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Just a quick reminder about an event that I'm chairman for this spring. We are inside three weeks until the Touchdown Club of Dallas' Big Texas BBQ at Fair Park/Cotton Bowl. Our Rib/Appetizer Cook-Off was originally scheduled for 4/16 but we made the decision to moved the event to 5/21 due to many of our usual attendees having scheduling conflicts with the OG date falling on Easter weekend.

Here's the deal -- $50 general admission ticket includes open bar ALL DAY LONG, doors open at 10 AM, live music starts at 11 AM, Gary P Nunn headlines and is expected to go on around 6:30 or 7. Fletcher's will be on hand selling corny dogs. Tootsie Tomanetz and Daniel Vaughn headline our celebrity judges panel. Adult beverages provided by Ben E Keith Distributors, Tito's, Treaty Oak and Osadia, etc. Should be a lot of fun -- and supports a great cause, the Ashford Rise School of Dallas.

We'll also be selling a limited number Gary P Nunn-signed copies of the event poster (see below). I'll have more details on that as we get closer.

Tickets can be purchased at www.bigtexasbbq.org or on-site the day of the event.

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1 hour ago, Mittens said:

Consensus that The Switch is the best spot in Dripping Springs?  Have a larger group that would be eating more 12:30 than 10:30 and that seems like the best option, but I'm open to suggestions.

I don't know about a consensus, but it was pretty good when I was out there in March.  I couldn't get any other recommendations for Dripping Springs or off of 290 between Austin and Dripping Springs.

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Just a quick reminder about an event that I'm chairman for this spring. We are inside three weeks until the Touchdown Club of Dallas' Big Texas BBQ at Fair Park/Cotton Bowl. Our Rib/Appetizer Cook-Off was originally scheduled for 4/16 but we made the decision to moved the event to 5/21 due to many of our usual attendees having scheduling conflicts with the OG date falling on Easter weekend.
Here's the deal -- $50 general admission ticket includes open bar ALL DAY LONG, doors open at 10 AM, live music starts at 11 AM, Gary P Nunn headlines and is expected to go on around 6:30 or 7. Fletcher's will be on hand selling corny dogs. Tootsie Tomanetz and Daniel Vaughn headline our celebrity judges panel. Adult beverages provided by Ben E Keith Distributors, Tito's, Treaty Oak and Osadia, etc. Should be a lot of fun -- and supports a great cause, the Ashford Rise School of Dallas.
We'll also be selling a limited number Gary P Nunn-signed copies of the event poster (see below). I'll have more details on that as we get closer.
Tickets can be purchased at www.bigtexasbbq.org or on-site the day of the event.
image.thumb.jpeg.e6179d564f503c545ce597be0557029f.jpeg

I really wish that I could make it to this.
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13 hours ago, C-Man said:

Just a quick reminder about an event that I'm chairman for this spring. We are inside three weeks until the Touchdown Club of Dallas' Big Texas BBQ at Fair Park/Cotton Bowl. Our Rib/Appetizer Cook-Off was originally scheduled for 4/16 but we made the decision to moved the event to 5/21 due to many of our usual attendees having scheduling conflicts with the OG date falling on Easter weekend.

Here's the deal -- $50 general admission ticket includes open bar ALL DAY LONG, doors open at 10 AM, live music starts at 11 AM, Gary P Nunn headlines and is expected to go on around 6:30 or 7. Fletcher's will be on hand selling corny dogs. Tootsie Tomanetz and Daniel Vaughn headline our celebrity judges panel. Adult beverages provided by Ben E Keith Distributors, Tito's, Treaty Oak and Osadia, etc. Should be a lot of fun -- and supports a great cause, the Ashford Rise School of Dallas.

We'll also be selling a limited number Gary P Nunn-signed copies of the event poster (see below). I'll have more details on that as we get closer.

Tickets can be purchased at www.bigtexasbbq.org or on-site the day of the event.

image.thumb.jpeg.e6179d564f503c545ce597be0557029f.jpeg

Texas Motor Speedway has a three day NASCAR race/All Star event that weekend. Plenty of room and tens of thousands of people from all over the country attending. I would love to see events like this combined.

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Went to Guess in Waco again the other day.  Was fantastic as always.  Be sure to ask for Eugene if you stop in there.  Co-owner.  As @Kyrie Eleison has previously said on this thread, he is from and a bunch of his family still lives in Ukraine.  They've all refused to leave and bunch of his cousins are fighting for their country right this minute.  Drink a beer, eat some great food, and give Gene a slap on the back and tell him you're pulling for his people.  

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Road trip this afternoon to Lockhart to hit up Smitty's Market. Half pound of moist brisket, half pound of pork ribs, regular sausage ring, and a pork chop. Ribs were tough. Brisket was pretty good, but not sliced very well. Pork chop and sausage were great.

I wasn't expecting top notch barbecue, but I knew the sausage would be spot on because these old central texas meat markets know sausage. I really wanted the experience. Place your order next to the open fire pits, check out the original counters that used to have knives on chains. No forks - still. Smoke covered walls. I love the various city markets - Luling, Giddings, etc. The history and simplicity makes these places worth a stop.

I haven't been to this location since the early to mid 90s when it was Kreutz Market. I still prefer the food at Kreutz over Black's or Smitty's, but you can't beat the old school experience.

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Smitty's was always my favorite in Lockhart until the food started to slide.  I tend to put a big premium on the interior of a BBQ joint, and Smitty's is #1 in my book, closely followed by Louie Mueller's in Taylor (which serves better 'Q).  In Lockhart, it's been Black's for us since ~ 2010.

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11 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

Road trip this afternoon to Lockhart to hit up Smitty's Market. Half pound of moist brisket, half pound of pork ribs, regular sausage ring, and a pork chop. Ribs were tough. Brisket was pretty good, but not sliced very well. Pork chop and sausage were great.

Having spent a good chunk of my formative years in Lockhart and now living in Idaho for nearly two decades, can't tell you how much that sausage is missed. Thanks for sharing.

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Just now, jimmyjazz said:

Smitty's was always my favorite in Lockhart until the food started to slide.  I tend to put a big premium on the interior of a BBQ joint, and Smitty's is #1 in my book, closely followed by Louie Mueller's in Taylor (which serves better 'Q).  In Lockhart, it's been Black's for us since ~ 2010.

Same with Smitty’s. A friend went there last year and said the food had improved a bit.

I’ve never been a fan of Kruetz, either the food or the atmosphere. 

If I’m down that way I’m inclined to drive a bit further to Luling. City Market for me is in the category of old school joints that I think still crank out good food. And the local clientele is always an interesting diverse scene, not just a bunch of white dudes like me on a BBQ road trip.

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Same with Smitty’s. A friend went there last year and said the food had improved a bit.
I’ve never been a fan of Kruetz, either the food or the atmosphere. 
If I’m down that way I’m inclined to drive a bit further to Luling. City Market for me is in the category of old school joints that I think still crank out good food. And the local clientele is always an interesting diverse scene, not just a bunch of white dudes like me on a BBQ road trip.

In my experience over the last decade, Blacks draws a pretty strong “locals” crowd. It’s become my last choice for atmosphere, but first choice for food. Took my daughter’s French (and thus utter food snob) roommates there in March, and watching them take their first bites and say “holy shit….you weren’t kidding” was awesome.
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Went to Guess in Waco again the other day.  Was fantastic as always.  Be sure to ask for Eugene if you stop in there.  Co-owner.  As [mention=671]Kyrie Eleison[/mention] has previously said on this thread, he is from and a bunch of his family still lives in Ukraine.  They've all refused to leave and bunch of his cousins are fighting for their country right this minute.  Drink a beer, eat some great food, and give Gene a slap on the back and tell him you're pulling for his people.  

That wouldn’t be weird.

“Hey Eugene, we’ve never met, but some guy on the internet told me that I should slap you.”
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15 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

Is the Midland/Odessa area basically a BBQ wasteland?  Anything that even comes close?

I had a decent meal at Southern Smoke in San Angelo on the way back to Austin from Midland a few months ago - on Bristketexan's recommendation.  I couldn't find anywhere in Midland that I wanted to try.  Neither Daniel Vaughan nor Tales from the Pits could recommend anywhere in Midland.

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On 5/7/2022 at 11:41 PM, Patricio Swayze said:

I haven’t been to Smitty’s in a decade. It was a disappointing visit. The last couple
Of times I was eating in Lockhart, I went to Black’s and thought it was the best of the big names in town. Your mileage may vary.

 

On 5/8/2022 at 9:36 AM, jimmyjazz said:

Smitty's was always my favorite in Lockhart until the food started to slide.  I tend to put a big premium on the interior of a BBQ joint, and Smitty's is #1 in my book, closely followed by Louie Mueller's in Taylor (which serves better 'Q).  In Lockhart, it's been Black's for us since ~ 2010.

 

+2 or 3 or whatever.  I always liked Smitty's the best for both food and atmosphere, but it slipped so badly that the last two times I gave it a try, the brisket was shoe-leather inedible.  Just gross.

Blacks is my #1 in town by a large margin now, and has been for the past decade. 

Edited by utee94
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I could sit at Blacks and eat their sausage on a cracker with sauce and be very happy.  I didn't care for Kreuz when I went, not sure what it was.  Just the ambiance or something.  They only had one pit going and things were slow and I kind felt sad in there for some reason.  I have never been to Smitty's but definitely need to in the future. 

 

 

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According to Daniel Vaughn Odessa is now a bbq destination because of Brantley Creek BBQ.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/brantley-creek-bbq-odessa-review/

I don’t know who you are Scott, but thanks for putting in the minimal amount of work (which is more than most of us have done). Don’t forget to fill out your top ten favorite albums.
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1 minute ago, Patricio Swayze said:


I don’t know who you are Scott, but thanks for putting in the minimal amount of work (which is more than most of us have done). Don’t forget to fill out your top ten favorite albums.

The secret of life is low expectations.  You cannot be disappointed in me if you don't expect jack shit out of me.

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DIL graduated from UNT today with her PhD. Yea, that's a brag. Hosted about 45 friends and family at Hard Eight in Coppell. Brisket, turkey, and sausage, plus sides. Even for a buffet with warming trays it was pretty damn good. Will go back for some individual meals. 

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Saw on Instagram that Sunbird is closing. Bummed I didn’t get to try their food.
That's too bad. Was planning on stopping there on the way back from Arkansas in mid-June. Looks like they are looking for another spot for their trailer and will be doing pop-ups in the interim.
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On 5/14/2022 at 5:13 PM, Patricio Swayze said:

Saw on Instagram that Sunbird is closing. Bummed I didn’t get to try their food.

 

11 hours ago, dcbc said:

Oh, man.  I thought they had a brick and mortar lined up.

 

to be clear, it sounds like they are moving locations and doing pop ups until they get a specific location nailed down. clearly something happened w/ their partner who owns that market thing where they were? guessing the B&M was through them as well?

all in all not a terrible thing, they can get a much better location IMHO.

looks like they are going to be in Dallas at Celestial Beer ton 6/19 and somewhere called Rollertown Beer on 6/8?

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Stopped at City Market in Luling on the way to Palmetto State Park...made for a good picnic. Still my favorite ribs anywhere, sausage was excellent and brisket was good but a step below the other meats. 30 minute line at 1:00, mostly locals. No longer cash only.
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2 hours ago, NoName said:

 

 

to be clear, it sounds like they are moving locations and doing pop ups until they get a specific location nailed down. clearly something happened w/ their partner who owns that market thing where they were? guessing the B&M was through them as well?

all in all not a terrible thing, they can get a much better location IMHO.

looks like they are going to be in Dallas at Celestial Beer ton 6/19 and somewhere called Rollertown Beer on 6/8?

Rollertown's in Celina. Looks pretty cool but I'm not driving that far to get drunk

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On 5/15/2022 at 8:26 PM, Mo Horn said:

DIL graduated from UNT today with her PhD. Yea, that's a brag. Hosted about 45 friends and family at Hard Eight in Coppell. Brisket, turkey, and sausage, plus sides. Even for a buffet with warming trays it was pretty damn good. Will go back for some individual meals. 

Fuck Hard Eight right in the ass. The Roanoke location recently was caught having withheld nearly $900K in gratuities from employees.

https://www.dallasobserver.com/restaurants/tips-gone-wild-a-recent-case-against-hard-eight-is-a-lesson-on-tipping-13887370

Quote

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division released a statement that Hard Eight Pit BBQ, with five restaurants in total, failed to pay employees all of their tips by allocating some of those funds to managers, who are not allowed to dabble in the tip pool. The restaurant now owes $867,572 in back wages to 910 employees who worked from June 2019 to April 21.

When the pandemic hit and service industry workers got walloped, the boundaries of tipping grew, some with blurred lines. Digitizing tips makes it all even more ambiguous. A jar at the end of the bar or a tip left on a table was quite obvious. Even though Hard Eight began this practice before the pandemic time, the case raises good questions about new tipping trends.

Hard Eight uses a cafeteria-style service model. Diners choose to leave a tip when checking out at the counter. While being a cashier or kitchen staff doesn’t exclude someone from deserving a tip, it's not traditional. Historically, only bartenders and table servers get tips.

Digital payments has extended the reach of tips, for good and bad. 

Now cashiers, ice cream scoopers, baristas and owners of bakeries have all flipped the screen, as they've handed you a croissant or coffee, asking if you want to add 20%, 25% or 30% to your tab. As demonstrated by the almost million dollars doled out to managers in 23 months at Hard Eight, the practice has caught on.


The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is very specific about where voluntary tips can go. In the statement on Hard Eights' back wages owed, the Department of Labor explains the FLSA “does not allow an employer or their managers or supervisors to keep tips the business’ workers receive for any purposes, regardless of whether or not the employer claims a tip credit.” (Tipped workers receive a base hourly wage of $2.13, below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 for non-tipped workers. Employers are allowed to claim a credit for tips to meet their obligation to pay the full minimum wage.)

The FLSA “does not allow an employer or their managers or supervisors to keep tips the business’ workers receive for any purposes ... " - statement from the Department of Labor

The restaurant told NBC 5 that they simply misunderstood labor law and corrected it as soon as it was reported. That's a nearly $1 million whoopsie-daisy.

“Roanoke Hard Eight violated the law by including managers in their tip pool. By doing so, the employer denied tipped workers some of their tips and managers proper overtime wages,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez in a statement. “As businesses struggle to find people to do the work needed to keep operating, employers would be wise to avoid violations or risk finding it even more difficult to retain and recruit workers who can choose to seek jobs where they will receive all of their rightful wages.”

Dean Stansel is an economist at SMU Cox's Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom. He sees it differently. He told the Observer that employers and employees ought to be free to determine how they wish to structure compensation.

"For example, a regular wage without tips or a lower wage with tips added," Stansel says. "Having the heavy hand of government involved restricts that freedom. It’s not clear that doing so creates a large enough benefit to outweigh the cost of that loss in freedom.”

Alas, Hard Eight now has the task of tracking down workers during those months and reimbursing them. Meanwhile, according to Hard Eight, managers who can no longer get paid from the tip jar have received raises.
 

What counts as a tip?

A tip is voluntary money paid over the bill due by the customer. Some companies get around this with mandatory service fees, which are not tips. Recently a group of employees at Nurset (Salt Bea’s restaurant) in Florida sued their employer for using an 18% mandatory service fee that is added to every bill to pay wages. An appeals court denied their claim because the 18% fee wasn’t voluntary, and since it wasn’t voluntary, the company could do with it what they wanted.

 

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Another shameless reminder that our charity Big Texas BBQ is this Saturday at Fair Park/Cotton Bowl. C'mon down and help us support the Ashford Rise School of Dallas.

Doors open at 10 AM, live music starts at 11. Kids Zone with bounce houses and face painting starts at 12. Gary P. Nunn will play around 6:45 or 7.

General admission tickets are $50 and includes open bar all day long. Under-21 does not require a ticket.

Tootsie, Daniel Vaughn, Kent Rathbun, Doug Pickering, Marshall Prichard, Jeffrey Hobbs and Jack Perkins will serve as celebrity judges.

Fletcher's will be selling corny dogs and Lemon Chills from 1-5.

We're also selling a limited number of nice silkscreen prints of the poster for $150 -- it's a donation to the school. We are only printing 250 and each will be personally signed by Gary P. Nunn and the artist Morgan Avery.

I'm the chairman for this year and we'd love all the support we can get for a successful event.

Looks like we could get some glorious weather after a few really hot days in a row!

BIG-TEXAS-BBQ-2022-Social-Post---updated.jpg

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I believe all Hard Eight outside Brady and Stephenville are franchises. They are poorly run in my experience and I avoid them. Quality is not what I’ve had in the originals, which are now just ok. That style just dries the meat out.
And fick those assholes for screwing their employees. H8 should revoke their franchise.
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I've only been to Hard 8 like twice (Colony location) and both times the free beans saved the meal. It's a tourist trap type place and if you have predominantly had Rudys and Dickeys as your bbq for your life I can see how you may be impressed.  But if you've been to an elite joints Hard 8 isn't even competing as far as the food is concerned. 

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23 minutes ago, DallasSooner said:

I've only been to Hard 8 like twice (Colony location) and both times the free beans saved the meal. It's a tourist trap type place and if you have predominantly had Rudys and Dickeys as your bbq for your life I can see how you may be impressed.  But if you've been to an elite joints Hard 8 isn't even competing as far as the food is concerned. 

My son and I have taken a few trips to the Metroplex and parts further north for soccer this spring, and he always wants BBQ on the way home.  So far I've managed to sway him off Hard 8 and just go for Rudy's in Waco.  No complaints yet.  Hard 8 just screams "corner cutting" to me.

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3 hours ago, DallasSooner said:

I've only been to Hard 8 like twice (Colony location) and both times the free beans saved the meal. It's a tourist trap type place and if you have predominantly had Rudys and Dickeys as your bbq for your life I can see how you may be impressed.  But if you've been to an elite joints Hard 8 isn't even competing as far as the food is concerned. 

There is NOTHING wrong with Rudy's, BTW. It's not Franklin/Snow's/Goldee's, of course, but it's the best/most consistent BBQ franchise going in Texas IMO.

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