New barbecue restaurant opens in downtown Copperas Cove

By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press 

Saturday marked the soft opening for a new spot in town that is filling the craving for barbecue, located on S. 1st Street. 
Grill Country Texas BBQ occupies the space formerly occupied Monty’s Steaks, Brews and BBQ. Before it was home to BBQ, it housed the German Imbiss, and before that it was Mel’s Burger Joint. 
Grill Country Texas BBQ owners are Army veteran Jeff Krenzer and his wife, Lisa, who grew up in Copperas Cove.
Jeff started his professional barbecue journey back in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic closed down the VFW that he was a member of in Austin. Krenzer started making barbecue rub and barbecue sauce based of his mother’s barbecue sauce recipe to bottle and sell as a fundraiser to help keep the VFW afloat. 
Krenzer said that his mother is from California, but that the sauce has gotten rave reviews and that he would describe it as a mix between every style of barbecue sauce. 
The sauce sold out quickly at farmer’s markets, and customers raved about the sauce to Krenzer and encouraged him to turn it into a business, he said. 
“I started under the Cottage Food laws in Texas and doing markets like Krist Kindl Markt and the Rabbit Fest and all that sort of stuff,” Jeff said. “Eventually, we made an LLC out of it, started making it bulk to try to get into stores and everything, and then we decided the best way to push it is on food. So when the opportunity came up for the restaurant and we jumped on it.”
Although they live in Killeen, Jeff and Lisa said they support more civic organizations and things in Copperas Cove, and with Lisa’s connection to growing up and attending high school in Cove, opening the restaurant in downtown Cove was the perfect location. 
The soft opening for Grill Country BBQ saw customers flocking to try some brisket, sausage, pulled pork and more and proved to be a very busy day ending with running out of food. 
“We ran out, and we basically doubled everything today, and we’re on track to sell out again soon,” Jeff said Sunday afternoon. 
Their menu offers some unique options, including a baked potato salad, featuring a cold loaded potato salad with bacon and cheese. 
The brisket is certified Black Angus USDA Choice, which Jeff said sets the restaurant apart from other barbecue joints. 
Another thing that sets Grill Country Texas BBQ apart is their table set up for the missing soldier. 
A table sits in the corner, covered with a white tablecloth, with one place setting, a bible, a red rose in a vase, a lemon wedge on the plate, a pinch of salt, a lit candle, an inverted glass, with the chair tipped. Beside the table is a leash and a collar and a water bowl. 
“I’m retired from For Hoodt - 20 years, four deployments,” Jeff said. “I’ve lost some very close people to me, and this is something that any veterans organization you see out there has something like this. So I said those things come out often for ceremonies and stuff like that. I think it’s something that should be permanent, so we have a spot for all those people who we’ve lost in the service, all the time for us. Everybody that comes in that has a fallen brother or fallen sister feel that.”
“We’re a military based town, so somebody everywhere knows somebody,” Lisa added. 
By 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Grill Country Texas BBQ had sold out of the macaroni and cheese side and saw a big lunch crowd come in right at their original opening hours of noon. 
“It’s really huge for us because we put everything in this. We both quit our jobs, right before Christmas, quit our jobs, and we have a really great team in place right now that they all basically took a leap with us,” Jeff said about opening the restaurant and the community support so far.
Jeff and Lisa hope to help make the downtown area similar to Georgetown or Round Rock, they said. They have reached out to other businesses regarding the creation of a Small Business Association or similar. 
 “There’s a ton of potential, though, and anybody looking to open up any kind of business, there’s probably a spot for that type of business downtown and probably on the cheap right now,” Jeff said. 
Jeff and Lisa said they want to help support organizations in Cove, especially student organizations, and they are looking into which organizations to reach out to support. They welcome these organizations to reach out themselves as well. 
The restaurant’s grand opening is scheduled for January 6 and will feature the craft beer from Grill Country Texas BBQ’s partnership with Phantom Warrior Brewing Company. 
Grill Country Texas BBQ is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. 
Their phone number is 254-577-5000, and their email is service@grillcountrytexas.com.