The Cookshack

This chicken and ribs chain now has a location in Spring near us.  We stopped in the other night with friends to give them a try. We got ribs and chicken at heat levels medium and Texas Hot, dragon fries, mac and cheese, and sweet potato fries.  Finished with Aunt Peggy's Ice Cream Sandwich.  I washed mine down with a Cock-A-Doodle Brew, a beer brewed specifically for the Cookshack.

I did some online research on the beer and couldn't find info.  I believe it's a nice mild IPA.  Complemented the food well.

For chicken they serve tenders--very large tenderloins breaded and fried, spiced to your heat tolerance.  They were above-average tenders--crisp batter and pretty tender on the inside.  Not quite as tender as Cane's, but the spice options make it equivalent for me.  The spice is a pepper sauce with a nice bite.  I consider myself below-average on spice tolerance--I ordered medium and it was almost too spicy.  They have options from no heat to AMF (not sure what that stands for).  For AMF you have to sign a waiver.  They really do bring the heat, if that's what you're looking for.

They also spice the ribs if you want, though I don't think their barbecue sauce needs it.  It is a very good Kansas City/Texas blend, sweet and complements the ribs very well.  The ribs themselves are everything you could ask for--perfect tenderness, not baby food but the perfect bite.  It is as good a place to get ribs as any commercial bbq place, a cut above Rudy's or Spring Creek but not quite up there with Tejas BBQ or Corkscrew.

The sides were more mixed but on the whole good.  The Dragon Fries are visually disappointing.  They look like regular fries.  If you eat some before you start on your spicy tenders you will note that they have some heat.  The mac and cheese was pretty good--tastes like there's meat in it.  The sweet potato fries were quite good.  They are waffle fries, lightly battered so they have some crispness.

The ice cream sandwich is cut four ways so it is shareable.  The flavors are in the cookie--the ice cream is vanilla.  A nice way to end the meal.

The Cookshack is highly regarded and shows the virtue of limiting your menu.  They do their thing really well.  Service was good, not perfect but they absolutely are making an effort.  The bathroom was clean and ready.  The tables are somewhat close together and it was crowded when we went, so it was pretty noisy, but overall it was a fine experience and worth repeating.

My Yelp Review