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Originally posted by lost okie:
I could be a pedant. I don't know what it means but it seems like something I could aspire to.

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Having said that, I'm not completely turned off by really good food at a great price. I discovered the best Vietnamese food in North Texas a few weeks ago. It had been there for about a year. I just hadn't found it yet.

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The Pho Bay recommendation came to me from Mary at Fairview Nails & Spa. All the girls are Vietnamese there. They swear by Pho Bay.

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Originally posted by Kensco:
Anyone tried the Loco Coyote Grill in Glen Rose, Texas?

http://www.tmbbq.com/loco-coyote-grill-2015/

Texas Monthly brags on it. I've driven that route a dozen times and never knew it was there. People talk like it can be a one to two hour wait to get seated at times. (A little hard to believe.) No BBQ is THAT good. Texas has too many great BBQ alternatives.

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Originally posted by Gatogordo:
I had to make a quick trip to Dallas today to consult with a business associate and my Q eating buddy. To make it worth the time, we agreed to meet for lunch at......

#95) The Slow Bone, 2234 Irving Blvd., Dallas, TxOpen Daily, 11-3 (not sure about Sunday). We were more than pleasantly surprised by this joint. Extremely friendly staff and owner. Jack Perkins, the owner, oversees a really tight ship. I've never been to a Q joint that was even close to as attentive to the needs and wants of its customers as this one. That said, I'd really like to give it a higher rating based on that aspect, but based on the food, I finally settled on a slightly generous 4.25/5.0

We arrived before 11 and simply because we finished our mini-business we were the second pair in line for the day. I suppose because it was Monday and early, there was a steady stream of customers, but nothing like at Pecan Lodge or Lockharts, which is another reason to consider The Slow Bone as a lunch choice IMO. I sometimes put up with them, but I hate lines.

My initial reason for choosing this joint was a review of the smoked brine fried chicken on TMBBQ (http://www.tmbbq.com/smoked-in-texas-smoke-brined-fried-chicken/) which sounded excellent. Unfortunately, both my buddy and I tried a piece out of the 3 I got on a fried chicken plate (one went home with me) and while it was very good fried chicken, neither my friend nor I could detect anything smoky from the brine and it did make the chicken fairly salty. Very good but nothing extra.

Because we ordered the fried, we skipped the Qed chicken.

We also ordered a pound of brisket, a pound of ribs, and a pound each of the smoked old time sausage and the cilantro sausage. Both were very good and not as drippingly greasy as the typical Texas Q sausage. These are not made in shop, but custom made to order (the old time) and the cilantro by a company in Austin who specializes in sausage. Making good sausage and making good Q are not mutually exclusive but they are not all that complimentary either. I think Mr. Perkins has made a wise decision to stick to the smoking end of it. I slightly preferred the cilantro and my buddy, who for some odd reason doesn't like cilantro, preferred the old time style. Unless your's are twisted like his tastes and don't like cilantro, you can't go far wrong with either choice.

They have a mini-bar with some draft beer selections past the ordering/serving line but because I was driving, I reluctantly stuck to iced tea.

The ribs were somewhat better than average, with a slightly sweet glaze. I don't prefer sweet on ribs as a rule and I found them to be a fair bit lesser bite than any of the other meats we tried. If they had been better, and smoked more like the brisket this would probably have kicked the joint up another 1/4 point in my rating.

The brisket, to both of us was the star, was presented to be sliced as a beautiful dark lump, wiggling like jello (a sure sign of damn well Qed meat). We were offered moist or dry, the moist being the fattier slices. Naturally, damn the cholesterol, we chose moist. There was a slighly different flavor in the rub, which I couldn't identify, but it was REALLY FINE BRISKET. Very hard to surpass, but perhaps Pecan Lodge does so.

Besides being frequently attended to by a staff member, we were pleasantly surprised to find that they had not one, not two, but 3 types of Q sauce.....and I was even more surprised to find that I liked them all. First was the standard house sauce, slightly tomato based with vinegar and spices, then a jalapeno/spice sauce which was green and slightly chunky but not really hot at all. Very good but, for my tastes, it could have been hotter. Finally, there was a vinegary hot style sauce which would really go well with pork. All far better than the usual, and all different from the norm. A great change from the usual tomato sauce in many joints, even some of the best.

We got greens, with a vinegar twang, and mac and cheese as well as some summer squash. All good, but nothing to really expound on.

In spite of ordering enough for a junior football team, we made good progress and, getting the left overs to go, waddled out.

No room for dessert.

*** Three Stars Well worth driving out of your way for. In spite of so many good new places to try, we both agreed that we would be back.

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Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
I have been having Kuby's process my deer and pigs for a long time and have never been disappointed. Having said that, it has been a few years since I needed them, but we will be getting some venison sausage back from them before too long.

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Originally posted by Gatogordo:
So, after staggering to our car (staggering becase of the load of Q we had consumed), Adam drove us back to his dorm where we said goodbye. It's hard to believe they grow up so soon......seems just like yesterday that I was teaching him how to catch a baseball for his T ball team or teaching him how to shoot his mini-.22.

I spent a restless night in a roach motel digesting the Salt Lick and got up and on the road before 7. I arrived at Lexington, Tx (a small community of about 1200 in as much of the middle of nowhere as you can find in Central Texas. It isn't close to anywhere and somewhere is a ways down the road ....probably a very nice place to live) which is about 65 miles from Austin about 8 AM and started to look around for.......

47) Snow's BBQ, 516 Main, Lexington, Tx. phone 979-773-4640 My overall grade A---

I was beginning to think I would have to ask someone for directions but just about that point, I spotted this really small sign saying, "Snow's BBQ" with an arrow. My Daniel Boone tendencies immediately kicked in and I found it in short order. Main St. which may have been the main street at one time is a block roughly W of Rockdale St (Bus. US 77) which serves as Lexinton's main st. these days. At any rate, I pulled up to find that there were at least a dozen or so Qphiles who had already started. I suppose this is a good spot for a brief background on why Snow's is so widely known and is a goal for many Qphiles nationwide. Texas Monthly Magazine named Snow's as the best of their top 5 Q joints in Texas in their seminal 2008 issue devoted to Texas Q. The other 4 being Kreuz' and Smitty's in Lockhart, Luling City Market in Luling, and Louie Mueller in Taylor. Not only that but because of the size of Lexington, Snow's is ONLY OPEN on Saturdays from about 8 AM until the Q is gone which is usually before 12. Because of the restricted hours it has taken several years for my schedule to allow me to get there on Sat morning. I considered actually making the 5 hour drive just for Snow's but never committed to it.

I pulled into their parking, next to the pits, where the 70plus year old woman, Tootsie, who is the pitmaster was busy at work, tending a half dozen or so pits. The owner and Tootsie both waved, but, knowing this is THE day, and seeing how busy they were, I just returned the wave and went into the small shop where the Q is sold and served. There are a few tables in there and more out in the covered pit area, but most of the Q is sold to go I imagine. There is a production line of 3 or 4 women who select, cut, sell and collect money for the Q. The Q is delivered from the pit area wrapped in aluminum foil. The prices are somewhat cheaper than most Q joints. I order 3 pounds of brisket, unsliced, 2 pounds of sausage unsliced, 3 pounds of pork ribs, uncut, and 2 pounds of pork, unsliced and the total including tax was $112. I tasted a couple of slices and a couple of ribs as they were being wrapped. Unfortunately, I don't agree with Tex. Monthly's rating. I have now eaten in all but Smitty's (on the "to do" list, won't be long) of the top 5 since this thread started a couple of years back and I don't rate Snow's at the top. They use basically the "standard" central Texas rub of salt and cracked peppers but simply don't do it as well as Mueller's, for one example. At any rate, they absolutely produce a very superior Q, just not as superior as their reputation deserves IMO. I'd rank the brisket first, good flavor, tender, nice smoke lines with the rub giving it a solid plus to the Q smoke. Second would be a close call between the pork and the ribs. Since I don't always get pork, even when available, it is hard for me to rank it second, but I do and give it a slight edge to the ribs. Both are significantly behind the quality of the brisket IMO. The sausage was ordinary at best. Not particularly smoked and definitely not particularly spicy. None of the above sent me into the orgasms of Q shivers when one realizes that Q nirvana is an achievable moment. The ladies inside were very friendly and pleasant. Unusual for a Q joint, the slicing was done with an electric knife. No big deal, but as a knife nut I prefer real steel. There were Snow's T shirts and caps for sale. In retrospect I wish I had bought one, since I doubt I will be back and it is such a well known name to Q cognescenti. Nice people, very good Q, but worth the drive out of the way? Not to me. Don't get me wrong, if you are near there on a Sat morning, it is very fine Q and worth the visit, but since there are numerous other Q joints, a few definitely superior IMO, that are easier to find, open with more user friendly hours, and more likely to be on the average traveler's route, I wouldn't go out of my way for Snow's. I went with an open mind and palate, really wanting to believe, but, alas, fairy tales don't always come true.

Opps. left out the sauce, which, because of the quantity of meat I bought was delivered in a recycled 12 oz water bottle, and is quite ordinary, tomato based and nothing extra. Not a negative, but added nothing to the meat IMO. Worth skipping, in fact.

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Originally posted by Gatogordo:
18) Whup's Boomerang Bar-B-Q, 1203 S. Bennet, Marlin, Tx (S. Bennet is not particularly easy to find, it is somewhat SE of the town sq, running N and S) (Tx Monthly Top 50 rating 4.25)my overall rating A---

Whup's is a classic Q joint, small place in kind of run down neighborhood.....I wouldn't want to be walking my dog here after dark, unless it is a real BAD dog......as evidenced by the Maximum Security cage that enclosed the cola machine on the front porch. No inside seating, 4 tables on covered porch, had a large fan running while I was there, hot air but the movement made it bearable. Family run, Bennie Washington is owner, he was out back cooking Q and wife and grown daughter were selling out front window. Friendly folks but didn't talk to Mr. Washington, it was hot, and he was cooking. Piles of oak and mesquite attest to his choice of smokes. I ordered a lamb sandwich, since that is a rare item for most Q joints that I visit and a pound of sliced brisket and a pound of ribs. Lamb sandwich was made of lamb ribs, mostly with bone in, their Q sauce and dill pickles and onions (optional). Smoked lamb was quite taste with the fatty content which makes lamb ribs so good. Ribs were dead tender with good smoke color and look. Very good to excellent. Brisket had good smoke line, about 3/8 inch, and char, tender and good as well, probably a shade below ribs in quality. All the meats seem to be allowing the meat and smoke to do their talking, they had little if any real rub. This seems to be a trend I am detecting as I get closer to Central Texas. I'm not particularly fond of it, I think the rub/baste (if any) is what makes the best Q, the BEST. People can agree or disagree about this, I like plain steak most of the time, but every now and then I like it spiced up before cooking or use some steak sauce. All that said, this meat was well smoked with a fairly heavy mesquite flavor, which a little can go a long ways in my opinion but just enough to not be too much. Sauce was homemade, tomato based with a bit of garlic and various blended spices, with no strong overtones. Good but not great. This place is off the beaten path, even if you are in Marlin, but it is well worth a visit.

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It WAS in the lower level at 1201 Main called One Main Place. Too bad it's gone.

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Originally posted by cooksey:
Pretty good brisket a Munday's Corner near Nanty Glo on the way to Ebensburg. Pretty good neighbor hood bar across the street called The Big Stone Inn