BBQ Weekend 2012

[DavidATX]

So a buddy and I set out this past weekend to eat at a few highly regarded BBQ joints in central Texas. We ate 3 lbs of brisket, 4 lbs of ribs, and several links of sausage (not that kind of sausage bolt) in less than 24 hours. It was pretty intense.  Per a thread over in general it seems like a lot of folks from out of state look forward to sampling BBQ while in the Austin area, so here is a little info. Obviously there are more than 3 BBQ in the area that I have eaten at, but this is about BBQ Weekend 2012.

Kreuz Market in Lockhart:

This place is famous and usually lands in the top 5 BBQ restaurants lists as well as tv shows.



Unfortunately, they were out of pork ribs. No forks, no sauce. Brisket was very good, but the best part of the meal was the jalapeño and cheese sausage. Extremely good stuff. Bonus points for Big Red with real sugar as well as hand dipped blue bell ice cream.



The next day for lunch we hit up J. Mueller's BBQ trailer in South Austin. Not gonna go into the history of Mueller and his connection with Franklin's (BBQ place EVERYONE is talking about). Stood in line for about 15 minutes, but the line behind was growing exponentially. Mr. Mueller between tending to the smoker was walking around and handing out free beer. I am not even a drinker, but that is how you do shit!
We had Brisket, pork ribs and beef sausage. Sausage was great, but I liked the Kreuz sausage more. But the ribs and brisket were from another planet. Some of, if not the best I have had. Brisket was moist, tender and perfectly seasoned and smoked. Same with the ribs. Next level shit here. Only time I used a knife was to cut the sausage. I HIGHLY recommend this place.





Finally we headed down to San Marcos and tried Hayes County BBQ.  Brisket was very good as were the ribs. I thought the ribs were a touch too salty. Unfortunately the sausage was dried out, but because of that they gave us a discount. Very good place though.



So, ranking goes:

1.  J. Mueller
2.  Kreuz
3.  Hayes County BBQ

Sometimes I really feel bad for Yankees. I mean, y'all have nice Deli's and all...

[Lumpy]

That looks delicious.

[mortlock]

i just came like 6 times..that shit looks amazing..

[DavidATX]

It's unfortunate I didn't get a better photo of J Mueller's BBQ. Shadows plus the fact I could barely contain myself long enough to not eat and take a photo. Will be (not willb) visiting again as soon as possible.

[lftwng4]

Food looks good, but I would kill to have a bottle of Big Red with real sugar.

[DavidATX]

Tastes even better than the other. Pretty easily found in central Texas these days. You can order the on line from several places as well.

[RAGER]

i love me some BBQ.  there's some places up here that are pretty good but I couldn't tell you in comparison as I've never had real Texas BBQ in Texas.  But I will tell you that Portland is a foodie mecca and we don't fuck around.

[DavidATX]

Even though half the posts in this thread are mine, I am glad there are more posts than a fucking thread about lettuce.  Seriously you fucking hippies?

Hmmm, legit BBQ in Portland.  I don't think that would be too far fetched considering the number of central Texans that moved there in the past 10 years.  I am having dreams of Mueller's smoked meat...and that is full homo.

[I,Galactus]

If I'm ever in central Tejas again, I'll do my damnedest to put this BBQ boner inducing knowledge to good use.

/lettuce hippyness offset

[mutantcolors]

I visited a friend in Austin a number of yrs back, we drove (I believe) west of the city, out into some hilly country and dined on some motherfucking meat at this place sitting on a pond/lake. The pit roast an entire hog every single day. It was incredible.

[DavidATX]

Hmm, sounds like the County Line maybe. I have never been to the one in Austin. Been years since I ate at one in Houston.

[mertz]

When I go to San Antonio to visit my mom and brother they take me to "Rudys". Amazing! They have a giant carport  looking thing out back for wedding receptions...ugh!

[GodShifter]

Rudy's is good, if a bit perfunctory BBQ, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, it's of better quality than most chain restaurant BBQ joints, but it's not got that unique, distinct character and quality like some of the independent restaurants that are famous in Texas.

[mertz]

This was my first go at Texas BBQ or really any BBQ from a restaurant.

[DavidATX]

This is how I look at Rudy's...they are the whataburger of BBQ. You know what you are getting, they are consistent and it tastes good. But, just like a burger from whataburger, there are much better mom and pop places out there. I am betting though that Rudy's is better than 99% of BBQ in the north or west.

[mertz]

I'll be out again soon... I'm sure their are plenty of other BBQ restaurants in San Antonio!

[DavidATX]

There are. But why not drive 20 minutes to Lockhart and go to Kreuz or Smitty's?  Or Luling City Market? Or even better head up to Austin and get lunch at J. Mueller's?  It's only about an hour. But don't go for supper, they close once they run out of food and that happens before supper.

Just some suggestions. Best BBQ I have had in SA was my uncles, but he isn't open to the public.

[The Shocker]

The best BBQ I ever had was Petty's Smoke Pit BBQ in Starkville, MS.  It was out in the county, which was important because there was no way this would have been legal in the city limits:  A brick shotgun style house where the entire house had been gutted and a giant smoke pit was dug out.  The place was 100 degrees in the winter and you could barely breathe from the smoke, take-out only.  Not sure what all they had, but my dad always got the pulled pork. He would take me with him and I was always a little scared because we were the only white folks there, but it was cool.  We'd eat pulled pork sandwhiches with white Wonder Bread & it was heaven.
The place burned down at some point, I still miss it.

This is going to sound racist, but I consider it fact:  If you want the best BBQ, Southern Cooking or Soul Food go to the places the black folks like to eat.  The only white restaurants that are even close have some old black ladies cooking in the kitchen.

[I,Galactus]

This is going to sound racist, but I consider it fact:  If you want the best BBQ, Southern Cooking or Soul Food go to the places the black folks like to eat.  The only white restaurants that are even close have some old black ladies cooking in the kitchen.

I'd concur with that.  There's a soul food place around here that my friends and I are regularly the only white folks in the building and their food is phenom, especially the twice cooked chicken (smoked then fried).

My fave BBQ Joint is Rendezvous in Memphis (dry rub ribs for days) or pretty much any of the Whole Hog franchises throughout Arkansas.  I haven't been to too many "shotgun shack" style places, not out of discomfort, just haven't heard of them word of mouth (which is the only way you'll hear of 'em.

[GodShifter]

This is going to sound racist, but I consider it fact:  If you want the best BBQ, Southern Cooking or Soul Food go to the places the black folks like to eat.  The only white restaurants that are even close have some old black ladies cooking in the kitchen.

I'd concur with that.  There's a soul food place around here that my friends and I are regularly the only white folks in the building and their food is phenom, especially the twice cooked chicken (smoked then fried).

My fave BBQ Joint is Rendezvous in Memphis (dry rub ribs for days) or pretty much any of the Whole Hog franchises throughout Arkansas.  I haven't been to too many "shotgun shack" style places, not out of discomfort, just haven't heard of them word of mouth (which is the only way you'll hear of 'em.

I've stated it before, but in the DFW Metroplex, from my experience, there aren't any really good BBQ restaurants -- that I've frequented, anyway.

However, when I lived in Greenville, TX (about an hour east of Dallas), there was one place that terrific and, yep, it was run by a black family. Their BBQ was out of this world, but the atmosphere was fucking hell. No A/C, ever, and the place was always like a smoke stack. You'd eat there and you'd smell like smoke for the rest of the day. Eating lunch there was always a major debate. Did you want to smell like smoke for the rest of the day while still at work? Sometimes the answer was, "no", but if you did, it was worth it. It was really, really good.

As I said in another thread, the best BBQ I've ever eaten was at Oklahoma Joe's in Kansas City. It was fucking sublime.

[libertycaps]

Poodnah's Pit BBQ is the closest thing to authentic Texas BBQ we got here in PDX. Worth a stop.
They just moved into a larger space 20minutes walking distance from my house. They keep a decent rotating tap list too. Having a "successful restaurant" is tough here. Places come and go all the time.

That said, i do most of my BBQ at home now. I'm doing some quality stuff with my Traegers now that i've found a better fuel source. Finally have my beef brisket in the zone.

[deleted account]

PDX:  your one-stop shop for Texas Doom AND BBQ!

[RAGER]

My ribs

[GodShifter]

Holy f'ing crap, Rager, that looks fantastic! Your guacamole looks be to spectacular. I like the looks of it. It looks chunky and delicious. Nothing worse than the avocados being mashed up so much it's like paste.

[Metal and Beer]

+1 on that guac looking awesome