Sam's BBQ

East 12th's generations-deep beef-rib pit
Sam's BBQ is a barbecue restaurant in Austin, TX. Listed categories include fast food, restaurant.
Sam's has fed East 12th Street for generations, a bare-bones barbecue counter that has never traded its honesty for a renovation. It runs on smoke and reputation, the kind of long-standing East Austin pit where the room is plain, the paper is greasy, and the meat is the entire point.
The beef ribs are the signature — a big, beefy cook with a hard smoke edge that rewards the trip across town — and the brisket carries genuine smoke beneath a peppery bark. Pork ribs and smoked sausage fill out a board that has looked the same for years, and it works. This is exactly the kind of institution the East Austin barbecue map is built on: unpretentious, generations-deep, and worth crossing the city for when you want the real, unadorned thing.
- Style: Central Texas Style
- Price: $
What to order
- Beef Ribs
- Brisket
- Pork Ribs
- Smoked Sausage
Visiting
- Address: 2000 E 12th St, Austin, TX 78702-1702
- Phone: +15124780378
- Website: http://samsbarbque.com/
Hours: Wed–Sat 10am–10pm, Sun–Mon 10am–8pm
Health inspection: score 91, routine inspection as of 2025-08-04 (Austin, TX public records)
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