Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q

Mack "Doc" Holiday started this outfit in 1989, and it's grown into a small chain without losing its footing. The Round Rock location sits at 2400 North IH-35 — open early most days, later on weekends — and serves the same wood-fired barbecue and country store stock across all its outposts.

Oak smoke, proper timing, no shortcuts. That's the method. Come hungry, come ready to wait if the line's there, and understand that a place this straightforward doesn't need to explain itself.