Been a ghost town every time i drive by it over the last few months..

Never been disappointed in the food, running a big building like that costs alot of money

Always enjoyed their food but was admittedly disappointed when they removed fried ribs from their menu a while back. Those were my favorite.

Had definitely taken notice of the visibly fewer cars in the lot pretty much all of 2024.

Hate this for any local business.

Too bad even though I went only maybe 3-4 times. I thought it was really good. My wife was not a big fan of it. I do speculate Black's did hurt them. Black's is delicious.

It was good but they ran it like a food truck and not like a restaurant.

When they first opened, they had the best brisket in town. I've always liked everything else at Helberg a little bit better. Helberg has also supported Baylor athletics in multiple ways.
Terry Black's is very good, but I prefer supporting local over a franchise of possible.

I hate to lose Guess, and hope the best for the family and workers.

Reid's brisket was by far the best in town. Inconsistent hours, poor management by someone other than Reid put them behind. Being shut except for Thursday to Sunday lunch caused many to think they had closed months ago. Very disappointed but the barbecue business is tough and not forgiving of many missteps.

What does everyone get at Terry Blacks that is so good? I must be missing something. I think their brisket is bad, I'd rather have Rudy's. Sides at Rudy's are better too. But I assume I'm getting the wrong stuff.

I'm a brisket guy so maybe that's why. Also why I don't love Helberg, I know they have some good stuff but their brisket is meh.

BU99 said:

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Reid's brisket was by far the best in town. Inconsistent hours, poor management by someone other than Reid put them behind. Being shut except for Thursday to Sunday lunch caused many to think they had closed months ago. Very disappointed but the barbecue business is tough and not forgiving of many missteps.

What does everyone get at Terry Blacks that is so good? I must be missing something. I think their brisket is bad, I'd rather have Rudy's. Sides at Rudy's are better too. But I assume I'm getting the wrong stuff.

I'm a brisket guy so maybe that's why. Also why I don't love Helberg, I know they have some good stuff but their brisket is meh.

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Pork ribs and burnt ends. I like Helberg's food more than Black's, but the drive is inconvenient.

Shame

But I will admit I hadn't gone there in a while

Always liked the place, but I did think they made it difficult to put in an order I liked at a price point that was not super high. I felt like they out priced a lot of the locals in a location that was not gonna draw a lot of tourist traffic. And the location is little funky. It's not especially far from anything, but it's also not in a destination area. Franklin's basically a little mini freeway.

Tourists will stay downtown. Locals may go downtown, but if not, probably staying in Woodway / west Waco.

Time passed them by. When they first opened they were Waco's only gourmet BBQ place. However more people started to get in the game and once Hellberg came on the scene, they took a lot of their prestige and traffic away from Guess I feel like. People just moved over to them and then to Terry Black's when they opened up as well.

Terry Black's sides are miles above Rudy's. The potato salad, rice, beans, and green beans are all great IMO. Also Terry Black's has great brisket but you have to go in the morning. If you go when the meat has been sitting there for awhile it's pretty dry and mediocre. Really inconsistent brisket quality I've found.

Agree that Guess was at its best at the beginning, especially the brisket in those days, which is some of the best I've had. The pulled pork was good too. Stopped going there after a few bad experiences in a row, so not too surprised by this, but I hope they can return to their roots. I think Helberg is great, especially the ribs. Terry Black's can be great, too, but it feels a little like a theme park. I love me some DeMaria's, too, especially for the vibes, and even a Gut Pak now and then. Now I'm hungry.

ccgutierrez said:

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Really inconsistent brisket quality I've found.

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That seems to be the bane of many a BBQ joint, and leads me to believe that making and serving excellent brisket day-in and day-out is something not many can do, although they tell me that Franklin found the secret.

HTK lost me after they got their brick and mortar location for that reason. I found the same at Guess but since my wife liked some taco thing they had on the menu so much I still went there, but I switched away from the brisket to their Wood-Grilled hamburger, and it was excellent.

The last time I went to Guess I could tell things had gone astray. The Wood-Grilled burger was gone, the taco thing was gone and the fountain drink dispensers were pulled and only canned drinks were available.

I hated to see that, since I imagine Guess poured a lot of money, heart and soul into that place. Maybe he can now re-focus on having the best brisket around and find success catering. I hope so.

And speaking of inconsistency, don't get me started on 'high end' steak places. Many suffer from the same problem -- inconsistency. And when you're charging an arm, leg and kidney for a steak, don't tell me I'm paying for 'atmosphere' as an excuse for letting the quality of the steak slide.

I had Heilberg's at a party where they catered. I did not think it was as good as Guess. Again I had not been to Guess since pre Covid so I can't vouch for how it was recently. But I was not really impressed with Heilberg's.

I know people here feel way above chains in general, but I do think Rudy's is really good even though it is a regional chain. Strange thing though I have only been to the Rudy's in Waco a handful of times despite it having been now for 21-22 years. I usually hit Rudy's somewhere else while traveling.

I'll eat bbq just about anywhere. I don't discriminate. I'll enjoy Rudy's and I'll enjoy Papa Jacks and Hellbergs and Hill Country BBQ in Navasota and everything in between. Just give me more bbq and don't charge me $20 for it.

We only ate there once a while back when we were in town for a fb game.

The place was a ghost town and the food was mediocre at best. Not surprised it closed.

I prefer Jasper's BBQ.

I hate that for them and the workers but honestly I never thought it was that great of a place. Good yes but I don't think I would have put it in the top 5 in Waco

Many have said Terry Black's hurt their business but I think location was the main problem. TB just was the final nail in the coffin.

I had been to Guess several times where it was empty. Once at lunch time on a Saturday before Black's opened.

The location was just not a good one since it isn't really by anything else (Marketplace, 35, mall, etc) like where all the other restaurants are.

Went to Hellberg yesterday (Friday) and had their smash burger. Uhhhhh-mazing!!!

cowboycwr said:

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I hate that for them and the workers but honestly I never thought it was that great of a place. Good yes but I don't think I would have put it in the top 5 in Waco

Many have said Terry Black's hurt their business but I think location was the main problem. TB just was the final nail in the coffin.

I had been to Guess several times where it was empty. Once at lunch time on a Saturday before Black's opened.

The location was just not a good one since it isn't really by anything else (Marketplace, 35, mall, etc) like where all the other restaurants are.

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I'm not sure about that regarding the location. There was a BBQ joint there before from about 94-until maybe 2015 or so. I don't remember the name. It was alright. It was not as good as Guess but it did well enough to last 20 or so years there.

It was Michna's.
It was ok not great. Kind of the way I feel about Uncle Dan's.

Yes Michna's the name was escaping me while I was typing.

Blueashtj said:

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It was Michna's.
It was ok not great. Kind of the way I feel about Uncle Dan's.

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Yeah. I like Dan's. The best thing about Dans is Uncle Dan his ownself. I'll be loyal to Dan as long he owns the joint. I know one local Waco business man who eats there every day . That says something.

Stranger said:

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Blueashtj said:

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It was Michna's.
It was ok not great. Kind of the way I feel about Uncle Dan's.

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Yeah. I like Dan's. The best thing about Dans is Uncle Dan his ownself. I'll be loyal to Dan as long he owns the joint. I know one local Waco business man who eats there every day . That says something.

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Dans sauce is one of my favorite bbq sauces.

Dans slaw is simple classic and works perfectly with his Q. Is his stuff award winning? No. His 1/2 texas taters with a side of slaw make a great lunch

hodedofome said:

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I hadn't been there in a while. The main thing I miss is the ramen noodle place inside Union Hall which served Guess BBQ in their ramen. That was so good, and I miss it every winter.

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Try haaikido (however you spell it) at the corner of Waco drive and valley mills. The old pei Wei location.

RightRevBear said:

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Stranger said:

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Blueashtj said:

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It was Michna's.
It was ok not great. Kind of the way I feel about Uncle Dan's.

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Yeah. I like Dan's. The best thing about Dans is Uncle Dan his ownself. I'll be loyal to Dan as long he owns the joint. I know one local Waco business man who eats there every day . That says something.

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Uncle Dan's BBQ is horrible. Rudy's is better than Uncle Dan's.

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Dans bbq is consistent. It isnt great bbq.

RightRevBear said:

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Stranger said:

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Blueashtj said:

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It was Michna's.
It was ok not great. Kind of the way I feel about Uncle Dan's.

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Yeah. I like Dan's. The best thing about Dans is Uncle Dan his ownself. I'll be loyal to Dan as long he owns the joint. I know one local Waco business man who eats there every day . That says something.

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Uncle Dan's BBQ is horrible. Rudy's is better than Uncle Dan's.

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so sez you.

PartyBear said:

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cowboycwr said:

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I hate that for them and the workers but honestly I never thought it was that great of a place. Good yes but I don't think I would have put it in the top 5 in Waco

Many have said Terry Black's hurt their business but I think location was the main problem. TB just was the final nail in the coffin.

I had been to Guess several times where it was empty. Once at lunch time on a Saturday before Black's opened.

The location was just not a good one since it isn't really by anything else (Marketplace, 35, mall, etc) like where all the other restaurants are.

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I'm not sure about that regarding the location. There was a BBQ joint there before from about 94-until maybe 2015 or so. I don't remember the name. It was alright. It was not as good as Guess but it did well enough to last 20 or so years there.

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Yes 20 years ago that location was ok.

But that place went out of business as the other areas became the spots for restaurants and the options in Waco began to expand rapidly. And now Guess is going out of business. In the same spot.

So I would venture that spot is not good.

Sort of like the old chilis spot is not good for restaurants anymore (valley mills and bosque) or several other spots around town that used to have restaurants.

sipembeers said:

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hodedofome said:

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I hadn't been there in a while. The main thing I miss is the ramen noodle place inside Union Hall which served Guess BBQ in their ramen. That was so good, and I miss it every winter.

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Try haaikido (however you spell it) at the corner of Waco drive and valley mills. The old pei Wei location.

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I took my wife there once. It was fine until we went into the bathrooms. It was like a Four Seasons but weird. You want to use a community hairbrush? It was just weird.