“In Central Texas, Barbecue is more than a way to cook meat –
it’s a way of life, a path to salvation, and
a sure-fire way to start an argument at the dinner table.”
~Central Texas Barbecue
Texans hold certain truths to be self-evident: everything is bigger (and better) in Texas, the Dallas Cowboys are America’s team (who can argue with that?), George Strait is the king of country music, Nolan Ryan was the greatest baseball pitcher who ever lived and the best barbecue in the universe is pit-smoked along the Central Texas Barbecue Belt. Although Texas may be “like a whole other country,” the rolling plains of Central Texas are like a whole other world when it comes to barbecue.
That’s not to say pit masters at Texas’s three other barbecue regions–East Texas, South Texas and West Texas–don’t prepare great barbecue or that they don’t regard barbecue as practically a religion. In fact, pit masters from each Texas barbecue region will defend the honor and bragging rights of their respective regions with the same vigor shown in 1836 by a small group of volunteer soldiers at The Alamo.
While conceding that there is great barbecue to be found throughout the Lone Star state, purists and aficionados almost unanimously agree that the state’s best barbecue is to be found in Central Texas with Austin as the region’s epicenter and pockets of barbecue excellence nonpareil found in such small towns as Lexington, Lockhart, Driftwood and Taylor. Historically, it makes sense. The Central Texas region was settled in the 19th century by German, Polish and Czech immigrants carrying forward their old country traditions for making sausage and smoking meats.
Central Texas barbecue has a number of distinguishing hallmarks. First and foremost, beef is king. That means moist, smoky brisket. Secondly, barbecue means spice and seasoning rubs (heavy on salt and pepper), not sauces. Some of the best bastions of barbecue serve their meats naked–no sauce. Others will give you sauce on the side if you request it. If you’ve got to have it, sauce is typically tomato-based complemented by vinegar and Worcestershire. Thirdly, barbecue means low and slow cooking over Texas post oak wood or pecan woods, both of which impart mild smokiness. For best results, the wood is “cured” for nine to twelve months which creates very little soot when it burns.
June, 2014, saw the launch in Albuquerque of a new barbecue joint brandishing the name “Marley’s Central Texas Barbecue.” Located on the northeast corner of Montgomery and San Pedro (at the former home of the beloved Tickles & Snooks Wings & Things), Marley’s seemed primed for longevity at that location. Just over two years later, however, Marley’s moved to the North Fourth street location which previously housed Paddy Rawal’s OM. Accompanying the change of venue was a bit of a name change. No longer does the marquee boast of its “Central Texas BBQ” heritage. Now it’s just “Marley’s Barbecue” though the menu remains the same.
Restaurant employees still sport shirts emblazoned with the slogan “we smoke the good stuff.” For the most part, the “good stuff” still comes from the Lone Star state. The restaurant’s Black Angus beef is sourced from trusted Texas suppliers and sausage comes from Elgin, the self-proclaimed “Sausage Capital of Texas.” The twin Heartland smokers which send smoky invitations to passing motorists come from Missouri, another barbecue-crazed state. You’ll pass by them on your way into the restaurant. The aromas are a preview of deliciousness to come.
Conspicuous by its absence is the Texas state flag used to accent the restaurant’s decor at its inaugural location. Other Texas accents remain include looped lassos and cowboy accoutrements on the walls as well as other stereotypical trappings (such as corrugated steel panels on the wall). One of my favorite Texas accents is Big Red soda which, not coincidentally, is bottled in Austin. I believe it’s a Texas state law that Big Red should be served with barbecue.
The menu is relatively small. Meats–sliced brisket, chopped brisket, Elgin sausage (regular or “hot”), pork spare ribs and pulled pork–are available by the half-pound. Sandwiches and plates are also available. Sides include Texas pinto beans, coleslaw, fresh-cut fries, mac and cheese and bacon potato salad. Your best bet is a combination plate, your choice of any two meats served with two sides. Plates include sweet Vidalia onions, pickles and slices of white bread (often considered a veggie in barbecue circles).
3 August 2014: The sliced brisket is moist and tender with a faint smokiness, a very pronounced smoke ring and a good amount of marbling around the edges (off-putting to some, absolutely necessary for others). It doesn’t have the thick, peppery crust characteristic of some legendary Central Texas barbecue establishments, but for taste, tenderness and appearance, it’s a very good brisket. Procured from the world-famous Southside Market in Elgin, Texas, both the regular and “hot” Elgin sausage live up to their reputation. They’re succulent, smoky and delicious with a natural casing that’s easy to bite through, but not cut with the plastic utensils provided.
28 August 2014: There’s yet another way to enjoy brisket at Marley’s and that’s in the form of a chopped brisket sandwich. When the menu reads “chopped” it’s not “chopped” as in the Carolina style “hack” job done to pork. In this case, the brisket is cut into very small cubes. If anything, the brisket seems even more tender prepared in this fashion and a caramelization not as apparent on sliced brisket is readily discernible with the chopped brisket. This sandwich is served with onions and pickles.
28 August 2014: No longer on the menu, but perhaps they should be considering the recent taco craze, is brisket tacos. An order of brisket tacos yields three beauteous tacos made on housemade corn tortillas. The tacos are engorged with chopped brisket and a pico de gallo. The corn tortillas are quite good and are formidable enough to hold up against the moistness and volume of the brisket and pico. The brisket is moist, tender and smoky. Alas, the pico de gallo (tomatoes and green peppers) is rather insipid, lacking any heat. Fortunately the barbecue sauce has just a tad of heat to lend.
3 August 2014: Although beef may be king in Texas, Marley’s pork spare ribs are no jesters. While the menu describes them as “fall-off-the-bone tender,” they have just a bit of “give” on them as you pull them off the bone. That’s the way it should be. Far too often, fall-off-the-bone denotes overdone. The ribs are tender and juicy with the spice and seasonings rub more pronounced (you’ll discern a bit more sweetness) than on the other meats. None of the meats needed sauce to make them palatable, but Marley’s sauce is good for dipping bread into. It’s sweet, vinegary and has a pleasing bite.
3 August 2014: Sides are no afterthought. The bacon potato salad, made with in-house cured bacon and a spice blend with personality, is very different from most potato salad served in New Mexico which tends to have a surfeit of mayo or salad cream. Shawne Riley, a long-time friend of this blog, called the potato salad the “closest to my Texas grandmother’s I’ve ever had.” We agreed the coleslaw was wonderful. Even with New Mexico green chile, the pinto beans have the flavor of Texas beans with sundry spices which detract from the natural flavors of the Land of Enchantment’s “other” official state vegetables (pinto beans and chile).
3 August 2014: As a proud native New Mexican well acquainted and enamored with our state’s fantastic pecan crop, try as I might it was difficult to remain impartial about our pecans, especially when a Texas city has the audacity to declare itself “the pecan capitol of the world.” Alas, the pecan pie was rich, decadent and absolutely mouth-watering. Nary a disparaging word can be said about it even though it wasn’t made with New Mexican pecans. During a visit in August, 2017, my server informed me that pecan pie is no longer on the menu. Instead, Marley’s now offers a strawberry-rhubarb pie (get it a la mode) which, while quite good–and quite Texan–didn’t please me as much as the pecan pie did.
23 August 2017: BBQ Nachos are the sole appetizer on the menu though a heaping portion is enough to constitute a meal. Available with your choice of pulled pork or chopped brisket, the nachos are served atop a bed of tortilla chips covered with nacho cheese, jalapenos and the house barbecue sauce. The chopped brisket is redolent with the fragrant aroma of oak and there’s plenty of it. We found the sauce a bit on the sweet side with tangy notes that couldn’t quite tame the sweetness. That’s probably why my Kim competed with me for the jalapenos–and she normally wouldn’t touch jalapenos with the proverbial ten-foot-pole.
Marley’s may not be the next best thing to eating at a barbecue restaurant in the Texas Hill Country of Central Texas, but in some ways it’s got those Lone Star bastions of bodacious barbecue beat. Within the air conditioned confines of Marley’s, we were especially grateful not to be waiting in line for two hours for one of Austin’s famous pilgrimage barbecue restaurants to open even as oppressive humidity sapped our energy and mosquitoes the size of helicopters consumed us as eagerly as we would the barbecue.
Marley’s Central Texas BBQ
7520 4th Street, N.W.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
LATEST VISIT: 23 August 2017
1st VISIT: 3 August 2014
# OF VISITS: 3
RATING: 18
COST: $$
BEST BET: Big Red, Pecan Pie, Sliced Brisket, Pork Spare Ribs, Elgin Sausage, Bacon Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Brisket Tacos, Chopped Brisket Sandwich, BBQ Nachos, Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie A La Mode
Marley’s is closing.
From their Facebook post last night:
“The time has come to close our doors on 4th St. Though we love Los Ranchos, we, as owners, have come to realize that we have to be present more than we are currently able for our business to be run according to our high standards. A number of unexpected events, such as family members’ health issues and our obligations to our professional jobs, keep us from being present as much as we would like to be, at this time.
We thoroughly enjoy the art of BBQ and serving it to you and are looking at avenues to continue Marley’s in a way that allows us, as owners, to be much more involved, such as a food truck.
We would like to thank you for all of your kindness, support, and patronage and hope to see you again soon in the near future.”
We of the surrounding neighborhood will miss the sweet smell of smoke hinting of good thing to come.
Alas Terry…indeed Marley’s “smoke” was a delight. Soon fortunately, pinon will return to The Village. Maybe I just wasn’t patient enough with the offerings and service, but am not missing it as much as OM Fine Dining https://www.nmgastronome.com/?p=19021 and the cordiality of Paddy himself as well as staff. If truth be told, not much into “Indian” as haven’t done any since longing for his version of Hot & Sour Soup as an Indian Chinese Fusion…his dishes were excellent as well.
– I often wonder if its the avant-garde ish architecture of the building seemingly screwed-up facing backwards? Does the building owner need to redo the 4th St. facing facade to somehow make it more alluringly indicative there is great dining therin? On the other hand, in the old days, you couldn’t see popular Capo’s (across from Found on 4th/La Parada/Farm and Table) and I don’t remember a bodacious signage. Kinda like Vernon’s Steakhouse succeeding subduedly. Can’t be just the food….Gil gave OM a “24” and several Folks agreed!
Outstanding brisket, with a subdued layer of fat/marbling. Delicious. Moist. I didn’t care much for the house sauce, but fortunately there was another on the table (I’m not big on sweet Texas-style). Really enjoyed the fries, which came skin-on and way salty — the way I like them (sorry, Doc). “Special” side of corn on cob nothing special in the land of elote. My son seemed pleased with his sausage plate, which came with a generous serving of beans. (He preferred the jalapeno and cheese link to the other one. Both had a nice snap.)
Service was friendly bordering on over the top. I like talking about food, but don’t necessarily want to be interviewed about it after the meal. Still, the guy was nice and attentive to anything we needed. Place was clean with good air conditioning. Will be back.
Still mourning the Cube.
Came here again with my wife a couple weeks back, mid Saturday afternoon. It was quiet and I was concerned we may not have timed it well for the BBQ but that was not a problem.
We were kept waiting some by our young server as she was more interested in socialising with the table next to us. We both ordered combo plates. I got brisket and ribs, my wife ribs and sausage. The brisket was moist and flavorsome and the ribs were similarly so. My wife was a little disappointed with only getting 1 sausage link with her combo and ended up ordering another side of brisket after tasting mine.
Sides of slaw and potato salad were both excellent. Plates are supposed to be serverd with onions and pickles and despite making a point of asking our server to ensure they came with the plate I had to ask for them again after we were served.
The new digs are good, place has a nice feel to it. Quality of the BBQ is great and nice to see the BBQ pit out front in the parking lot. We’ll be coming back for sure.
Sorry. I’d really really like to see this place “make it” in this potentially funky locale…if nothing else for the tax base of the Village!
Alas, this is my 2nd visit. Had the Marley Sandwich with onion/jalapeno, I think. Problema: meat was fine, but really…for the price…was on the skimpy side. I’d never been to the old place, but think it was on a Kaiser Roll. This was on a plain, small bun that, IMHO, gave me the impression I was having a “slider” with a little BBQ. Sweat Tea and slaw were fine as well as Wait Gal’s service for the ambiance. Nope, no beer yet. Did not add to my YumYum listings! Again, I stand to be corrected by BBQ Aficianodo(a)s!
Actually, we tried it as well after a period to let them get their new kitchen in order, mid-afternoon on a weekday and certainly non-rush. Stingy portions and while we were one of only two active tables, Millennial service was slow and otherwise occupied on phones. The food that we received was okay/good, but it’s not like we’re going to crave BBQ and say, “Let’s go to Marley’s!”
Yo and Howdy Paahrdnaah!
Marley’s on Fourth…in the beautiful Village of Los Ranchos….. has Opened!
Alas, with lingering memories of the genteel hospitality of “Paddy” Rawal and his OM, Marley has transformed the place, with a friendly staff, into a tasteful, more downhome welcoming setting befitting BBQ, including a Texas sized BBQer out back!
– Instead of the Sandwich offerings, I chose the (2) Sausages from the Plate menu which comes with choice of two side. As such, got the ‘creamy’ style slaw which has just the right sweetness to contrast with the sweet-tang of the great BBQ sauce which is offered separately. Alas, kinda disappointed with the Mac n Cheese. As I missed ever getting to Marley’s over on Montgomery, can’t compare if this version was an anomaly, i.e. there was a distracting “feel” to the sauce, like something wasn’t just mixed enough.
Aah the sausage…a great hearty, robust smoked taste! Unfortunately, the skin was a tad tough for the table’s flatware knife in contrast to apparently the chef’s knife putting a slice in each.
Be all that as it may…..shame on me while handing out dings! I should give myself a big one for not speaking up as I profess “we” should when something is amiss….alas, I must’ve have been having an “off” day too!
– Looking forward to others ‘taking me to task’ with their experiences as I’d really like to see them be a Go!!! Apparently, they have beer licensing in the offing!
Well Shawne…I’ve been most anxious amongst several I’m sure, to accept your “dare”….i.e. of way back on 6/3 “….who’s game to meet me….”, but things have lingered and lingered and lingered for Marley’s to open!!!! Granted, several weeks ago a cement pad was set up in the parking lot for a (humongous) Smoker/BBQer thingy to sit on. But there it has just sat. Weeks ago, a sign went up saying something about Lifesports when I drive by making me think plans for Marley’s fell through; thankfully it is actually a place around back ‘in the front’.
Whoa!!! This week I saw a new sign sporting Marley’s will be opening soon!!! Today I went by the front door in the back and found a locked door, but peeking inside I see (sadly) a change of Paddy’s OM’s decor to looking more western with…. are ya ready…a Texas flag ahangin!!!!!. Who’d expect anything less???! There was new signage on the door noting hours will be from 11 into 8 or 9; closed Sundays. Alas, no one was inside. Whoa! would you believe, but I could honestly smell BBQ!!!!! Rather than question my sanity, I reflected that maybe they were “infusing” the place for ambiance! On my way driving out, I espied an open door on the side and lo and behold I found a guy spiffing up things who will be “working” the smoker/barbequer! Whoa! would you believe he’s been imported from Texas BBQ Country. He’s most engaging and is already enamored with New Mexico which might bode well for his longevity.
– After more digging around, I have since found the reason for lack of an opening….The Permit Process. While I don’t know the ins and outs of that, on the surface one can only presumptively suppose why we aren’t developing economically as well as we could. Who can keep paying rent (or a mortgage) without income?
– So, if you are still “game” or not…LOL, I will keep an eye out for the actual opening lest some might consider a casual/mini-Fog a week after its opening.
Who is game to meet me for lunch or dinner at their new location on North Fourth? I’m excited to see their new digs!
Marley’s new location is at 7520 4th Street, N.W., Suite A., just a few blocks south of Paseo Del Norte.
They tell me that they will open (soft) maybe as early as tomorrow (Sept 29).
I’m anxious to compare them to Stack House BBQ in Rio Rancho (which opened five days ago) to raves from me and Dazzling Deanell.
Great news! Thanks for the update, Larry! I’m also excited to visit Stack House. Maybe we can do a mini-FOG lunch or dinner sometime soon.
Ate at Marley’s Central Texas BBQ today with my Wifey. I lived in Central Texas (Austin) for 14 years and made a point of often eating at the best BBQ in Central Texas, Smittys in Lockhart is my favorite and Coopers in Llano is my second favorite. My wife is Brazilian and Brazilians have great BBQ, in some ways like Texas BBQ in that they season it and do not cover it with sauce to hide the flavor of the meat. My wife loved the brisket. She also had a double order of fries. The fries were EXCELLENT! Her fries orders were huge also, she ate about 1/2 of one order and about 1/3 of her brisket order. I had the sampler plate. Brisket/Elgin sausage/ribs/chopped brisket (normally comes with pulled pork but the friendly waitress cheerfully substituted the chopped brisket at my request). The best on my plate was the ribs. The two ribs were both huge and super meaty. The seasoning was great but most importantly they were cooked to perfection. As other have stated the ribs were not “fall off the bone” but were gently pull off the bone. The bones were left completely meat free, the sign of perfection in rib cooking. My brisket was drier than I prefer but had good flavor. My wife got the moister brisket, which I should have specified, I will request moist, untrimmed brisket next time. Two things that Central Texas BBQ do NOT pride themselves on (it’s all about the meat) are sides and sauce. I had beans and bacon potato salad both were very good. The sauce is good too. I am a saucy person but would recommend to most people to enjoy the meat Texas style with no sauce, Marley’s ‘ain’t got nothing to hide,” as I was often told in Austin after asking for sauce. So in summary, is it as good as the very best in Central Texas, no. Is it excellent and much needed addition to Albuquerque restaurant scene? YES! Oh and if Marley’s reads this, I agree with Kon, your signage is not doing your business any favors, a cool design but does not shout out “Get TX BBQ here!” as it should. Keep on smoking, it’s good stuff.
I’ve been back twice since my first visit. Second time was with the wife. I think it was on a Monday and in the early afternoon. We had the brisket, pulled pork ribs and sausage. The pulled pork was very dry and the brisket was somewhat dry also though with decent flavour. The ribs were very good and the sausage was moist and tasty. I recall the potato salad being good too though I try to keep the carbs down when eating BBQ.
Went again the past Saturday following the recent refit, about 1pm. Ordered brisket and ribs, specifying moist, untrimmed for brisket as I prefer it. The brisket was very moist and tender, I’d rate it excellent. A touch more seasoning would elevate it a little higher for me. The spare ribs were a knockout. Perfectly seasoned, and exceptionally moist and tender, with just a little tug to get them off the bone. Had slaw and salad as sides, slaw could use some more seasoning and I’d prefer salad room temp not fridge cold.
The metal tables and chairs have been replaced by hardwood tables and chairs with some comfortable booths lining the walls. I feel the street and shop signage could be altered to stand out more. There is a banner over the window glass but driving down Montgomery the signage on the mall post does not pass the 100ft test for knowing a BBQ restaurant is there.
Best BBQ in New Mexico,can’t wait to go back, have had ribs, brisket and sausage, give this great little restaurant a try.
Thank you for the comments, Michael, Joe, and Ryan. We regret terribly that we fell short of your expectations and are constantly striving to consistently serve excellent food with excellent service. Some staff changes have been made since your comments were posted and we are looking into what occurred on the day you visited our restaurant. We are disheartened to learn that we were unable to earn your return patronage but thank you for leaving feedback so that we may consistently turn out an excellent product. Many thanks to all of those who were able to leave positive reviews. We are delighted that we pleased your palate.
I am a admitted barbeque snob, more specifically, I am a Texas barbeque snob. I’ve eaten at the the best of the best many times: Luling City Market, Cooper’s in Llano, Kreutz, Smitty’s and Black’s in Lockhart, Snow’s in Lexington, Buzzie’s in Kerrvile…the list goes on and on. The only “pantheon” place I haven’t visited is Franklin’s in Austin.
That being said…
If you’re going to present your food as Central TX barbeque, then you are setting the bar VERY VERY high. Marley’s doesn’t cut it.
Brisket-C+. Nice smoke flavor, not nearly tender or juicy enough.
Sausage-C+ Good flavor, obviously reheated, and not well. No “snap” with the bite.
Sides-B. Good potato salad and cole slaw. Good, not great.
Ribs-??? I must have been having lunch right next to Joe yesterday since we were there at the same time. How can you be out of ribs at 11:30 AM?
I don’t think I’ll be back, either.
Please see reply below. Thank you. 🙂
The brisket was very good. The ribs were unavailable; very disappointing. I went for the ribs at 11:30 in the morning and get “We don’t have ribs today.” Service was very slow and not a smile to be had even with the reminder painted on the door jamb to the kitchen. I will not return.
I hope your mom had a wonderful and joyous birthday despite the pie.
I’m probably not the only reader who would love to try your sister’s pecan pie. Does she make it with New Mexico grown pecans? More importantly, does she sell it anywhere?
In defense of the pecan pie at Marley’s, the slice I photographed was probably two minutes removed from the oven. I didn’t have time to wait for it to cool down.
My family had been to lunch at Marley’s last month as we try to keep up on barbecue in Albuq. They shared their opinion with me as I was not able to go with them. I’m writing about my experience with the cue from Marley’s. My sister surprised us on Saturday as she ordered several pounds of the brisket for lunch for our mothers 92nd birthday. The reason I say surprised is that we all cook brisket and we do it very well. I can’t remember when weve ordered barbecu to go. Besides the brisket she ordered a whole pecan pie which was even more surprising. She made potato salad, cole slaw, corn on the cob and some really good baby back ribs. I agreed with her and the family that the brisket was good. After lunch we sang happy birthday and she cut the pecan pie and it was under cooked, very runny. Looking like the picture that Gil took for this review. My sister was disappointed as we all were as this was what we were having along with a lemon meringue pie instead of cake. Were experts on pecan pie as a few years ago our mother won 2nd place at the NM State Fair for her pecan pie. She would have won 1st but my sister won 1st for hers and 1st for peach pie. As for the pecan pie, my sister version has spoiled us for others and the pie from Marley’s was a poor representation. I’m disappointed that Marley’s would cut the pie and serve it the way they did for Gil and once seeing how runny it was and serve it anyway. Albuq has some of the best Mexican and New Mexican Restaurants anywhere but lacks really good and consistent Barbecue. I was born here and spent my youth in Texas.
I visited Marley’s shortly after it opened. Mid week about midday. Had the brisket and spare ribs, no sides. I asked for the moist/fatty brisket, untrimmed. I don’t know if they usually trim it. The brisket was excellent. Nice bark and fat was well rendered. Meat was succulent. Easily the best brisket I’ve tasted in New Mexico, two trips to the Pork and Brew included. I think it compares favourably with a number of BBQ places in Texas.
Spare ribs were tasty although I would have preferred them unsauced.
Having lined up for several BBQ visits in Austin I’m happy to have to visit at lunch to be assured of the BBQ rather than have them be serving stale meat.
Checked out the lane behind the restaurant. There’s a large offset style barrel smoker and a large wood pile. Good signs that a BBQ joint is doing it right.
Thank you so much, Kon! That means a lot to us. 🙂
KK,
I ate at County Line in 1996. I haven’t ever had the urge to return. I tried Marley’s last week for the first time and will be back this week. Portions were fine to me, brisket and sausage were great. Cici’s Pizza has enormous portions, too..all you can eat. I bet you hang out there when you’re not eating mediocre BBQ and posting inane commentary.
Downing? KKK’s comments are so loving, gracious and thoughtful that I thought for sure his name was Dowling as in Father Dowling: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096582/
The name says it all. Liked his leads and style over KK’s. Just saying.
The County Line is the next best thing for Texas style Barbecue not Marleys. Being that it is from Texas! Lets just get that straight shall we?
Dear Mr Downing/Randall/Randell/Wendell/Ruben or whatever name you are using today.
Your postings are always recognizable for exhibiting such humor, warmth and charm that the County Line should use them in advertising. They would be as much a boom for business as ones advertising:
Home of the Wednesday night prayer meetings for the Westboro Baptist Church or
Home of the Taliban’s Friday Night Executive Board meetings or
Home of the ISIS commander’s Strategic and Tactical organizational planning meetings.
Portions are kinda small and stingy don’t you think?
Yeah, it was also disapppointing for me and my group to stop by Marley’s for a late lunch only to be told that they were out of the very thing that we were looking forward to tasting. I’m in the biz, so I understand start-up issues as Gil explains above. I just hope the owners are keeping up with reviews so that they can make the necessary adjustments. Word of mouth is very powerful, so at this point it seems like an important thing to fix in order for them to stay afloat.
After we saw write up on Marley’s in the paper we tried to go there for lunch. Arrived about 1:45 and were informed that they were out of ribs, brisket, coleslaw, and potato salad. They open at 11:00nd are out of all that by 1:45! So we left. Urbanspoon has two reports of others who had similar experiences. Might go back but they need to have what they sell.
Most brand new restaurants have start-up issues as they try to figure out the volume of traffic (which ultimately dictates how much food to prepare). It’s a bigger challenge for barbecue restaurants because when they run out of food, it takes 15-18 hours to replenish it.
Marley’s had been open for about five weeks when we visited at just past noon on a Saturday. We didn’t experience any of the start-up issues reported by others.
The Texas base County Line is the next big thing to Texas Barbecue considering that it is from Texas. With Texas size portions,that which 3rd place Marleys does not have figured out yet amongst others.
Please tell me they serve beer in long neck bottles….
At present Marley’s Central Texas BBQ does not have a beer and wine license, but that could change in the future.