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IN AND AROUND AUSTIN, TEXAS
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Texas
restaurants were chosen based on the June 2008 issue of
Texas Monthly Magazine (thanks Rachelle!), which helpfully
informed us that the top 5 in the state are all around Austin.
Click
here
for a Google Map of the Top 50 BBQ
restaurants in Texas.
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Snow's
BBQ (www.SnowsBBQ.com)
[#1 in Texas] in Lexington is pretty much as middle-of-nowhere as you can get.
But
Texas Monthly Magazine calls it the best barbeque restaurant in the state.
I agree. Read Calvin Trillan's article about Snow's in The New Yorker
here. Snow's is only open Saturday mornings from 8am until the meat runs out, which was 10:30 am the day we went. Perfect time for lunch. So plan accordingly! Great sausage, pork ribs were a little fatty but very good, no beef ribs available, very tender chicken, a great sauce. Unfortunately, they had run out of brisket. The Pitmaster is a 73 year old woman named Tootsie (really) who has been working the pit for 40 years. $13 for two (not including dessert), no leftovers. |
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The Salt
Lick BBQ (www.SaltLickBBQ.com)
[Honorable Mention]
in Driftwood was actually our second-favorite restaurant in Texas. And not
just because they have plates and forks. Plenty of Austinites are
upset that Salt Lick didn't make the Top 5. The [pork] ribs were the most tender on the trip and the bones came out almost clean. Again, no beef ribs. (One has to wonder... Texas is supposed to be cattle country... all the restaurants feature brisket... but where do the ribs go? The restaurants certainly aren't serving them!) Moist & tender brisket and chicken, and the sauce was very good, thick with a slight mustard flavor. The sausage was perhaps not quite as flavorful as Snow's or Luling City Market. $27 for two (including cobbler), no leftovers. The cobbler was pretty good, not great, but then again, The Salt Lick was the only restaurant that had fresh cobbler at all.  Watch
Salt Lick BBQ
clip from "Man vs. Food." |
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Kreuz
Market (www.KreuzMarket.com)
[Top 5]
in Lockhart epitomizes the Texas BBQ joint. No plates, no forks,
no sauce, no salads. The meat is
seasoned only with salt, pepper, and wood smoke. The (pork) ribs were a little fatty and the
brisket was a little dry. No chicken on the menu. The
sausage was excellent. No fresh desserts, only
pre-packaged pies. $18 for two (not including dessert), no
leftovers. Watch "Food Heavens: Barbecue
Bastions" video clip in
Windows Media
Player (5 MB) or
Quicktime (27 MB). |
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Luling
City Market (no
website... www.lulingcitymarket.com
is in Houston; it's not this restaurant)
[Top 5]
in Luling offers an interesting sauce with a hint of mustard. The
(pork) ribs were very tender and less fatty than Snow's; bones came out
almost perfectly clean. No beef ribs available. The brisket
was a little dry but the sausage was very flavorful. No slaw; good
potato salad. You walk through the dining area into the
small, very smoky pit room to order... bring your gas mask. Overall, fairly comparable to Kreuz Market. $18 for two (not including dessert), no leftovers. |
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Green
Mesquite (www.GreenMesquite.com)
in Austin (tagline: "Horrifying Vegetarians since 1988") was the best BBQ joint on
the second trip to Texas. They only use
mesquite wood, which gives the meat a great flavor, unique to this
restaurant. The ribs were tender and clean-to-the-bone; the
chicken was tender with nice skin; the sausage links were flavorful with
a kick; the pulled pork was good but nothing special; and the brisket
was a little dry. The sauce had a mustard twang to it. $16
fed two for lunch, no leftovers. Watch
Green Mesquite BBQ
clip from "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." |
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Black's Barbecue (www.BlacksBBQ.com)
[Honorable Mention]
in Lockhart was pretty good. And has sauce! Meet is
slow-cooked over oak. The pork tenderloin and brisket were both
good; sausage was okay; beef rib wasn't great. The chicken was a
little dry, but then again, it was the very end of the day.
Complimentary pickles and onions, which was nice. Lots of sides on
a "salad bar"; cole slaw and potato salad were both pretty good, as was
the peach cobbler. $16 fed two. |
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Louie
Mueller
Barbecue (www.LouieMuellerBarbecue.com)
[Top 5]
in Taylor was the first meal in Texas. The restaurant is a
complete hole-in-the-wall; the only "menu" is yellowed,
scrawled
signs taped to the peeling paint on the wall. The brisket and ribs had a peppery rub that was too strong; overwhelmed the flavor of the wood smoke and the meat. The ribs were also a little tough, but the chicken was very tender & delicious. The sausage was a little bland. The sauce was very thin. $19 for two (not including dessert), no leftovers. Watch
Louie Mueller BBQ clip from "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." |
 Louie Mueller menu... Click here to enlarge |
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Smitty's Market (www.SmittysMarket.com)
[Top 5]
in Lockhart wasn't nearly as good as Kreuz Market, run by another branch
of the same family. Brisket was tender but oily. The
brisket, sausage, and pork ribs were all fairly bland. No chicken,
pulled pork, or beef ribs on the menu at all. $20 fed two
for lunch; no leftovers; no dessert. And they charged for pickles
& onions, lame. |
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Video clips are for
teaching and research purposes, 15 U.S.C. § 107, and promotional use only.
These reviews are my own opinions. I have received no
consideration, monetary or otherwise, from the restaurants reviewed
here.
