Alvin and Wanda Schulze opened Schulze’s Bar-B-Que in Rosenberg, southwest of Houston, in 1990. Their son, Clifford, and daughter, Teresa Schulze-Mielsch, helped run it for many years earlier than Alvin died in 2021. Round that point, Clifford and his spouse, Sherry, had been on the lookout for the correct property for a second location. A plot of land in Fulshear didn’t work out, in order that they regarded farther west, to New Braunfels, the place they reached one other lifeless finish. “Every thing we tried, we have been simply hitting a wall, and I assumed, this simply isn’t meant to be,” Sherry stated. Then their realtor requested them what they considered Seguin.
A giant purple steel constructing that after housed Smoking Charlie’s Barbecue had sat vacant for years on the north aspect of Seguin, east of San Antonio. It wasn’t listed on the market, however their realtor inquired and arrange a tour. Sherry stated it felt proper as quickly as they walked within the doorways. “That was the place we wanted to be,” she stated. “It was in our intestine and I felt it in my coronary heart.” After they spent a number of months renovating, Schulze’s Pit Room opened in January 2023.
The brand new Schulze’s isn’t a carbon copy of the unique. (Clifford bought his curiosity in Schulze’s Bar-B-Que to his sister.) The barbecue sauce—an incredible steadiness of savory, candy, and peppery—will be the identical, however the menu and the cooking strategy of the meats diverge. Two large thousand-gallon offset people who smoke sit below a shed roof subsequent to a storage constructing that doubles as a sausage workshop. Robert Celestino II runs the people who smoke, and Invoice Dumas, often called the Sausage Sensei, got here on employees to revamp the sausage choices.
On my go to, a butcher paper signal subsequent to the counter detailed the elements within the Costa Rican coffee-and-cocoa sausage that was the particular of the day. With hints of espresso taste dominated by darkish chocolate, mace, and crunchy toffee pecans, the sausage was actually uncommon. It flew nearer to the solar than the hearty smoked brisket boudin that was nicely seasoned and had a greater snap to the casing. You’ll discover the latter on particular extra typically, so preserve an eye fixed out for it.
The ribs, sliced brisket, and turkey have been extra typical. The fatty brisket was tender and smoky however a bit dry across the edges. The turkey was dry all the best way round, however I did benefit from the tender pork ribs. They have been closely seasoned with a peppery, candy rub that shaped a sticky bark. These ribs tasted even higher dunked within the aforementioned sauce, and I used to be glad to have the ability to take within the nice climate whereas eating on the big patio.
Two varieties of rooster can be found: the Southwest, a boneless, skinless rooster breast that’s marinated and smoked, and the smoked half rooster. I ordered the latter. Celestino seasons the fowl and smokes it low till it’s almost achieved. The rooster is then moved to a charcoal grill for the ultimate jiffy of cooking so the pores and skin is crisped properly. It’s a superb fowl that’s extremely juicy and tender and has that additional increase of taste from the charcoal. It was the perfect chunk I had at Schulze’s.
The perimeters on the authentic Schulze’s in Rosenberg are as diverse because the choices in a Luby’s cafeteria line. After I visited a few months again, I used to be taken with the candy and crunchy carrot salad—raisins included. The Seguin location has a extra targeted choice, and I loved the creamy mac and cheese and the well-seasoned inexperienced beans.
Schulze’s Pit Room is a family-run barbecue joint that has come full circle. Sherry and Clifford’s daughter, Kayla Schulze Grey, was born eighteen days earlier than the unique Schulze’s Bar-B-Que opened, in 1990, which is the rationale Sherry stepped away from the enterprise for a number of years. Now they’re all a part of the staff working this new model of Schulze’s in Seguin, a city they’ve come to name house. “We didn’t know something about Seguin and didn’t have any ties right here. We knew we appreciated the realm,” Sherry stated. She additionally famous that the locals have welcomed them higher than the household may have hoped. “We’ve been blessed,” she stated, “It has simply labored out rather well.”
Schulze’s Pit Room
1013 Schriewer, Seguin
Cellphone: 830-491-5124
Hours: Tuesday–Thursday 10:30–8, Friday–Saturday 10:30–9, Sunday 10:30–3
Pitmasters: Robert Celestino II and Invoice Dumas
Technique: Oak in an offset smoker
Yr opened: 2023