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Interesting details, slow -
cooked meats make
Rohstowh restaurant a
local institution
he parking lot of this revered
barbecue restaurant is always
packed with pickup trucks
and cars at lunchtime. Many
diners are local devotees of
the tradition -laden cuisine
found at Cotten's Bar -B -Que.
Others are travelers from Houston
and parts beyond who've heard
about the legendary
AT A GLANCE
U.S. Highway 77,
Robstown, 767 -9973
Entrees: $6.95 - $7.85.
Checks: no.
Credit cards: n o
Wheelchair accessible
Beer, wine.
Hours: 10 a.m. -10 p.n
Monday - Saturday. Clo
Sunday.
Food * * 1/2
Atmosphere * **
Service * * 1/2
* Fair, ** Good,
Excellent,
* * ** Don't miss it
forty (brigti (alltr Simc%
mesquite- smoked
meat that's been
served here since
1947.
Among the more
notable barbecue afi-
cionados who've
demonstrated their
allegiance to this
roadside Robstown
eatery are President
Lyndon B. Johnson,
football player and
businessman Roger
Staubach, Gov. Bill
Clements and coun-
try- western singer
Willie Nelsoh.
Prominent business
people have been
known to fly in for
power lunches - their
helicopters perched
on the U.S. Highway
77 median in front of
Cotten's 15,000 -
square -foot barbecue mecca.
Founder Joe Cotten, who died in
1992, earned his culinary celebrity -
and the undying loyalty of cus-
tomers - by slow- cooking com -fed
beef all night over glowing bri-
quettes of mesquite wood. His fam-
ily members, who took over the
restaurant after his death, still cook
meat the same way, in massive pits
that sizzle all night long.
In some ways, the restaurant is
as eccentric as it is excellent, with a
stubborn loyalty to details that
make Cotten's stand out. There is
no menu - customers.simply
choose which type of meat they
want - sliced pork, beef brisket,
tender sausage or juicy ribs. The
meat is accompanied by the bare
essentials - two slices of bread, a
bowl of beans in rich broth, anoth-
er bowl of a tangy, homemade bar-
becue sauce and thick slices of
tomato, onion, pickles, radishes
and jalapenos. The food is served,
not on plates, but on sheets of
butcher paper.
Waiters are immaculately attired
- in crisp white shirts, black pants
and maroon jackets. Service is
quick and responsive, with waiters
scurrying to bring you the second
servings of meat that you're allotted
under Cotten's menu plan.
Other accompaniments are a
crock of smoky cheddar cheese
spread and crackers, served as an
appetizer with the dinner meal; and
a side salad, if you ask for it. We've
been told that you can get barbe-
cued chicken, if you order it in
advance.
The decor is authentic Texas -
style ranch house, with red tile
floors, red - and -white checked
tablecloths and rough -hewn beams
and ceilings. Weathered farm
implements hang from the walls,
which are also adorned with old
soda bottles and other worn knick-
knacks.
One cautionary note - bring a
hearty appetite and also bring cash.
No credit cards or personal checks
are permitted.
Meat at Gotten's Bar -B -Que is accompanied by the bare essentials
- bread, beans, barbecue sauce and slices of tomato, onion, pick -
ies, radishes and jalapenos.
I
Corpus Christi Caller,- Times, Friday „December 29, 1995/73
D I N I N G 0 U ,T
Barbecue is legendary at Cotten's
George Gongora/Caller -Times
Cotten's Bar -B -Que attracts local devotees as well as those who travel to the Robstown restaurant after hearing about the legendary
mesquite- smoked meat.
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