Stubb's Gospel Brunch happens every Sunday at 801 Red River St., with seatings at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Today's act is The Levites, a Billboard-charting Austin gospel group. A full BBQ buffet runs $28.95 for adults with a view of the stage, $22.95 without, and $10.95 for kids 10 and under — and it's been running, in one form or another, since the year after Stubb's opened.
With the high hitting 99°F again today, according to Open-Meteo's Sunday forecast, an indoor, air-conditioned brunch with a full stage show is a genuinely good move before the heat sets in. This one's inside Stubb's climate-controlled indoor room on Red River Street, not the outdoor amphitheater — a detail worth knowing if you've only ever seen Stubb's as a summer concert venue.
What Is Stubb's Gospel Brunch?
It's a weekly Sunday tradition at Stubb's Bar-B-Q: a full Southern buffet — brisket, fried catfish, biscuits, grits, gravy — served while a live gospel act performs on the venue's indoor stage. There are two seatings, 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and the lineup rotates through some of Texas's most established gospel acts week to week. It isn't dinner theater or background music — regulars describe it as starting sedate and ending with the room on its feet.
Stubb's Bar-B-Q
$$How Much Does It Cost, and Who's Playing Today?
According to Stubb's own reservation line and matching third-party ticketing listings, pricing is $28.95 for adults with a view of the stage, $22.95 for adults without a direct view, and $10.95 for kids 10 and under. Today's performer is The Levites, an Austin-based, Billboard-charting urban gospel collective that's shared stages with mainstream country and Americana artists around town — not a random touring act, but a hometown group with its own national following. Reservations go through (512) 480-8341 ext. 4 or brunch@stubbsaustin.com; the buffet and seating are first-come within each reservation window, so calling ahead of a 10:30 seating on a Sunday morning is the move rather than showing up cold.
Ask for a table with a stage view when you call — it's the $6 difference between "watching the band" and "hearing the band," and on gospel brunch Sundays that view is most of the point.
How Did a BBQ Joint Start One of Austin's Longest-Running Gospel Traditions?
The short version: Stubb's Gospel Brunch has been running almost as long as the restaurant itself. C.B. "Stubb" Stubblefield ran a barbecue-and-music stop in Lubbock starting in 1968, trading meals for performances from touring blues and country acts passing through West Texas. He moved to Austin in the mid-1980s planning a combination BBQ restaurant and amphitheater on Red River Street, but died before it opened in 1996.
His business partners, Eddy Patterson and John Scott, launched the brunch shortly after that opening — an idea Patterson has said came from a trip to a New York gospel brunch that Scott's mother insisted they see. "We come to find people singing, a minister doing a sermon and everyone eating — the way church used to be back in the day," Patterson told Authentic Texas magazine. Nearly 30 years later, the format hasn't changed: buffet first, band second, the room usually standing by the last song.
The Original Bells of Joy, one of the acts most associated with Stubb's Sunday brunch over the years, recorded "Let's Talk About Jesus" in 1951 — a track gospel historians credit as part of the melodic foundation Ray Charles reworked into his 1954 hit "I Got a Woman." That's the kind of gospel pedigree that's passed through this room for decades.
Is It Actually Good for Kids?
Yes — it's a buffet with a stage show, not a bar with a band, and the venue prices kids 10 and under separately at $10.95 specifically because families are a regular part of the Sunday crowd. The room fills with strollers and church clothes as much as brunch regulars. If your kid is picky, the buffet format means they can build a plate of just biscuits and grits and skip the catfish — nobody's serving a fixed plate you're stuck with.
What Locals Should Know
- Two seatings only: 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. — there's no walk-up option between them.
- Reserve ahead: call (512) 480-8341 ext. 4, especially for a stage-view table.
- It's indoors: the brunch runs in Stubb's climate-controlled room, not the outdoor amphitheater — a real plus on a 99°F day.
- The lineup rotates weekly: today is The Levites; other Sundays have featured acts like the Gospel Starz (playing since 1996) and the Original Bells of Joy.
- Health score: Austin Public Health last inspected the restaurant's kitchen on Nov. 12, 2025, with a score of 93 out of 100.
What Should You Order?
The buffet rotates, but the standing favorites are the brisket, fried catfish, and made-to-order biscuits with sausage gravy — a heavier, more Southern menu than Stubb's regular barbecue plates, built specifically for the brunch format rather than pulled straight off the dinner menu.
Gospel Brunch is a reservation-based, ticketed seating, not a drop-in buffet line — don't plan on walking in at 11 a.m. and getting a table without having called ahead.
Stubb's itself sits in the Red River corridor, a few blocks from the venues carrying most of this week's touring shows — Moody Amphitheater's current run of concerts among them — so a Gospel Brunch morning pairs easily with an afternoon walking the same strip. It's also one of the few Family & Kid Life picks in downtown Austin proper rather than out at the lake or a suburban park. If today's 99° afternoon pushes you toward more air conditioning after brunch, the Round Rock Express are also playing a heat-dodging day game this week — another parent-tested way to avoid the worst of the sun.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time is Stubb's Gospel Brunch? Two seatings every Sunday: 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., inside Stubb's indoor room at 801 Red River St.
How much is Stubb's Gospel Brunch? $28.95 for adults with a view of the stage, $22.95 without a direct view, and $10.95 for kids 10 and under, per Stubb's own reservation line.
Do I need a reservation? Yes — call (512) 480-8341 ext. 4 or email brunch@stubbsaustin.com. It's a ticketed seating, not a walk-in buffet.
Is Stubb's Gospel Brunch kid-friendly? Yes. It's priced for families, buffet-style so picky eaters can build their own plate, and a regular Sunday-morning outing for Austin parents.
Who's performing today? The Levites, a Billboard-charting Austin gospel group, play both the 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. seatings on Sept. 13.
🗺️Stubb's sits in the Red River music corridor, blocks from Waterloo Park and Moody Amphitheater.
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