| Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que | |
| Slogan: | "Home of the Big Chop" |
| Food-Type: | Texas barbecue |
| City: | Llano |
| State: | Texas |
| Country: | United States |
| Website: | CoopersBBQ.com |
Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que is a barbecue restaurant chain based in Llano, Texas. Cooper's is best known for its two-inch-thick pork chop known as the "Big Chop", and for being President George W. Bush's favorite barbecue restaurant.
Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que is one of several restaurants created by the Cooper family since the 1950s. George T. Cooper opened "Cooper's Pit Bar-B-Q" in Mason, Texas in 1953. George's son, Tommy Cooper, opened his own barbecue restaurant in Llano in 1962, naming his "Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que". Tommy Cooper's restaurant went on to become the most famous of the various Cooper family restaurants.[1] Tommy Cooper died in 1979; his restaurant was operated for a few years by Texas barbecue chef Kenneth Laird,[1] and then the Llano restaurant was acquired by current owner Terry Wootan in 1992.[2] In 2005, Tommy's son, Barry, returned to the business & together with Wootan, expanded Cooper's business to open five more locations to date. Today, Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que operates in six cities across the state of Texas. (Llano, New Braunfels, Fort Worth, Austin, College Station & Katy)
Cooper's serves brisket, ribs, sausage, chicken and cabrito, but is most well known for its two-inch-thick pork chop, sold as "the Big Chop".[2] The restaurant smokes its meats in large rectangular pits, using fast-burning mesquite wood to provide a more subtle smoky flavor than slow-smoked barbecue.[2] [3] Cooper's barbecue sauce, served on the side, is a pit-smoked concoction that includes ketchup, vinegar, black pepper, Louisiana hot sauce, lard and brisket drippings.[3]
In 2008, Cooper's opened a second location in New Braunfels, Texas.[4] In 2010, Cooper's opened its third location, a 26,000-square-foot venue in the Fort Worth Stockyards next to country nightclub Billy Bob's Texas.[5] Cooper's fourth location, in downtown Austin, Texas, opened in January 2016.[6] Cooper's fifth location opened in College Station, Texas, in October 2019 & the sixth location open in Katy, Texas, in November, 2019.
Cooper's has received positive reviews in The New York Times[3] and The Washington Post.[2] In the early 2000s, President George W. Bush declared it his favorite barbecue restaurant,[7] [8] an honorific that continues to be used in coverage of the restaurant.[9] [10] [11] [12]
In 2011, Cooper's was one of five restaurants representing Central Texas in Patricia Schultz's 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die.[12] In 2015, The Daily Meal ranked Cooper's #10 on its list of best barbecue ribs in the United States.[13] In 2016, food critic and Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook author Robb Walsh named Cooper's #8 on his list of 10 favorite Texas barbecue spots.[11] In 2017, USA Today declared Cooper's the winner of its Readers Choice award in the category "Best BBQ Brisket Sandwich in Texas".[14] [15]