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Texas BBQ


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On 8/7/2023 at 5:47 PM, HRSchenker said:

B4 BBQ & Boba in Mabank might jump into the top 10 for the next issue and hardly anyone has been talking about them until today's TM article. They're putting out some really good stuff out there in Kaufman County. 

It’s pretty good.  Good dude as well.  The only decent BBQ here on the lake.  My wife went last week and was disappointed in the brisket.  It has been much better the other times we have gone.  Time will tell if he can keep it up.  

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On 8/13/2023 at 9:21 AM, DallasSooner said:

Little sliced brisket from Sunbird yesterday. 

IMG_8286.jpeg

 

On 8/13/2023 at 2:19 PM, The Ace of Aces said:

He’s been selling about by noon/12:30 the last few weeks. WO has really adopted him, which is awesome, 

any news on their location on High Street? haven't been back to ETX in forever but really hope that Longview works out for them, just so so so many more folks there = way easier to make a living for both of their families.

Bryan is a good dude.

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6 hours ago, NoName said:

 

any news on their location on High Street? haven't been back to ETX in forever but really hope that Longview works out for them, just so so so many more folks there = way easier to make a living for both of their families.

Bryan is a good dude.

Just a mess dealing with the city of Longview is all I can tell you.  From what I can see they bend over backwards unless youre a small business.  They have to get a pitroom built over their smoker with a lot of specifics about that and then they should be good to go.  I know their working hard to get in the building. 

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10 minutes ago, DallasSooner said:

Just a mess dealing with the city of Longview is all I can tell you.  From what I can see they bend over backwards unless youre a small business.  They have to get a pitroom built over their smoker with a lot of specifics about that and then they should be good to go.  I know their working hard to get in the building. 

i think i said it here but would not at all be shocked if his prior employers were stirring up a lot of shit, or at least trying to.

hope he can get in soon...

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Not to pitpick another man's idol, but I'd sub that mac 'n' cheese and cheese sauce for some grilled peppers, onions and tomatoes ... more pico, fresh cilantro, heaps of avocado (fresh slices or guac), and some freshly grated pepper jack.

 

Nevertheless ... WOOD.

Edited by Braff Zacklin
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i think i said it here but would not at all be shocked if his prior employers were stirring up a lot of shit, or at least trying to.
hope he can get in soon...

There is only one way to deal with local politics making shit a problem. Go somewhere else. If he opens that place in Longview they will be in his shit constantly. I wish Bryan had saved his money and opened in white oak. Sounds like they love his ass there.
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saw a daytripper video that pitched an interesting idea:

"if i'm going to come to Texas once to eat BBQ, what's the one place i'm going to visit in case i never get a second chance"

the other guy started out talking about Lockhart (because it has "options" - dude, it isn't 20 years ago lol) and they both settled on Louie Mueller BBQ. Chet talked about starting at Louie Mueller's and then to some of the Austin places (original Southside, then Brothertons, Franklin, Terry Black, Valentinas, etc)

the top 2 comments last night were Coopers in Llano, which absolutely says "i haven't been there in 20 years" - it's not good.

for me, if i am going to one spot with an out of towner and don't have to wait in line, it has to be Franklin - i fully trust that Franklin isn't going to serve their C stuff and it's more traditional than L&L which not everyone appreciates (heathens!)

BUT idk how the answer to this for a like 1 day trip isn't Austin area.

  • start at Valentinas for a Real Deal Holyfield or Briscuits or Kerlaches (soooooo underrated) if you want to stay in Austin proper. 
  • have your main lunch at Leroy and Lewis and enjoy Cosmic if it isn't a trillion degrees outside.
  • You can jump over to Terry Blacks or Mickelthwait to share an additional bite.
  • check the line at Franklin.
  • swing by Distant Relatives or KG BBQ for a great twist on BBQ.
  • grab a crunchwrap or crispito at CM Smokehouse.
  • if you have time think about venturing out to Interstellar for a late bite.

so many options in what is a pretty small area all things considered

...my big takeaway from this thought exercise is i need to schedule a 1 day BBQ trip with some buddies soon. hell, i'd do a trip with people in this thread haha

 

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2 hours ago, NoName said:

the top 2 comments last night were Coopers in Llano, which absolutely says "i haven't been there in 20 years" - it's not good.

Have you been recently? The last couple times I went the quality was high again. I am not sure what changed but something did. 

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41 minutes ago, hornbri said:

Have you been recently? The last couple times I went the quality was high again. I am not sure what changed but something did. 

no kidding i had about 5 in a row that were at best bad and almost completely inedible. haven't been back since. this is the last pic i have in my phone from there:

image.thumb.png.61555dbeb88b0170122d1070955dbfda.png

don't miss the turkey cut on about a half to 3/4 inch thickness. the next time i went it wasn't AS bad but was a ton of unrendered white fat on the top. this is what it looked like on another visit. just super overcooked and dry. and the fat was unrendered (which has been a theme there)

image.png.441515da78b651e87f53fab554d381a1.png

the best thing i have had in probably 6? years there was the ribeye one night.

33 minutes ago, texasdago said:

There's also the one in Mason.. it was underwhelming.

different owners i think? the one in Mason was the first one ever opened

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9 hours ago, NoName said:

saw a daytripper video that pitched an interesting idea:

"if i'm going to come to Texas once to eat BBQ, what's the one place i'm going to visit in case i never get a second chance"

the other guy started out talking about Lockhart (because it has "options" - dude, it isn't 20 years ago lol) and they both settled on Louie Mueller BBQ. Chet talked about starting at Louie Mueller's and then to some of the Austin places (original Southside, then Brothertons, Franklin, Terry Black, Valentinas, etc)

the top 2 comments last night were Coopers in Llano, which absolutely says "i haven't been there in 20 years" - it's not good.

for me, if i am going to one spot with an out of towner and don't have to wait in line, it has to be Franklin - i fully trust that Franklin isn't going to serve their C stuff and it's more traditional than L&L which not everyone appreciates (heathens!)

BUT idk how the answer to this for a like 1 day trip isn't Austin area.

  • start at Valentinas for a Real Deal Holyfield or Briscuits or Kerlaches (soooooo underrated) if you want to stay in Austin proper. 
  • have your main lunch at Leroy and Lewis and enjoy Cosmic if it isn't a trillion degrees outside.
  • You can jump over to Terry Blacks or Mickelthwait to share an additional bite.
  • check the line at Franklin.
  • swing by Distant Relatives or KG BBQ for a great twist on BBQ.
  • grab a crunchwrap or crispito at CM Smokehouse.
  • if you have time think about venturing out to Interstellar for a late bite.

so many options in what is a pretty small area all things considered

...my big takeaway from this thought exercise is i need to schedule a 1 day BBQ trip with some buddies soon. hell, i'd do a trip with people in this thread haha

 

 

I spend about 6 weeks in Austin earlier this year and that food truck park with Kerlaches became my morning routine but not because of Kerlaches which I found average on its best day. Desnudo coffee  and a veracruz migas poblanos taco was great.

 

Next time you're in Houston., go to the kolache shoppe and get their brisket kolaches, you'll never go kerlaches again

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8 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:


I think it’s ranked by some metric, maybe google rating?

Yep. There is a BS story out on the interwebs this week about the 100 best restaurants in Texas, based upon Yelp ratings.  What a cluster!

https://www.yelp.com/collection/vDbu1mpLEKomVmXmXNWG0Q/Top-100-Places-to-Eat-in-Texas-2023

As far as Houston goes, I'd agree with Brisket & Rice for 'cue, and maybe State of Grace for fine dining, but this list shows why it pays to be dubious of Yelp reviews.

Edited by DalTxHornFan
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On 8/17/2023 at 7:39 AM, NoName said:

saw a daytripper video that pitched an interesting idea:

"if i'm going to come to Texas once to eat BBQ, what's the one place i'm going to visit in case i never get a second chance"

the other guy started out talking about Lockhart (because it has "options" - dude, it isn't 20 years ago lol) and they both settled on Louie Mueller BBQ. Chet talked about starting at Louie Mueller's and then to some of the Austin places (original Southside, then Brothertons, Franklin, Terry Black, Valentinas, etc)

the top 2 comments last night were Coopers in Llano, which absolutely says "i haven't been there in 20 years" - it's not good.

for me, if i am going to one spot with an out of towner and don't have to wait in line, it has to be Franklin - i fully trust that Franklin isn't going to serve their C stuff and it's more traditional than L&L which not everyone appreciates (heathens!)

BUT idk how the answer to this for a like 1 day trip isn't Austin area.

  • start at Valentinas for a Real Deal Holyfield or Briscuits or Kerlaches (soooooo underrated) if you want to stay in Austin proper. 
  • have your main lunch at Leroy and Lewis and enjoy Cosmic if it isn't a trillion degrees outside.
  • You can jump over to Terry Blacks or Mickelthwait to share an additional bite.
  • check the line at Franklin.
  • swing by Distant Relatives or KG BBQ for a great twist on BBQ.
  • grab a crunchwrap or crispito at CM Smokehouse.
  • if you have time think about venturing out to Interstellar for a late bite.

so many options in what is a pretty small area all things considered

...my big takeaway from this thought exercise is i need to schedule a 1 day BBQ trip with some buddies soon. hell, i'd do a trip with people in this thread haha

 


burnt bean is better than Louis mueller, over all. 

brisket - burnt bean 

rest - even 

sides - burnt bean and it’s not close 

deserts - read sides 

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1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:


burnt bean is better than Louis mueller, over all. 

brisket - burnt bean 

rest - even 

sides - burnt bean and it’s not close 

deserts - read sides 

I agree that Burnt Bean has, overall, better food than Louis Mueller.  However, if I'm taking someone who has come to Texas to eat at only one barbecue joint, I'd take them to Louis Mueller.  I love Texas barbecue and the fact that so many places are able to turn out great tasting barbecue these days is incredible.  I put a great deal of weight on the history of Texas barbecue, though.  My two favorite places to get barbecue in Texas are Louis Mueller and Smitty's.  Louis Mueller's barbecue is far better than Smitty's and the Louis Mueller beef rib is still one of the best bites of barbecue I've ever had.

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I ate at 407 yesterday in Argyle. It’s been mentioned in TM and usually very good. The last two trips it has gone from exceptional to the very good/better than average. .

He has a good burger but he moved to a fucking brioche bun. Sweet like a doughnut. Fuck that.
Yesterday I got brisket and ribs. The ribs were problematic St. Louis spares because they were partially trimmed with those fucking gnarly little bones on one end. Trim that shit and sell rib tips to folks that like that shit. The worst was the cook; two were ok, one was overdone bigly and the other had nice exterior and fucking raw. I nearly hurled. My boss from San Diego thought the ribs were some of the best he’s ever had. The brisket was ok except it had so much smoke, which I like, that I was belching it for hours like a greasy ashtray. (That’s maybe on me as a side effect of Trulicity) sides were so so. Everyone cleaned their plate but me.

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14 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

My two favorite places to get barbecue in Texas are Louis Mueller and Smitty's.

Are you me?  I get it, both fall short of the absolute top in terms of product (particularly Smitty's), but my assessment of a 'Q joint goes beyond the food.  The food is the most important thing, no doubt, but the experience and ambience matter too, and they get weighted more or less depending on who I'm eating with.  If I'm taking out-of-towners from, say, the midwest to get Texas 'Q, then it's gonna be Louie Mueller's or even Salt Lick, because they are going to love the whole experience and won't ever know what they missed.

That said, I might grab some Franklin to show them what they missed a day or two later.  "Oh yeah, here's how good it can actually be."

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26 minutes ago, Cajun said:

On a day in/day out basis I've still never had better than Franklin brisket.

Just haven't.

I've only had Franklin once and it was so long ago that it was Aaron who was working the block.  I do remember the brisket being brilliant but everything else was kinda average in my memory bank. I need to go back and sample some more all these years later. 

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3 hours ago, Cajun said:

On a day in/day out basis I've still never had better than Franklin brisket.

Just haven't.


the brisket at the burnt bean (this past Saturday) was Franklin level, and I’ve had Franklin brisket many times since his trailers days 

Edited by tx 3 putt
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25 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:


the brisket at the burnt bean (this past Saturday) was Franklin level, and I’ve had Franklin brisket many times since his trailers days 

I haven't been to BB and I really have no excuse as it's a pretty easy drive to Seguin from Canyon Lake.

I need to rectify that situation.

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We might have to set up a surly meeting of the bbq minds at the burnt bean
compare notes 

In 100

So, I finally made it to KG today and here’s how I’d break things down:

Ribs: 8
- Great flavor and slid right off the bone but slightly over cooked/chewy

Sausage: 9
- Would have liked a touch more snap, but perfectly cooked and loved the Mediterranean ingredients as a mixup

Bowl: 9
- Couldn’t decide between the brisket and the lamb so I got a bowl with them both. Will certainly try on their own next time, but damn they were good as part of this dish

Overall I was really impressed with what they’re doing here and I very much appreciate this chapter in the Evolution of Cen-Tex BBQ

c44d51a61b26061e007e7f66aef519ee.jpg
7240fff4a5210716a99dc3a5308d998e.jpg
0bb14ff5db838c9858c40388d0e9b1b8.jpg

Final note: could have been an aberration, but you might want to avoid ordering ahead, as one dude showed up with an online order and waited just as long as everyone else.
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