For Bass Pro Shops’ customers, it might seem like a match made in heaven. Wildly popular Stephenville-based chain Hard Eight BBQ is opening its first San Antonio restaurant inside the retail giant at 17907 IH-10 W. in the Rim — its first outside North Texas.

Hard Eight, H8 for short, has five locations scattered across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Similar to Driftwood’s The Salt Lick BBQ, it’s the type of place locals take out-of-towners to, with a large cafeteria-style line. It reportedly doesn’t cook everything according to time-honored techniques, but it does give a taste of Texana.

The owners have been teasing the joint in a series of social media videos, but have kept quiet on the timeline. Now, new Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) filings say the 17,300-square-foot restaurant aims to finish construction by November.

H8 sells all the Central Texas barbecue classics like brisket, sausage, and ribs, but the smoked meats menu goes well beyond with shrimp poppers, sirloin, ham, pork chops, and even thick-sliced bologna available by the pound and in sandwiches.

The restaurant brings the same range to the sides. Although smoke shack favorites like macaroni ‘n’ cheese, slaw, potato salad, and pinto beans are on the slate, the barbecue joint also dishes out more newfangled dishes like jalapeño cream corn and sweet potato fries. There’s not much in the way of green vegetables, but diners can order a garden salad if they insist.

Cofounder Chad Decker, with wife Carie and in-laws Vicki and Phillip Nivens, first opened Hard Eight in 2003 in a former Stephenville filling station. His approach to barbecue was formed during his childhood in Llano, where he was exposed to Hill Hill Country methods and traditional German pits.

Although the quartet had zero experience in running restaurants, they slowly built the concept into a mini-empire through trial and error.

So far, H8 hasn’t shared an opening timeline, but its most recent Reel suggests some construction is already taking place. A request for more accurate timeline information was not immediately returned.