Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que

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Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que
A Cooper's location in Llano, Texas
Restaurant information
Established1962; 62 years ago (1962)
Food typeTexas barbecue
CityLlano
StateTexas
CountryUnited States
WebsiteCoopersBBQ.com

Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que is a barbecue restaurant chain based in Llano, Texas. Cooper's is best known for its two-inch-thick pork chop known as the "Big Chop", and for being President George W. Bush's favorite barbecue restaurant.

History[edit]

Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que is one of several restaurants created by the Cooper family since the 1950s. George T. Cooper opened "Cooper's Pit Bar-B-Q" in Mason, Texas in 1953.[a] George's son, Tommy Cooper, opened his own barbecue restaurant in Llano in 1962, naming his "Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que". Tommy Cooper's restaurant went on to become the most famous of the various Cooper family restaurants.[1] Tommy Cooper died in 1979; his restaurant was operated for a few years by Texas barbecue chef Kenneth Laird,[1] and then the Llano restaurant was acquired by current owner Terry Wootan in 1992.[2] In 2005, Tommy's son, Barry, returned to the business & together with Wootan, expanded Cooper's business to open five more locations to date. Today, Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que operates in six cities across the state of Texas. (Llano, New Braunfels, Fort Worth, Austin, College Station & Katy)

Cooper's serves brisket, ribs, sausage, chicken and cabrito, but is most well known for its two-inch-thick pork chop, sold as "the Big Chop".[2] The restaurant smokes its meats in large rectangular pits, using fast-burning mesquite wood to provide a more subtle smoky flavor than slow-smoked barbecue.[2][3] Cooper's barbecue sauce, served on the side,[4] is a pit-smoked concoction that includes ketchup, vinegar, black pepper, Louisiana hot sauce, lard and brisket drippings.[3]

Locations[edit]

In 2008, Cooper's opened a second location in New Braunfels, Texas.[5] In 2010, Cooper's opened its third location, a 26,000-square-foot venue in the Fort Worth Stockyards next to country nightclub Billy Bob's Texas.[6] Cooper's fourth location, in downtown Austin, Texas, opened in January 2016.[7] Cooper's fifth location opened in College Station, Texas, in October 2019 & the sixth location open in Katy, Texas, in November, 2019.

Features and awards[edit]

Cooper's has received positive reviews in The New York Times[3] and The Washington Post.[2] In the early 2000s, President George W. Bush declared it his favorite barbecue restaurant,[8][9] an honorific that continues to be used in coverage of the restaurant.[10][11][12][13]

In 2011, Cooper's was one of five restaurants representing Central Texas in Patricia Schultz's 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die.[13] In 2015, The Daily Meal ranked Cooper's #10 on its list of best barbecue ribs in the United States.[14] In 2016, food critic and Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook author Robb Walsh named Cooper's #8 on his list of 10 favorite Texas barbecue spots.[12] In 2017, USA Today declared Cooper's the winner of its Readers Choice award in the category "Best BBQ Brisket Sandwich in Texas".[15][4]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ George T. Cooper's original restaurant in Mason, now operating as "Cooper's Original Pit Bar-B-Q", is separately owned and not affiliated with Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que. The Mason restaurant has been owned by Lindell and Pam Estes since 2014.[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Wood, Virginia B. (November 9, 2001). "Central Texas BBQ Dynasties: What Becomes a Legend Most?". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Shahin, Jim (September 27, 2011). "Smoke Signals: Behold, the beauty of the Big Chop". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Raichlen, Steven (July 24, 2002). "Stalking 4-Star Barbecue In the Lone Star State". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que Wins Best BBQ Brisket Sandwich in Texas!". USA Today. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  5. ^ "The 50 Best BBQ Joints . . . in the World!: Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que". Texas Monthly. June 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  6. ^ Llanes, Jessica (February 19, 2016). "How a Texas BBQ Favorite Fares in Fort Worth". Fort Worth Magazine. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  7. ^ Chaudhury, Nadia (January 25, 2016). "Cooper's Barbecue Is Now Officially Fully Open". Eater.com. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  8. ^ Apple Jr., R.W. (March 21, 2001). "In Austin, Bush's Coattails Bear Precious Crumbs". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  9. ^ "Texas BBQ eatery sees its profile rise". The Washington Times. August 13, 2002. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  10. ^ "Legends of Texas Barbecue". Texas Highways Magazine. July 13, 2012. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  11. ^ "The 34 Most Important Barbecue Joints in Texas". July 21, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  12. ^ a b Walsh, Robb (June 30, 2016). "Take a Texas Barbecue Roadtrip". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Patricia Schultz (2011). 1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die. Workman Pub. pp. 756–757. ISBN 978-0-7611-6336-7.
  14. ^ "America's best barbecue ribs for 2015". foxnews.com. September 10, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  15. ^ Odam, Matthew. "USA Today says the best brisket sandwich in Lone Star State comes from Central Texas". Austin-American Statesman.
  16. ^ "Our Story". Cooper's Original Pit Bar-B-Q. Retrieved September 22, 2017.

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