“NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED AROUND HERE SINCE I BOUGHT THIS PLACE FROM MR. COOPER,”
Image 165: Cooper’s Bar-B-Q Highway 87 South • Mason, TX 76856 • (325)347-6897
Duard Dockal tells me in his storage room and office. “And that goes for this town too. I never thought I’d be doing this. My dad had a barbecue place here, and growing up, I worked there. He sold it and retired in 1962. Since then, it had several owners over the years, but it eventually closed down.”
Duard never left the Mason area, but he did manage to do a little bit of everything from farming and ranching to working at an all-night truck stop before he realized that he was a barbecue lifer.
“We came to an agreement that I would buy this place from Mr. Cooper when he decided to retire. I put in six-and-a-half-years before he eventually did on January 1, 1983. (Image 166)
Image 166
“I really enjoy overhearing parents and grandparents telling their kids and grandkids that it’s just like it was when they were their age.”
Just walk up to the “Order Here” sign in front of the large pit. One of a team of young guys will cut you exactly as much as you want of whatever they have on the pit, usually brisket, chicken, pork, sausage or ribs—sometimes, even goat. In the check-out room they have sides and beverages. You can get it to go, take it to the airconditioned dining room, or sit outside at the covered picnic area, where you can get a real appreciation for what exactly goes into making great barbecue.
When not serving customers, they are doing the hundreds of other things, not the least of which is the transformation of mesquite logs to coals. This process takes place in a quartered old oil-field butane tank, which stands about 10 feet tall. The smoldering hot coals are then carted, right in front of you, into the pit. This ain’t no backyard operation. (Image 167)
Image 167
DUARD DOCKAL’S BEANS
Cook all ingredients to a rolling boil, then simmer with lid on for about 3-1/2 to 4 hours, or until the beans are tender.