This place rocks. Found it by accident after seeing the Mission across the street. We are foodies, so my 10 year old spied the Michelin Bib Gourmand sign as soon as we were seated. Counter service with ample seating. We had lunch on a weekday...around 1:30pm, waited 3 minutes to order and another 5 minutes for our food (yep!) and had a variety of menu items: Puerco Press Sando Special- enormous, well-seasoned, tender, moist. Even the bread was awesome. Took home half. Brisket (Taco)- delicious! One taco has a generous amount of meat for the light bite. TriTip (Taco)- delicious! Ditto. Texas Chili-lots of flavor, our 10 year old loved it. Sides: Mac was creamy and noodles not over-cooked. Our other 10 year old doesn’t like mac-n-cheese and he loved it Potato Salad- I’m generally not a potato salad lover, but one of the kids wanted it and it was delicious also. Not too much dill or mayo, which I appreciated. Condiments- pickled onions went on everything; peppers, mustard, BBQ sauce all good. They do serve water complimentary, so maybe that has changed since some of the other reviewers visited. Staff was friendly and courteous. The place is family-owned and members of the family were working the front of the house with enthusiasm. All four of us left more than satisfied. Stop here if you’re in the area!More

Meat was dry and not well seasoned. Brisket was not separated before slicing and ended up being sliced with and cross grained. Beans were pasty and dry and not flavored. Meat was probably overcooked and should have been wrapped to maintain flavor and moisture. Not...sure central Texas would be pleased with your product. Like what you do for the community so keep serving to help out. Keep improving your product and you’ll get better. Good luck!More

I'd been reading about Heritage for a while, and being a barbecue aficionado wanted to give it a try. So, I got some friends together and we made the drive to San Juan Capistrano. We tried a number of their offerings: --Pork ribs: Delicious. Perfectly...cooked with lots of flavor. --Burnt ends: Wow! Tender. Flavorful. --Sausage: Disappointing. We were not enamored with the flavor of chorizo and cheese. --Pulled pork: Tender and juicy, but lacking flavor. --Pastrami: Very good. --Brisket: Disappointing. Even though we ordered moist, the brisket was dry and chewy. --Meatloaf sandwich: Fantastic The staff is friendly and helpful, but the way they take and process orders takes a very long time. If you want to avoid a long wait, get there early, well before they open.More

Been all over the country for Q. Drove cross country this summer and purposely hit KC to pay homage to Arthur Bryant’s. Now that we live in southern OC, visiting Heritage was not a question of IF, but WHEN and today was the day. Got...a nice parking space in front of the Mission and saw about 30-35 people in line just before noon, on a cool but sunny day. Score!! 30 minutes or so later we are ordering, after keeping an eye on the sign that lists what is available, and smelling the deliciousness of the smokers near the line. Very friendly man up front asked for our meats first: 1/2 lb of brisket, a sausage, and two spare ribs for me, 1/2 chicken and the harvest salad for her, and a small banana bread pudding for us to share. Over ordered for sure, but this will also be dinner. Came to $70 or so. Told the man we had waited for four hours at Franklin’s in Austin and we’re hoping this would be close to as good. 40 minutes here seemed like nothing to wait. He was pleased that we knew good Q and wanted a report. Water is available from a tap, they give you a number and the food came out in 5-10 minutes. Food was tremendous. I ate a slice of brisket first, it melted in my mouth and was so smokey. They had the ribs and then the sausage. Ribs were tender and delicious, sausage was spicy, large, and excellent. She loved her chicken and the salad. Half op the salad and two slices of brisket were packed away for later and we devoured the banana bread pudding. Best ever. Is it as good as Franklin? Recency bias is real. I remember loving Franklin a few years ago but could it have been better than this? Maybe. Maybe not. But we had zero complaints about this and I can’t believe it could have been any better in any way. Yes it is pricey. But we will be back to try more items. They list smoked turkey but we were told it is “seasonal” and is rarely available.More

Excellent Brisket...The best I ever had! So much favor, moist and tender. The ordering process is cumbersome...they weigh the meat right in front of you...if someone ahead of you is ordering for a large party this can take quite awhile. Expect long waits in line....It was all worth the wait. What prompted me to come here sooner than later was the MICHELIN Guide’s Point Of View award: Bib Gourmand: good quality, good value cooking This focuses on the quality of the food at a reasonable price. Outdoor seating only with some shade. Try to get there before it opens to avoid very long waits.More

I can't get enough of the food here. The Texas style bbq is really good. You can taste all the different flavors in all their dishes. The staff here are super cool and they always recommend something new. The atmosphere is very cool. But 1...Rule !!! Arrive early because the line does get long.More

I found this place online and wanted to stop before we went into the mission that's right across the street. Usually, there is a much longer line than what we experienced, and with good reason! All the proteins are delicious, tender, and sell out fast...some days. We got the Brisket, Tri Tips, Pork Ribs, and sausage, for our sides we went with the cornbread, Spring slaw, Smoked Elote (corn on the cob), and the Banana bread pudding for dessert. Everything was delicious and worth the wait, the tri-tips and the banana pudding were our favorites though. Everything is priced per pound so it adds up fast, our shared bill was quite high but worth every penny. They do not take phone orders so you can't call ahead, but they do offer online ordering for curbside. They don't serve at all on Monday or Tuesday, other days they are open until 5:00 or until they sell out, which I would guess is long before 5:00.More

Very good BBQ at an OK price. Got there on a Sunday when it opened. Wait of about 45 minutes. Not all seating tables are covered so bring sunscreen. I had the pulled pork. Good size and good taste. Sauce is on the side so...you can add lots of extra if you want. The Texas chille was very good. Very few if any beans. ( I think I saw one when I tasted but it was top on my list to really notice at the time) Very good cornbread.More

My son lives in L.A. and knows good bbq from bad. He had business near San Juan Capistrano and said it would be worth riding along so we could lunch at The Heritage. He was right. Either we got lucky or timed it just right;...did not have anyone in line in front of us. Surprisingly good was a veggie side dish of smoked kabocha, parsnips, corn. My grandson inhaled the mac 'n cheese. But oh the meat. Smoke ring and bark were perfect on all three meats- beef rib, pork ribs, brisket. Never would have believed that white oak could produce this amount of flavor.More

We finally had a chance to go to the Heritage BBQ recently opened in San Juan Capistrano. The lines have always been long, so we went in the afternoon just before 3 PM. The line wasn't long but the line moved very slowly. When we...finally go to the front of the line, we found out that all they had left were brisket and a sausage, everything else was sold out. I really wanted to try their ribs, but since we had spent a half hour in line, I went for the brisket and my GF went for the sausage, and some chili. The brisket was unremarkable. I tried a slice of the sausage, it was not to my taste. My GF ate half of the sausage, so we took the rest home for the dog. Apparently it was not to her taste either, as she took one lick and spit it out. My GF devoured the chili, even getting the spill over into a spoon and eating it. I am going to give the place another try, they open at eleven and they said if you want to get the ribs, we should be in line by 10:30. I guess an early BBQ lunch is in the future. But I certain won't stand in line just to get the brisket. Not worth it.More

Resident of San Clemente since 1971..... Seen it all around here.... I’m known for my lack of patience and tolerance of bad service.... However I was on mission in the absolute pouring rain for football food for the family.....Had to try Heritage.... Here are the...anti tourist idiot rules.... 1) Print off the damn menu and have it in your Wet cold pocket in line..... 2) Check their Twitter feed often for unbelievable specials like today’s half chicken with salsa verde and tortillas Also do never miss Burnt Ends Stew if available...... 3) Do bring umbrella and chair.... 4 ) The wait from gate to order window is no less than 2 hours..... 5) Entertainment along the Que is priceless....so many new friends from all over the OC 😂 6). If you actually make it to ordering window .... know wtf you’re doing... Proteins first ....specials second .... sides last ... they will appreciate that.... If you mess up “No Soup For You”move on.... 7). Beer runners are gracious yet so distracting on you’re focused protein mission....need at least two decent Chardonnay’s to back up fabulous craft beer selection...... 7) check out and payment easy as long as you brought Brinks Truck 😂..... 8) To go packaging professional and well thought out.... 9) This will be a famous “go to” place if they can get the Texas kinks out..... We will be back for sure..... Not in the pouring rain.... Thanks MartyMore

No water served. Have to buy a bottle of soda or a bottle of water, or beer at the bar .. sorry not impressed. Brisket was good, mac and cheese was good.