I spend a lot of Saturdays on my motorcycle riding through Central Texas with a singular pursuit: I’m looking for the best BBQ joints in Texas.
Riding my bike through the Texas Hill Country on a Saturday morning is a guilty-enough pleasure — but to find a place where they just get it when it comes to BBQ, and to find a place where the meat just falls off of the bone of the pork ribs and the brisket just melts in your mouth…well, that’s a perfect day to me.
You folks in North Carolina think that your BBQ is pretty good. And I hear that the folks in Memphis and St. Louis think they do a pretty good job of it, too. And I’m sure it’s not bad.
But it ain’t Texas BBQ, where the cooking of meat is serious business bordering on religion. BBQ so good that people (like me) will drive half way across the state to find it.
Within a hundred miles of Austin — in towns like Lockhart, Llano, Luling, and Gonzalez — you’ll find BBQ joints large and small, some of them having been in business for more than 100 years. And all of them worth a Saturday morning drive.
BBQ Basics
Eating BBQ is done a bit differently — when done right — here in Texas than it is anywhere else. The basics of all the great BBQ joints, which is the same almost everywhere:
- You line up behind and get your meat directly from a cutter right at the pit.
- The meat is served on butcher paper, not plates.
- Raw slices of white onion, sliced pickles, red hot sauce, and bread are condiments and are a part of the way we eat BBQ. These items should be provided for free and in obnoxious quantities. It’s not uncommon to be handed a full loaf of bread when you order several lbs of BBQ for your family or group.
- Sauce — if there even is any sauce available — is never put on the meat by the person serving your meat unless you specifically ask. If there is any BBQ sauce, the best places make their own, but leave it up to you to put it on yourself at the table.
Everything else — the side dishes (which all you need are slaw, potato salad, and pinto beans), the beverages (cold beer and iced tea), the seating, the deserts — is secondary to the meat and how it’s cooked and how it’s served.
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As I’ve said, I do this all the time — I hop on my bike on Saturday mornings and head out into the small towns in the Hill Country within 100 miles-or-so of Austin looking for the best brisket and ribs in Texas. I’ve just never really written about my quest before.
So look forward (or not) to a new category for the blog in which I chronicle my BBQ adventures.
If you live in or around Austin, these are some great day trips that you can make — beautiful and often historic sights, the charm of small Texas towns, and the promise of great BBQ and homemade cobbler with a scoop of Blue Bell ice cream.
If your not from around here, or — even more sadly — not from Texas, you could plan an entire vacation around visiting these small towns and their BBQ joints and think it the best vacation you’ve ever had.
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With all that said, my first report is from Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in Llano, TX.
All right! Now that’s something we can agree on.
I’ll look forward to reviews of places to the north of Austin- I’ll probably be taking a visit before the end of the year.
I carved up a lot of roads through central Texas, the eleven years I lived in Austin, and ate at a lot different places. I ride sport bikes, not cruisers, so I covered a little more ground.(henh)
There was a Barbeque place in Smithville, that was memorable, and had been there quite a while. You might want to try City Market in Luling, very good, and so is Kreuz market in Lockhart.
I do recommend you ride a little farther, and go to East Texas, my original stomping grounds. The County Tavern just outside Kilgore is legendary in these parts, and we have driven from Dallas just to load up. I grew up eating the finest pulled pork sandwiches in the world, at Neely Brother’s in Marshall. Their signature sandwich is called a “Brown Pig,” and I’m hurting myself just thinking about them.
If you are ever in Dallas, there is only one that is memorable, and it’s one of the best. The original Sonny Bryan’s, on Inwood road, near the UT Medical Center. Don’t go to any of the franchised restaurants, though, they are terrible.
Thinking about it, we can go in any direction from any city in Texas, and find great Barbeque.
I’m very familiar with the BBQ Capital of Texas located in Lockhart.
Since it’s only 37 miles from my house, I take rides out there all the time.
Kruez Market is easily my favorite of the Big 4 BBQ joints in Lockhart (Blacks, Smitty’s Market, and Chisholm Trail Barbeque being the other three).
There are times we head to Lockhart for the day, stopping for brisket at Kruez, links at Blacks, ribs at Smitty’s, and desert at Chisholm trail.
I’ll do a report on Kruez next time I go and remember to take my camera.
Sadly, I’ve never stopped for BBQ in Smithville, though I go through there all the time. I’ll make it my next destination.
Is the Neely’s Restaurant and BBQ Sauce from Memphis related to the Neely’s Brown Pig in Marshall, TX? I married a fellow from Marshall and he talked about those darn “brown pigs” for 40+ years and finally we stopped there one day when we were visiting his relatives. Now I know what he was talking about! Delicious! They also have “Frito Pie” – I’m Texas raised but never did hear of that before.
I can see why your first report would be from Cooper’s. We lived in Llano for a short time and that was the first place we ate. And everytime we had guests from out of state we took them there. One of the families that we took to Cooper’s looked online and found that they could order and have mailed to them several of the famous items. This same family now sends us a Cooper’s Gift Certificate every Christmas.
One of my dear friends from California fell in love with Cooper’s brisket. On her birthday the following year I had five pounds sent to her – it was more than I usually spend on her birthday but her reaction was worth every penny.
Good luck on this venture you have started.
If you are still checking out Texas BBQ, try Blue Moon BBQ (East of Bryan/College Station on the OSR about 18 miles east of Highway 6. Everyone in the area says it is great! Prime Rib on Thursdays 4-7 . Just call 979-549-4800
[Editor --- Thanks for the tip. Once the weather warms up again, I'll make a trip over and give it a try.]