The chain was founded in the 1980s by Rudolph Aue as a one-stop gas station, repair shop and grocery store in Leon Springs, Texas. In 1989, the company added barbecue to the menu. Rudy’s ...

Craft barbecue may get all the headlines, but old-school barbecue is the engine that powers the economy of Texas barbecue.

or even a Rudy’s from San Antonio. Then it became bad news, from a couple of awful chains-gone-bad that will remain unnamed here. But one Texas chain barbecue restaurant now rises above the rest.