This destination is part of the Texas 450 Loop – click here for more information.

Order a chopped beef sandwich at All Star Bar-B-Q in Rusk, then see how many names you recognize on the big Astros sign. It once hung in the outfield at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, and the 1991 Astros signed it. Owner Russell Turner says that when customers ask him to take their picture, they usually want it in front of that sign.

Turner’s father took him to see Houston play when the team was still called the Colt .45s. From the ballpark, he could see the steel frame of the Astrodome going up across the parking lot. They went back in the Dome’s first season, when the advice going around was to bring a sweater to a baseball game in Houston.

Years later, Turner took his own son to Wrigley Field to see the Astros. He framed a picture of the two of them at the game alongside that day’s dugout lineup card and kept it by his desk. When someone asked what he’d grab if the restaurant caught fire, that was the frame he said he’d probably take.

Lunch in Rusk

Stay for a plate if you have time. There are signed photos to look through and World Series pennants overhead. You might even spot the old View-Master with slides from Astros games. Turner joked that he serves Rangers fans at the takeout window. They can get the same chopped beef as everybody else.

All Star Bar-B-Q is at 267 S. Dickinson in Rusk. Order chopped beef with pinto beans and potato salad, or pick up ribs by the pound for dinner back at camp. Call 903-683-2611 for hours or to order ahead. If Rusk is your lunch stop on the Texas 450 Loop, break up the drive with a walk across the Rusk footbridge before you get back on the road.

Restaurant menu · The East Texas Weekend’s visit

For more Texas barbecue stops, see The Prophets of Smoked Meat by Daniel Vaughn. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Featured image credit: All Star Bar-B-Q.