Katy – Whenever you first see the sign for Roegels Barbecue, it usually takes a few tries before getting the pronunciation right. That didn’t deter Russel Roegels from naming his BBQ joint after himself. “A lot of people in barbecue have funny names,” said Russell. “You take Feges, Micklethwait, there’s quite a few of them and I told my mom we’re going to call it Roegels and she said, ‘Don’t do that. Nobody can pronounce it and it’ll confuse people.’”
That is unless you have delicious, sought after, and renowned BBQ like Russ has. “You’ve got to make sure that you’re doing good every time, and that’s what we strive for every day,” said Russell.
Roegels has been a fixture in H-Town since 2014 but before this BBQ joint bared his name, Russ was making smoked meat for most of his life. “I started doing barbecue full-time while I was going to college and, just something to get me through, pay the bills while I’m in college,” said Russell. “I had no plans on ever doing this for a living.”
After serving in the Air Force for five years he ended up at Bodacious BBQ back in ’95, and in 2001 he was hired on to manage the Baker’s Ribs in Houston. After a few years, he started to notice something. “At the Houston Barbecue Festival, I see how everybody else is doing it,” said Russell. “I’m like, ‘Man, our stuff’s not all that good.’”
So he set out to learn at the extremely popular Camp Brisket at Texas A&M. “Dr. Sable and Dr. Griffin and Ray Riley all came around and I met them and I said, ‘Hey, I want to get involved in this camp that y’all are doing.’” said Russell. “And he said, ‘Well, we’re full right now, but we will keep in touch.’ Well, I emailed him the next day and called him and I was like, ‘Dr. Sable,’ basically says, I told him, ‘Hey, I’m coming.’ And so I’ve been to every barbecue camp since then. Great deal, great program. I love going to College Station and being there and being able to help.”
In December of 2014 the switch to Roegels became official and people officially weren’t relishing in Russel’s dream. “Sometimes people don’t like a whole lot of change, and so we started seeing our sales just trickle on down,” said Russell. “We were struggling. When I say bad, we were about to close the doors and Misty said, ‘Do you think we messed up?’ And I said, ‘No. I believe in what we’re doing. I believe in our product. It’ll happen.’”
One good write up in a local newspaper changed everything. “We got just lucky getting some press and we just wanted to make sure that it lived up to what they were saying we were,” said Russell.
BBQ was booming and things were hustling and bustling, but 10 years later… “We were the cool kids once,” joked Russell. “We were the new guy on the block, and a lot of people are always looking for the new guy. They want to break that story. So I kid with people down like, yeah, We’re just called has been barbecue now. We’re the old guy that people, ‘oh, he used to be cool, but he’s over here now.'”
So Russel pivoted again and started making things like BBQ brisket pastrami and other amazing sandwiches. “It really is something that blew up in our face and we were like, ‘Wow,’” Said Russell.
“The sandwich I never thought I would enjoy and then I had it one time and I was hooked on it,” said one customer. “It’s just yummy.”
Then it’s settled, sandwiches it is. But which ones should we do? “The Cuban is more labor intensive, so I know my guys back there,” said Russell. “They’ll be like, ‘Don’t feature the Cuban.’”
Check. “We just call it a brisket cheese steak,” said Russell. We’re not going to call it a Philly cheese steak because the Yankees would get mad. ‘That’s not a real Philly.’ Or something like that. Yeah, I don’t know how they do it. I obviously don’t have a northern accent.”
Sure, let’s do that too. “Would bologna be too crazy? We make it,” said Russell. “It is crazy. You’ll try it and you’ll be like, ‘No way?’”
I think we have our three contenders. “All right, we’re going to start with our brisket cheese steaks,” said Russell. “So first thing we got to do is grab our roll. Got to get a couple pieces of this provolone right here and I’m going to throw it right on the grill.”
Things only got cheesier from there. “We’ve got some cheese sauce that we have that we’re about to pour over the top,” said Russell. “And there we go. We’ve got our brisket cheese steak. We call it a cheese steak because we’re not from Philly. We’re from Texas.”
Next up is that bologna sandwich that’s a clear cut above the one you’re probably used to pulling out of the lunch bag. “All right, next what we’re going to do is we’re going to do our in-house made bologna,” said Russell. “So this isn’t a regular bologna like you get in a grocery store. It’s a coarse grind and it’s made with brisket and pork butt. We smoke it, we throw it on the flat top, put a little scald on it. We put some lettuce, tomato, and mayo on it and make it just a old school bologna sandwich, but with new school bologna. That’s the Roegels bologna sandwich right there.”
There was one more spectacular sandwich to put together. “So next what we’re going to do is we’re going to do a barbecue and it’s our play on a Cuban sandwich, but it’s done with smoked meats,” said Russell.
With a French baguette buttered and pressed, Russ grills up sliced ham and Swiss cheese on flattop. The baguette gets cheese, homemade pickles and mustard sauce and is topped with the ham and chopped up. “Not a traditional Cuban,” said Russell. “It’s a Barbecuban. It’s our play on it.”
So here we have three fantastic sandwiches from Roegels and we’re going to go straight to the bologna and that’s no bologna, because when you hear about a bologna sandwich, you got to see what that’s all about. The coarseness of the bologna, the saltiness, and the savoriness along with that smoking makes it sensational. “It’s real thick so you can really taste the bologna and oh, that is yummy,” said one customer. “I love the bologna sandwich. I do. That’s one of my faves.”
That’s definitely not the kind of bologna sandwich my mom used to make. Onto the brisket cheese steak. That cheese is just all over that smoked brisket. Of course it’s stuck itself to the paper. Oh, go for the pepper side. Well, they might be a fan of their Phillys up in the northeast, but down here in Texas we do things different and this would definitely take the series. “You get that smoky sort of more flavor that you don’t necessarily get, let’s say, on a true Philly cheese steak,” said another customer.
Hey Philly, we got the trophy and your sandwich. Finally we’re on to the Barbecuban and I’m a huge fan of Cuban sandwiches, so I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Oh yeah, that pulled pork, that mustard. It’s obvious that this is going to be good. Boy, that pulled pork is just full of flavor. You mix it in with that ham and those pickles and that honey sauce. Oh yeah. “They do it right,” said a customer. “They do it consistently and they just do a heck of a job with their cue.” Hey Yordan, if you want to taste the home with little Texas twist, this is the place for you, buddy.
Well, whether you’re looking for some old school barbecue or some of the most sensational sandwiches I’ve ever had on the side of Interstate 10, coming to Katy to Roegels is definitely well worth the stop on the Texas bucket list. “My last name on it means my name’s on every plate that comes out of here, so I want it to be right every single time,” said Russell.