestern jerk chicken. Sides were baked beans and Mac & Cheese along with corn bread/dinner roll. I opted for the three meat selections, the two sides and extra corn bread. I tasted the brisket, pork ribs and jerk chicken. Omg!!!! So tender, flavorful and melts in your mouth! They jerk chicken have the most Smokey flavor but you can taste a hint of smokiness in the brisket and ribs. The sides were delicious, my baked beans had pieces of pineapple in it, I never knew pineapple would compliment baked beans so good but my friend Cheryl loved it so much; she had to get a cup to go! The corn bread was great texture, baked to perfection and moist. The bbq sauce that they had offered was very good, perfect seasonings and goodness. I'm so glad I get to meet these wonderful crew, they were so nice and friendly. Very professional and have a welcoming positive attitude. I highly recommend Coops!

It's been a really long time since I've been here. Ordered the knockout that comes with 3 pounds of meat and 2 large side. Got the pork ribs 1/2 slab which are 6 bones and 1pound of beef brisket and 1 pound of homemade sausage and sides were candied yams and collared greens and a small side of baked beans. The owner there and always friendly handing out samples of the rib tips. Everything was really good . No complaints. Plus got the sweet tea which was so good. Can get crowded around noon time. There are 4 large tables in the dining room. Free refill and containers were free. Would highly recommend this place for people who love bbq. This is the best bbq in San Diego . Beats Phil's anytime