Harold's Pit Bar-B-Q

Harold's Pit-Bar-B-Q
1305 Walnut Street
Abilene, TX 79601
(325) 672-4451


Harold's Pit-Bar-Q had the highest points out side of the top 5 in Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ. This spelled R-O-A-D-T-R-I-P. A three hour drive from Arlington, we made Abilene a day trip.

When we arrived, I was thinking "What the...".

You could drive pass Harold's everyday and never know that they have one of the best briskets in Texas. Harold's Pit-Bar-B-Q is in a nondescript building on a nondescript street in a nondescript town.


So we walked in and I chatted with Harold's wife (never got her name). Apparently, they moved from Lockhart, TX many decades ago with Harold's dad. Lockhart is the BBQ capital of Texas.

I got the trinity - ribs, brisket, & sausages. The sides were mash potato, coleslaw, & jalapeno cornbread.


The ribs and sausages are great but the brisket is the main event.

Harold's brisket is comparable to Snow's. I think Harold's is more tender. Why? Harold's cut their meat thick while Snow's cut theirs thin.

Even with a thick cut, Harold's brisket melted in my mouth.

Harold's is famous for two other things - cornbread & BBQ sauce. Strange for a highly rated Texas BBQ to have BBQ sauce as a showcase. Harold's sauce really compliments the meat and cornbread.

Harold's sauce would go well with many things. Harold could make tons of money if he markets the sauce online.


The cornbread comes in two varieties. Regular and jalapeno. There isn't any pics because I ate them so fast and forgot to take pictures. The cornbreads are superb and is a must-try.

Found a pic online. Like to thank westxguy for the pic.


Definitely will be back. In fact, I'm planning another BBQ run before my restaurant opens.