Jump to content

Texas BBQ


Washpark

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, NoName said:

BBQsnob put out the updated Austin BBQ Guide: https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/best-bbq-in-austin/

 

 

Man we are so blessed to have so many truly delicious BBQ places in the Austin area now.

Twenty years ago that list would have had these types of places on it:

Rudy's

Green Mesquite

Ironworks

The Salt Lick

County Line

Poke E Jo's

Sam's 

 

 

 

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, NoName said:

BBQsnob put out the updated Austin BBQ Guide: https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/best-bbq-in-austin/

 

 

Would welcome thoughts on the lesser known places on this list.  But wanted to throw out that Kerlin’s is my favorite spot in Austin, and criminally underrated.  Brisket is right up there with Franklin’s and L&L, and the kolaches they serve on Sundays are at the level where they can convert kolache skeptics.  Highly recommend.

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Professor Chesney said:

Would welcome thoughts on the lesser known places on this list.  But wanted to throw out that Kerlin’s is my favorite spot in Austin, and criminally underrated.  Brisket is right up there with Franklin’s and L&L, and the kolaches they serve on Sundays are at the level where they can convert kolache skeptics.  Highly recommend.

There are skeptics?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Professor Chesney said:

Would welcome thoughts on the lesser known places on this list.  But wanted to throw out that Kerlin’s is my favorite spot in Austin, and criminally underrated.  Brisket is right up there with Franklin’s and L&L, and the kolaches they serve on Sundays are at the level where they can convert kolache skeptics.  Highly recommend.

kolaches, eh?

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Professor Chesney said:

Would welcome thoughts on the lesser known places on this list.  But wanted to throw out that Kerlin’s is my favorite spot in Austin, and criminally underrated.  Brisket is right up there with Franklin’s and L&L, and the kolaches they serve on Sundays are at the level where they can convert kolache skeptics.  Highly recommend.

Ah shit, this thread is fucked now

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Uh oh....I'm very nervous of my go-to.  Truth did not hit it out of the park for me today.  That is a couple times of "good" over the last few visits when they were so consistently great for so many consecutive visits for me.  

Good news was the line was much shorter than the last couple months since the article.  Don't know if because New Years resolutions or what but definitely much shorter line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to Truth for the first time today.  Brisket and the plain sausage were about what I expected (which is very good).  The boudin was way better than expected.  Got there around 11:00 and we were seated with our food at 11:25.  I live very close to Roegel's and, IMO, Truth is not so much better than Roegel's that I would go out of my way to eat there over Roegel's.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the way up to Pagosa Springs to work from "home" for the next couple of weeks I stopped by Evie Mae's in Wolfforth.  It was all excellent. The brisket and ribs perfect.  The brisket chili was a nice surprise. Oh and shit it's cold in Lubbock with that wind blowing!

I then stopped 50 minutes up the road in Olten, TX (aka BFE) at Rejino BBQ (2nd pic). Also a top 50 joint.  The brisket and ribs were a notch below Evie Mae's, but their sausage was better.  Great snap.  They use the full St. Louis rib.

 

20220115_110833.jpg

20220115_123321.jpg

20220115_124147.jpg

20220115_130318.jpg

  • Hook 'Em 5
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sticking my head into this thread, It seems we may have lost our way in regards to true Texas BBQ. Slam away.

How so? Not being snarky, curious why you think that. Do you mean the idea that a bbq joint basically serves an assortment of traditional smoked meats and beans, potato salad, slaw and some peach cobbler? There are still a ton of places like that. A lot of them kind of suck, but some are solid.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:


How so? Not being snarky, curious why you think that. Do you mean the idea that a bbq joint basically serves an assortment of traditional smoked meats and beans, potato salad, slaw and some peach cobbler? There are still a ton of places like that. A lot of them kind of suck, but some are solid.

Just seems to be heading in a "Starbucks" direction. Overpriced, overcomplicated. I've never eaten at Franklin's because I won't stand in line for hours. I've also witnessed many times the breathtaking lines at Starbucks. This is just a concept that I think is ridiculous for overpriced, overcomplicated coffee/Q.

(This is my old man yelling at the clouds moment.)

 

Edited by Steel Shank
  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Steel Shank said:

Just seems to be heading in a "Starbucks" direction. Overpriced, overcomplicated. I've never eaten at Franklin's because I won't stand in line for hours. I've also witnessed many times the breathtaking lines at Starbucks. This is just a concept that I think is ridiculous for overpriced, overcomplicated coffee/Q.

(This is my old man yelling at the clouds moment.)

 

Franklin is a bad example for your argument.  The line is long, however the barbecue is not overcomplicated.  The Franklin menu is no more complicated than Louis Mueller or City Market in Luling.  Barbecue across the board is overpriced, but that is due to the rising prices of the raw ingredients.  

Nice thing about Texas barbecue - you could eat at a different place every day in a year and never have to wait in line. 

I'd love to hear more reviews of the places that don't get all of the hype.  What are your barbecue favorites Steel Shank?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

Franklin is a bad example for your argument.  The line is long, however the barbecue is not overcomplicated.  The Franklin menu is no more complicated than Louis Mueller or City Market in Luling.  Barbecue across the board is overpriced, but that is due to the rising prices of the raw ingredients.  

Nice thing about Texas barbecue - you could eat at a different place every day in a year and never have to wait in line. 

I'd love to hear more reviews of the places that don't get all of the hype.  What are your barbecue favorites Steel Shank?

Not saying Franklin's is overly complicated, just used it as an example of a place I won't visit because of the lines. If you think the similarities to Starbucks are not accurate, that's fine. If anything can start an argument, it's BBQ. I'm just saying from my where I'm standing, it seems a lot like the Starbucks mania.

The last time I ate at a BBQ place that I can recall was about 9 months ago I had a Real Deal Hollyfield breakfast burrito at Valentina's. It was about 9:00am on a weekday, so no line to speak of. It was damn tasty. With a Dr. Pepper, it set me back $14.

I've owned a large smoker since '94, so I do my own cooking. Probably not as good as some of the pros, but a lot cheaper and comes with all the cold Bud Light I can drink.🍻

  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just seems to be heading in a "Starbucks" direction. Overpriced, overcomplicated. I've never eaten at Franklin's because I won't stand in line for hours. I've also witnessed many times the breathtaking lines at Starbucks. This is just a concept that I think is ridiculous for overpriced, overcomplicated coffee/Q.
(This is my old man yelling at the clouds moment.)
 

I am with Jerry on this one. Cost of beef is high. Hell, the price of everything is high. Regarding lines, yeah, they suck. And I won’t wait more than maybe 30-45 minutes these days. But most of the places I go to regularly these days, except for Truth, don’t have much of a line (Tejas, J Bar M, L&L). Granted, I almost always eat on BBQ on Fridays that I have off.

Overcomplicated I understand, but that is almost about sides. I don’t give a damn about sides. 99% of the time I get brisket and sausage.
  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

Overcomplicated I understand, but that is almost about sides. I don’t give a damn about sides. 99% of the time I get brisket and sausage.

Agreed. But in my opinion, the prices have been high since before inflation/Covid. They're just super high now. (Insert giraffe's pussy line here).

Again, I'm admittedly the cranky old timer here.

Edited by Steel Shank
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are three kinds of barbecue these days: craft bbq, the OGs, and chains. Obviously Dickeys is the worst example of a chain. The worst Texas export ever.
The craft guys selling prime beef and expensive sides. And the OGs doing real legacy barbecue; turning cheaper cuts into fine eating.

All real bbq is expensive. Meat, labor, time, fuel. For the foreseeable future they will continue to escalate. I’m a native Texan that lived two decades in Memphis; Sorry but cooking pork down here is an elusive skill. So I save money and have returned to the guys that can turn less than prime brisket into great barbecue. Around here that’s Davids in Arlington, Railhead in Ft Worth, and Dylan’s in Dallas. I love Hurtado, and Panther City, and 407, but the high prices on even cheap things like cornbread, greens, and beans is crazy.

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

There are three kinds of barbecue these days: craft bbq, the OGs, and chains. Obviously Dickeys is the worst example of a chain. The worst Texas export ever.
The craft guys selling prime beef and expensive sides. And the OGs doing real legacy barbecue; turning cheaper cuts into fine eating.

All real bbq is expensive. Meat, labor, time, fuel. For the foreseeable future they will continue to escalate. I’m a native Texan that lived two decades in Memphis; Sorry but cooking pork down here is an elusive skill. So I save money and have returned to the guys that can turn less than prime brisket into great barbecue. Around here that’s Davids in Arlington, Railhead in Ft Worth, and Dylan’s in Dallas. I love Hurtado, and Panther City, and 407, but the high prices on even cheap things like cornbread, greens, and beans is crazy.

Say what about cooking pork?  I don't understand what you are trying to convey.  Pork is by far the most forgiving meat to smoke and has been a part of Central Texas BBQ just as long as beef has.

If you like it chopped up and covered in vinegar or sweet sauces, good for you but that doesn't take skill.  It's just a preference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bryan Bingham, Sunbird in Longview pitmaster who was formerly at Bodacious on Mobberly, posted on IG yesterday for the first time in his life he has tweaked the way he smokes his briskets. He said the guy at Goldees convinced him to do so. 

Said he trimmed, using a binder, did rub and then put a water pan in the pit. Someone around Longview needs to go check it out cause his brisket was phenomenal already. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/10/2022 at 4:10 PM, utee94 said:

Man we are so blessed to have so many truly delicious BBQ places in the Austin area now.

Twenty years ago that list would have had these types of places on it:

Rudy's

Green Mesquite

Ironworks

The Salt Lick

County Line

Poke E Jo's

Sam's 

 

 

 

I'd kill every GD one of you, some twice, to have those near and available to me.

On 1/10/2022 at 4:22 PM, Patricio Swayze said:


Ruby’s

Sucked. 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Say what about cooking pork?  I don't understand what you are trying to convey.  Pork is by far the most forgiving meat to smoke and has been a part of Central Texas BBQ just as long as beef has.
If you like it chopped up and covered in vinegar or sweet sauces, good for you but that doesn't take skill.  It's just a preference.

Sorry but these are two different and separate barbecue cultures and they each have their fine points. One should never order beef east of the Mississippi (actually east of Little Rock but whatever) or pork the other way.

Central Texas pork barbecue is generally a dried out tough gnarly mess. I’ve had it all over and the best, Tootsie’s pork steaks at Snow’s, I’d not get again. And Melissa Cookson, the top pitmaster in Memphis, makes a brisket that is better than Dickeys but it’s not close to average Texas brisket.

recent developments where you see brisket in Memphis joints and “pulled pork” in Texas is unfortunate.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...