Austin-area BBQ Wars: Part 2
In this second installment of our BBQ wars, we’ll venture beyond Austin into Elgin, Lockhart, Luling, LLano and other hot spots cherished by locals. And for those of you who missed the first installment of our BBQ treatise, again let me again unequivocally state that I am convinced that central Texas has the world’s best BBQ. Kansas City, Memphis, the Carolinas all pale in comparison to the amazing smoked meats that emerge from our pits and smokers.
Smitty's Market
So let’s begin with a quick trip to Lockhart, touted by some as the epicenter of Texas cue. One thing that’s interesting is the number of places around here that claim to have been voted #1 in the infamous 2008 Texas Monthly article. To be sure there are local legends aplenty in Lockhart. Kruez Market, Smitty’s, Black’s, Chisolm Trail, and the list goes on. I was even involved as a judge in the Travel Channel’s Food Wars segment on Texas BBQ shot in Lockhart and featuring a battle between Kruez and Smitty’s. (Kruez won by the narrowest of margins: however, the voting was a exceptionally subjective, given that two of the five judges were “uber” fans of each restaurant and the rest of us were subjected to sensory deprivation as the result of being blindfolded for over an hour.) I like Kruez (the ham steak, pork chop and pork ribs) and Smitty’s (the sausage casings a bit tough though and the brisket) both although not as much as Rudy’s, Aaron Franklin‘s, John Mueller‘s and the County Line here in Austin. Frankly, I’ve never really totally gotten the pilgrimage to Lockhart thing. It’s great cue, but not THE best around in my opinion. Also, what gives with Kruez et al. closing so early (8pm) on a Saturday night? That’s not a smart way to attract pilgrims from hard partying Austin.
Black’s is certainly historic (since 1932) and they serve up some great brisket and ribs: but for me the sausage has always been kind of gritty and dry).
I guess it comes down to the fact that the good folks at Texas Monthly are more smitten with Lockhart than yours truly.
One place that sometimes slips under the radar (despite it’s rating in most polls) is the City Market in Luling just up the road from Lockhart. This is the best of all of them in that area in my opinion. The brisket is damned good with that wonderfully smoky flavor and exquisite tenderness. Ditto for the pork ribs. Now this is a place worth making the trek to that actually lives up to all the hype. This is very old school with wax paper and little else. Except for boatloads of terrific flavors.
Apparently another #1 in the TM article was Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, TX. This place is famous for only opening Saturday at 8am and then closing once they’ve run out of food. The menu is simple: the flavors are something else again. Now if you can only figure out how to get to Lexington (Ed Clemments saved the day for me) this is a fun and tasty day. Snow’s actually lies between Rockdale and Giddings on Highway 77: equidistant to Austin and College Station. Hint: get there early. Really early!
Hard to comment on area cue without a visit to Elgin. There are some classics there as well. Now that Oprah’s Dr. Phil has departed the city and things have returned to normal, Southside just keeps getting better. For a place that has been around in one form or another since 1882, the ghosts of briskets past must joyfully hover all around this place. The present’s pretty damned good as well. The original “hot guts” has evolved into hot sausage (sounds better) but through literally a score of owners, Southside has persevered and cemented Elgin’s rep as a center of BBQ. Meyer’s is Southside’s main competitor and has spawned the word “Cue-topia.” They have a major sausage retail presence in Austin stores and a dine-in facility in Elgin as well that has provided us with many a memorable link of their equally famous sausage. And as long as we’re near Elgin, we have to mention the historic Coupland Inn and Dancehall Restaurant: a saloon style BBQ joint along with other blue-plate fare. This was one of the first places we visited when we first moved here in the mid 70’s. Considerable reparations later, and with new owners this Broken Spoke kind of joint has been around the block. Mixed but improving comments on the food from our readers.
Heading toward Llano, we come to another legendary BBQ joint: Cooper’s. They’ve also opened a store in New Braunfels. This is another wax paper kind of emporium and I’ve got to say the Pork Chops (the Big Chop) are damned near outrageous. There’s a very good Cabrito as well. Cooper’s is not an experience to be taken lightly as the sheer hum of Cue commerce can overwhelm a novice. But you’ll get the hang of it. The seating is with whomever you choose to sit with (reminds me of Durgin Park in Boston) which can be lots of fun or utterly dreadful, but in Texas it’s mostly fun.
I recognize that we have omitted a few places but this is a good start. If you have additional recommendations feel free to email us at info@diningoutwithrobbalon.com.
