Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que

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.

Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que
Restaurant information
Slogan"Home of the Big Chop"
Established1962 (1962)
Food typeTexas barbecue
CityLlano
StateTexas
CountryUnited States
WebsiteCoopersBBQ.com

History

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.[lower-alpha 1] 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

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

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

Notes
  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
  1. Wood, Virginia B. (November 9, 2001). "Central Texas BBQ Dynasties: What Becomes a Legend Most?". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  2. Shahin, Jim (September 27, 2011). "Smoke Signals: Behold, the beauty of the Big Chop". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  3. Raichlen, Steven (July 24, 2002). "Stalking 4-Star Barbecue In the Lone Star State". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  4. "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. Walsh, Robb (June 30, 2016). "Take a Texas Barbecue Roadtrip". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  13. 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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