Salt Lick BBQ

o owe many thanks to Callie, the event coordinator for the Salt Lick. She put up with me and my husband for almost a year! She had given us multiple different quotes and even had to redo our invoice a few times due to our indecision. She NEVER complained. She was great to work with! Thank you to both Callie and the Salt Lick!

visited for a tasting, even though we knew the BBQ was awesome, and were really impressed with the selection of appetizers. Our guests loved the eggplant stuffed mushrooms, caprese salad skewers and stuffed tomatoes. Lonnie and Michael came to our venue and made sure that all 150 of our guests were well-fed and happy. The BBQ and sides were perfection - of course, it was The Salt Lick! At the end of the evening they packed up the remaining food and even packaged individual meals for the bride and groom and both sets of parents. We were delighted with the food and service provided by The Salt Lick.

e actually warped, synthetic material, and the ceremony site is on top of a swamp with a drainage pipe less than 15 yards away. To top it all off, we specifically asked if the venue was close to any highways that would disrupt a ceremony with noise. Their coordinator Carson assured us that it was not, but when we arrived we saw that the venue and ceremony site is less than 60 yards from a major roadway. Who wants to say "I do" with cars and trucks whizzing by at 55mph every few seconds? We live in California now, but my fiance went to college in the Austin area and has been to the Salt Lick restaurant many times so we had no reason not to trust the photos. On their website, their brochure, and even extra photos we requested by email--everything looked beautiful so we booked sight unseen about 13 months out. We visited a month later and canceled as soon as we saw the venue. It wasn't even close to the photos they sent. The worst part was the way we were treated after this. We were disappointed that Salt Lick wouldn't return any of the non-refundable deposit, even though we canceled 12 months before the date and especially after sharing with them how we felt the pictures were not a true representation of their location as well as their proximity to a rather noisy highway. After emailing or calling the Salt Lick nearly every day for a month, we were finally able to negotiate a refund of half of our deposit. That's still a sizable portion of our budget that we will not have for our wedding all because The Salt Lick mislead us into a contract that severely limited our rights. We couldn't be more displeased with the way we were treated by the Salt Lick employees, specifically Maile, Carson, and Analisa. We would not recommend this venue to anyone.

he bride lives in Dallas and I live in Houston and so I was helping her look at locations in Austin and San Antonio. After a couple of months of looking, we landed on Thurman Mansion and she fell in love with pictures online, AND mainly the fact that it was catered by her favorite BBQ place--The Salt Lick. We had planned to meet in Austin and look at the venue together but we had to push back looking a couple of times because of our work schedules, anyway, long story short we didn't get to do a site visit before she could sign the contract. Why you ask? Why would she sign the contract without doing a site visit? Well, she had told her intended wedding date to the contact at Thurman Mansion and eventually my friend was told that someone else was interested in her date. So, she signed the contract intending to visit two weeks later. When we arrived, the venue was not NEARLY as nice as the pictures. In a word, disappointing. It was all over the bride's face. We thought that maybe, since the wedding was still 8 months out that they could work with us as far as her getting the return of her deposit, etc, even though she had already signed a contract that stated there was a non refundable deposit. But, they were VERY clear about the fact that her contract was binding and they wouldn't be returning any of her deposit even if another couple booked the date. My friend had a fairly moderate budget for her wedding and so she decided to have the wedding there anyway. Unfortunately, after what had transpired at her site visit, everyone she and I dealt with for the planning process were terrible. No one every got back to us, I'm talking we had to call and leave messages and email and wouldn't receive a call back for two weeks or more (which is unacceptable). The wedding day itself was a happy affair, but with no thanks to ANY OF THE STAFF at this venue. Brides beware of the great reviews of this place, they are very much falling short of The Salt Lick name and are not true representatives of Texas' warm and welcoming hospitality.

ing! All night our guests kept complimenting the venue and asking how we found this gem. The setups in the reception hall and the outdoor wedding space were perfect. There was plenty of room for the guests to move around freely and the grounds were well lit at night to help people walk off all the food and find a quiet break from all the dancing. The spread was top notch and I still receive compliments on having the best food at a wedding. The staff were courteous and very accommodating, and our bartender was friendly and extremely helpful during my pre-wedding jitters. The value for the price can't be beat. Looking at my wedding pictures and the beautiful backdrops, I am so glad we picked the Salt Lick Pecan Grove!

ns the month leading up. As far as Pecan Grove goes, it was completely beautiful and includes pretty much everything! Chairs, tables, outdoor seating, etc. They also have add-ons like extra bars and cocktail tables, outdoor games, etc. The whole event ran like a well-oiled machine and I didn't worry about anything all night. Pecan Grove is a hidden gem in the Hill Country, so book it ASAP. I could spend paragraphs and paragraphs talking about the food but I'll say this: we invited a lot of people with very sophisticated palates, and they RAVED about the food. The BBQ buffet was a huge hit, but also the passed appetizers were incredible and creative and well prepared. Also they came out immediately! This is a wonderful venue. I'm thrilled it was where my wedding took place!

d out over the green lawns and vineyards, which provided the perfect backdrop for some amazing photo ops. The staff were professional, yet enthusiastic and made us all feel special. The Salt Lick BBQ, was, of course, delicious and a huge crowd pleaser. The only hiccup in the night was that the bar package we had selected was not the one that was provided. Key parts of the wine menu were changed or missing. It was a bit disappointing that our wedding suffered from a miscommunication between the Salt Lick and their bar services. However, I will say that the staff handled the mistake beautifully. They were sincerely apologetic and comped part of the bar bill for us. Overall, we had a beautiful night and it would not have been the same anywhere else! A true classy Texas evening!

However, she was professional and easy to work with via telephone and email. The food (Salt Lick BBQ) was outstanding and the venue looked great. We were fortunate with the weather and even had a cool breeze at the time of the ceremony. That is certainly a lucky thing for June! The cocktail hour and reception went off without a hitch. Adrian and the other banquet staff members were fantastic. Guests all commented on how good the BBQ was but knowing Salt Lick, we expected no less! Thanks Katie and your entire team for making our wedding so memorable!

This venue provides linens, food, bar, even entertainment if you want it- all for a fairly reasonable price. It made wedding planning SO easy and Carson is willing to help with answering even the strangest of questions. I wouldn't do a single thing different. Carson and the event staff were amazing!!

work of getting us acquainted with their operation and our options for our event. They were flexible and professional enough to accommodate almost every detail -- dietary restrictions, serving presentation, day-of logistics, and the list goes on. With a long engagement, it was almost a year between our first contact with them and the actual wedding. During that time, we dealt with three different coordinators (due to new hiring and employee vacations) and while that could have been a total nightmare, they managed the hand-off of our event with grace and without anything falling through the cracks. Our final event coordinator Callie Hill was definitely the most wonderful to work with. Before putting in the final order, we went to their Driftwood location for a tasting and lunch.The catering and restaurant staff treated us and our parents amazingly well, brought us extra goodies, and answered all the questions we had. It really felt like red carpet treatment months before we event had our wedding. As for the food: if you've eaten Salt Lick before, you know how truly amazing their BBQ is. And we're happy to report that their catered fare is not lacking one iota in quality! The catering team arrived with their grill/smoker in tow and the BBQ that they put out on the buffet line was as good as any I believe I've ever had. They provided the perfect meal for our reception with the most amazing, professional service and our guests just couldn't stop telling us how much they enjoyed the meal. Aside from the amazing food, they were in and out so smoothly and neatly that I was astonished. They arrived early and set up in a flash, cleaned up quickly and thoroughly, and even gave us some leftovers which we and our friends devoured after a few drinks at the after-party :) In conclusion: incredible, professional admin and catering staff who are willing to accommodate almost any request; and of course WORLD CLASS BBQ. I simply could not recommend Salt Lick catering highly enough.

or the Labor Day holiday and shipped over 200 miles because he loved it so much. I think that speaks for itself.

k has two private event venues and you can also cater the nationally famous BBQ. We chose the pecan grove pavilion because we had a very large wedding (~300) and we were going for a relaxed vibe. The Thurman's Mansion is the other place and is really nice too. We had an outdoor creek side wedding and reception in the air conditioned (important for a June wedding in TX) pavilion. During the entire planning process, Ashley, our on-site coordinator was so helpful and a joy to work with. Suffice it to say, all our guests had a blast and the food was amazing! It was great to find an all-in-one venue that had chairs, tables, food, venue, and even did our table flower arrangements! If only it had been closer to Austin, where most of our guests stayed. That was remedied with a shuttle service we hired. Couldn't recommend this place enough!

s! Definitely cannot go wrong with them!

anks for making our wedding weekend awesome. Recommending them to any bride wanting a stress free evening. OH AND BYOB... WHATS BETTER?? :)

ceremony there! Oh well, I am thinking that when the time comes, I can have a baby shower there to make up for it. Great job to their team!

out Salt Lick in Driftwood and it was SO good. The price for catering was decent, and they are out at our venue all the time. So we picked the option with brisket, ribs and sausage. At the reception there was SO much food and people were piling their plates high then going back for seconds. That's one of the things we heard about most after the wedding, was how awesome the BBQ was. One of my regrets was being too busy to actually get to enjoy my plate :( I definitely recommend Salt Lick for a wedding reception, or any event, and I can't wait until I'm back in the area and can go back!

d was wanting to share with our friends and family!

take same day reservations. They finally took it, but when we showed up, it was lost. Thankfully they were able to accommodate all 20 of us within 5 or 10 minutes. They are cash only at the Driftwood location, but have an ATM on site.

rveled at how great the food was, as well as how beautiful the venue was. Our coordinator at Thurman's Mansion was Annette Yates. She was great. We cannot stress enough how much she contributed to the overall success of the event. We had several problems stemming from some oversight on our part, and Annette rolled with them and came up with some great solutions. She was onsite for the entire event, and did a wonderful job coordinating with the various vendors to ensure that everyone had a great time. Thanks again to Annette, and everyone at Thurman's Mansion for making our special day a great success!

edding food they had ever had! Thank you Tana Kent, Chef Michael and staff for helping make our wedding day so amazing!

de me with gift certificates to the Salt Lick.

s extremely disappointed.

vilion at Salt Lick has which was a lot more formal for our reception and if you have ever eaten at Salt Lick you know it is FANTASTIC!

and worries about coordinating the venue with the caterer with the florist because at this site they were all the same! The whole room was already decorated with twinkle lights and the huge windows revealing the green lawn and trees were just lovely. Also, our DJ and cake lady already knew the location and had no problems getting there/set-up. Additionally, the Salt Lick is BYOB and so we were able to have kegs of beer delivered, get some box wine from Sam's and hire a bartender for much less than other sites would charge for a bar set-up fee.;If it happens to rain on your day, the restrooms are in a seperate building from the main hall. There is a trellis covering the walk and a stand full of umbrellas at the door, but its still a trip out in the rain. We banked on July in Texas being dry as usual and we had no problems.

show up in the background and there are lots of old buildings for picture opportunities. One of the reasons we love our pictures so much is because of the location! The food is excellent! Most of our guests claim it is the best BBQ they have ever had. They serve it family style at your table so there are no buffet lines but it is still all you can eat! Perfect! I would recommend this place to anyone!!;They limit you to 125 people and then start charging you $50 a person.