HEB just opened a few stores in the DFW area and all of them offer their awesome BBQ that is cooked fresh on site: https://www.truetxbbq.com They have it in Killeen, Austin, Houston and San Antonio as well as Midland, Odessa and Lubbock but managed to skip Waco. It is good enough to stand on its own without cheating and adding BBQ sauce. https://images.heb.com/is/content/HEBGrocery/PDF/true-texas-bbq-plus-wings-dfw-menu.pdf

Complain to HEB because you're missing out on something REALLY good. I'd put it on parity with Hard Eight BBQ which has four locations in DFW as well the original store in Stephenville.

Pea Weevil

Pea Weevil said:

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HEB just opened a few stores in the DFW area and all of them offer their awesome BBQ that is cooked fresh on site: https://www.truetxbbq.com They have it in Killeen, Austin, Houston and San Antonio as well as Midland, Odessa and Lubbock but managed to skip Waco. It is good enough to stand on its own without cheating and adding BBQ sauce. https://images.heb.com/is/content/HEBGrocery/PDF/true-texas-bbq-plus-wings-dfw-menu.pdf

Complain to HEB because you're missing out on something REALLY good. I'd put it on parity with Hard Eight BBQ which has four locations in DFW as well the original store in Stephenville.

Pea Weevil

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You are a cruel SOB. I was better off not knowing this info. ; )

The family and I were in Lubbock two years ago for my daughter's graduation. We stopped at an HEB for a few items that had one. It smell delicious, but we already had a large dinner.

I wanted to try a sample but figured it would be too good because it was "grocery store" BBQ.

I've got some friends who work for HEB locally. I'll ask if they are planning on installing one in Waco.

Given the reasonable prices, they may push out a few local stands.

How doe you know they just haven't added it to the awavo ones yet? I had no idea they had HEB way out in west Texas btw. I thought it was a 35 corridor area and south Texas thing.

HEB has been in decline in Waco right when covid occurred. Waco has better BBQ options.

Though I do favor this place in other cities.

Plus this! With a pretty good tap list. I see Tuesday lunch meetings being necessary when the one opens in Allen Oct 4th.

Well, and the other issues is that none of the Waco area stores can be retrofitted at this point with the exception of South Valley Mills Dr., which has the restaurant component and the flaming bird.

I believe the new store planned for north Waco will include a True Texas BBQ.

But of all the HEB's I have been to, the one on Valley Mills has the best beer section and has for a long time.

TXWayne said:

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Plus this! With a pretty good tap list. I see Tuesday lunch meetings being necessary when the one opens in Allen Oct 4th.

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Do you happen to have a tap list or remember some?

Sadly no other than the beer I had from Revolver which was Hatch Dot Com, a tasty green Chile beer.

Yogi said:

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Well, and the other issues is that none of the Waco area stores can be retrofitted at this point with the exception of South Valley Mills Dr., which has the restaurant component and the flaming bird.

I believe the new store planned for north Waco will include a True Texas BBQ.

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And they better not take my flaming bird. I picked one up for lunch today and always love picking at it for 3 days.

I miss the beer selection they had at the ghetto HEB. Grain Belt and Scotch Buy were quite affordable.

PartyBear said:

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How doe you know they just haven't added it to the awavo ones yet? I had no idea they had HEB way out in west Texas btw. I thought it was a 35 corridor area and south Texas thing.

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Not sure if you are including Houston in your south texas but HEB has been in Houston area for a long, long time as well.

cowboycwr said:

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PartyBear said:

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How doe you know they just haven't added it to the awavo ones yet? I had no idea they had HEB way out in west Texas btw. I thought it was a 35 corridor area and south Texas thing.

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Not sure if you are including Houston in your south texas but HEB has been in Houston area for a long, long time as well.

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Not that long ago. They moved into Houston in the late 1990s, originally with small "neighborhood market" stores. Then added the Central Markets and giant stores in the mid 2000s.

When I moved to Houston in 1993, the market was dominated by Randalls, with Kroger, Fiesta, Rice Epicurean and Appletree next. When I left Houston in 2001, Kroger had taken the lead, followed by Walmart and HEB. Appletree was gone, Rice was down to just a couple of stores, and Randalls and Fiesta were in a freefall.

whitetrash said:

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cowboycwr said:

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PartyBear said:

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How doe you know they just haven't added it to the awavo ones yet? I had no idea they had HEB way out in west Texas btw. I thought it was a 35 corridor area and south Texas thing.

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Not sure if you are including Houston in your south texas but HEB has been in Houston area for a long, long time as well.

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Not that long ago. They moved into Houston in the late 1990s, originally with small "neighborhood market" stores. Then added the Central Markets and giant stores in the mid 2000s.

When I moved to Houston in 1993, the market was dominated by Randalls, with Kroger, Fiesta, Rice Epicurean and Appletree next. When I left Houston in 2001, Kroger had taken the lead, followed by Walmart and HEB. Appletree was gone, Rice was down to just a couple of stores, and Randalls and Fiesta were in a freefall.

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Maybe in actual Houston City limits it was the late 90s. In the suburbs where I grew up they had a store in the 80s. I don't know when exactly it opened but I know as a kid it was there.

I seem to remember Houston having HEB Pantry stores when U was a kiddo.

If it soothes your feelings at all, I think their BBQ isn't all that great.

Yogi said:

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I seem to remember Houston having HEB Pantry stores when U was a kiddo.

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Here you go for some definitive history on H-E-B in Houston:

https://houstonhistoricretail.com/grocery/h-e-b-pantry-foods/

HEB Pantry Foods started in the far suburbs in the late 80s/early 90s, moved into Houston proper in 1993 (when I moved there). The one time I went to one, it made the old Ghetto HEB at 12th and Speight look like the highest of high-end Central Market; it was small, dank and nasty.

HEB shut down the Pantry stores and opened their first regular HEB on Fountainview in 2001 (just as I moved away). The Central Market on Westheimer came along 3-5 years later IIRC.

When did they move into Northern Mexico? It seems like they're starting to dominate the nicer parts of Monterrey. Monterrey itself is seeing Texas like growth where it went from a metro of 4M in 2010 to 5M in 2020.

Hmmm, three HEB's in Brazos county and none have BBQ or the beer drinking/bar area. Now I'm sad. However, Brookshire Bros. built a new store on TAMU campus and it has a bar and outdoor live music venue. But, too many aggies for this old bear.

Really a shame that Waco doesn't have more options for grocery.

Albertsons never caught on in Waco; the Skaggs store long fallen into irrelevance and becoming a distant memory, while Kroger never caught a foothold. Came pretty close back in 2000 but the FTC blocked it.

So when is that North Waco HEB mentioned above coming? They've owned the property for 20 plus years, and no store yet. The 19th HEB needs to go, its the last crappy HEB left.

CorsicanaBear said:

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So when is that North Waco HEB mentioned above coming? They've owned the property for 20 plus years, and no store yet. The 19th HEB needs to go, its the last crappy HEB left.

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19th is obsolete and yet nice to stop in and grab a few things on the way to China Spring.

Wooded Acres or S Valley Mills are nice stores but huge crowds all the time

The Smith's in Los Alamos, NM is the nicest "grocery" store I've ever been in.

It is in a high-income area with no competition, so that probably influences the choices available, but their offerings were unbelievable.

Basically like a normal grocery plus a Whole Foods/Central Market rolled into one. In addition to that, they have a large wine/tapas bar with live music, walk-in humidor, and a small but comprehensive apparel shop with several mid-range brands.

4th and Inches said:

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CorsicanaBear said:

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So when is that North Waco HEB mentioned above coming? They've owned the property for 20 plus years, and no store yet. The 19th HEB needs to go, its the last crappy HEB left.

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19th is obsolete and yet nice to stop in and grab a few things on the way to China Spring.

Wooded Acres or S Valley Mills are nice stores but huge crowds all the time

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Curbside pickup avoids all the crowds.

FrankFallonCalling said:

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The Smith's in Los Alamos, NM is the nicest "grocery" store I've ever been in.

It is in a high-income area with no competition, so that probably influences the choices available, but their offerings were unbelievable.

Basically like a normal grocery plus a Whole Foods/Central Market rolled into one. In addition to that, they have a large wine/tapas bar with live music, walk-in humidor, and a small but comprehensive apparel shop with several mid-range brands.

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The only downside to that Smith's is the expansion from it's previous "just grocery" version into what you see today is that it hurt some of the small, local businesses. But that's competition I guess.

cowboycwr said:

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4th and Inches said:

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CorsicanaBear said:

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So when is that North Waco HEB mentioned above coming? They've owned the property for 20 plus years, and no store yet. The 19th HEB needs to go, its the last crappy HEB left.

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19th is obsolete and yet nice to stop in and grab a few things on the way to China Spring.

Wooded Acres or S Valley Mills are nice stores but huge crowds all the time

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Curbside pickup avoids all the crowds.

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curbside is great until you want to pick out your produxe and cuts of meat

Funky Town Bear said:

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FrankFallonCalling said:

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The Smith's in Los Alamos, NM is the nicest "grocery" store I've ever been in.

It is in a high-income area with no competition, so that probably influences the choices available, but their offerings were unbelievable.

Basically like a normal grocery plus a Whole Foods/Central Market rolled into one. In addition to that, they have a large wine/tapas bar with live music, walk-in humidor, and a small but comprehensive apparel shop with several mid-range brands.

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The only downside to that Smith's is the expansion from it's previous "just grocery" version into what you see today is that it hurt some of the small, local businesses. But that's competition I guess.

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I believe it. Its kind of jarring to see something so expansive in such a small town.

HEB in Marble Falls also has the bbq offering.