Gato, next time you are at Spec's in Houston, drift south about 60 miles to the sprawling metropolis of Clute and eat some bbq at Brian's. I have been a fan of his for over 20 years. The brisket falls apart, and the ribs are unreal. This guy's stuff is so good you can dispense with the sauce!

Gaack, left Victoria this morning after hunting in area since Friday. NOW I hear about Mumford's........Gaack.....reports to follow after I recover a bit.......

In Houston:

My#1 Lyndon's.

On Hollister @ 290. Best pulled pork going, ribs are outstanding, brisket is good too. If you get the pulled pork ASK for the pork sauce it IS different. Wonderful sides, again the best Pinto beans I have ever eaten, potato salad is good made with red potatoes and onion rings that are just.......well....huge....and dern tasty.

#2 Pizzatola's ( yep Pizzatola's )
Excellent ribs, good brisket, the links give me heartburn to beat the band! The sides are below average in my opinion. But the ribs are worth stoppin' for.

#3 Goode Co.
In my opinion the barbecue is just average, as are the sides, but they have the best Chocolate Pie I can find!

10) Raisin Windmill Exxon, 9095 US 59 South, Raisin or Victoria, Texas.....I think Raisin is probably an unincorporated community about 10 mi S Victoria but they do have a volunteer fire dept.

Worst luck, this is not really a complete review or even a half-fast review. My son, Adam, and I were scheduled to meet with 5 other Texas Predator Posse members for a hog hunt S of Victoria off of Hwy 77. In my ongoing quest for the nirvana of Q I wanted to take the opportunity to try McMillan's Bar-B-Q in Fannin, Texas, one of the Texas Monthly Top 50. We breeze into Victoria just a bit after 12, stop by HEB for supplies and head S on 59. I thought it would be no real chore to run over to McMillan's for Q for lunch.....ha....little did I know........about an hour later and to make a long story short (that phrase is for the TPP boys and Jeff), McMillan's ain't all that easy to find. We had an address of 9913 US 59 S for McMillan's and I'm heading S on 59, about 10 miles out of Victoria. I'm breezing along, Cummins humming, and I pass by this Exxon station, Raisin Windmill, which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere......it has a sign on one end saying BarBQ.....I go a bit further and see a mail box with 10,000 something US 59 on it. WTF?, I think?.....so I turn around and go back to this Exxon, walked into a rather large convenience store, clean and modern, and ask the lady working the cash register if this was McMillan's Bar-B-Q. While polite, she looked at me like I was a bit touched and said, "No, that's in Fannin." Well, I knew that, I just couldn't seem to find Fannin. So after a bit more polite inquiry another lady customer volunteered that it was about 5 miles down the road toward Goliad. So I visited the men's room, and, hating to be in a place using their facilities without buying something, noticed they had "serve yourself" BBQ ribs, both pork and beef, as well as smoked turkey legs and chicken up for grabs. Pork ribs, which looked to be somewhere around 6 ounces worth were $3.09, beef which was cut off riblets were roughly the same wt and were $3.19. Since I still had no clue how to really find Fannin or McMillan's and we had not eaten at all since we got up and left home at 5:30 and by now it's past 1 PM, Adam grabbed a smoked turkey leg and I got one serving of ribs of both kinds for survival food in case we're in the twilight zone.....pay and walk out the door heading for the unknown Fannin, get in the Dodge and head South while starting on the ribs.......man, those ribs of both kinds were wonderful.......great rub, I suspect mesquite smoked and just delicious......I don't even know if they have brisket, but this place is worth a stop. Adam said the turkey leg was good as well. When I'm back in that area, I'm going to double check it......but I'm telling you, those ribs are as good as any I've had. I didn't see any sauce, they may or may not have any, since we were moving and I wasn't expecting a gustatory delight, I didn't look for any. BTW there are several window booth type tables where you can eat in if you wish.

Based on mini-visit and for ribs only.....A+++

Please note that if you google Raisin Windmill Exxon or McMillan's BBQ, Google has BOTH on different maps in the wrong place, S of Goliad, neither is S of Goliad, they are both N or E of Goliad, depending on how you look at it, S of Victoria about 10 and 15 miles (very rough guesstimate) respectively. See following review for McMillan's.

11) McMillan's Bar-B-Q, 9913 US 59 S, Fannin, Texas Tx Monthly rating 4.0 out of 5.0 (lowest level that made top 50 lists but there are many other 4.0s on the list) my overall rating B-

I FINALLY found McMillan's (see above story) after not only stopping at Raisin Windmill but then driving 5 miles past it and downtown Fannin on Hwy 59 figuring the joint would be on the highway, wrong. Tx Monthly, nor anyone else deemed it worthy of mention that the current NEW Hwy 59 goes BY Fannin. If you want to get to McMillan's you have to get OFF of 59 and go to downtown Fannin (which is very roughly 15 miles S of the outskirts of Victori) on old 59 which is just over a horse cart trail wide. Downtown Fannin consists almost entirely of a very small post office, and McMillan's Bar-B-Q just to the West of it, easily spotted from the NEW 59 IF you know to look for it, and a handful of very dilapidated looking houses, some even occupied, I think. McMillan's is a classic hole in the wall type Q joint, dark barn red exterior, with 6 tables and the walls well decorated with hundreds of dollar bills and some foreign currencies signed by, I assume, satisfied customers. Also a few old past beaten up single barrel shotguns that are only suitable for decoration or turning in to one of the "crime solving" gun purchases. Smoking is done on barrel/pipe type pits in backyard, not a fun job in S Texas summer weather. Tx Monthly says Louis McMillan smokes with oak-pecan-mesquite but all I saw laying around at a glance was live oak. At any rate, Adam and I ordered a pound or ribs and pound of brisket. Brisket was really excellent, good smoke line tender with solid char. Ribs were not so great to my tastes, nearly black, and not very tender. Not horrible, but not top quality either IMO. I didn't meet Mr. McMillan but his wife was very pleasant and was attentive to our needs. Another downer was the sauce, frankly it was just about the worst, if not the worst I've tried. I can't even say why I didn't like it, but I really didn't, had kind of a bitter undertone with no redeeming qualities to my tastes. Adam felt the same. Really I hate to rate this place so low, the owners are nice, and the brisket is excellent and even tho the overhead must be near zero, it must be just barely hanging on, but I calls them as I see 'em. If you want some good brisket and are driving S on 59 from Victoria it is worth a stop. For my tastes, bring your own sauces or do without theirs. If you're not after brisket, I'd stop by the Raisin Windmill above.

12) Hinze's Barbecue, 8229 US 59, Wharton, Texas (South side of 59, very roughly about 50 miles SW from DT Houston) (widely known and mentioned in DeMer's book (review to follow) Overall rating B++

My initial intentions on this hunting trip was to go to Victoria, sample McMillan's on the way, and then come back and catch some of the Big 10 in Luling or Lockhart or Taylor going N on 77, etc, but like the old horse turning for home, and after enjoying soaking in the warmth and humidity of the Victoria area for a couple of days and nights, the nights being accompanied by some truly world class snoring (when we there they had broken all time high temp records 4 days in a row and I think they kept the string going) I opted for the quicker route home back up 59 the way we had come. BTW the hunt and the comaraderie were excellent, just tiring.....

So we left the hunting group mid morning on Sunday and headed back towards Houston on 59, stopped briefly in HEB Victoria for some wonderful cherries they had to take home to wife and girls. Stopped in a couple of smokehouses (notes to follow) and wheeled into Hinze's for a "to-go" lunch about 12 noon. It was heavily attended, scads of people and we figured, probably wrongly, that getting some meat to go would save us time......we twiddled our thumbs for at least 25 minutes while waiting for our order of a pound of sliced brisket, a pound of sliced pork, and a pound of ribs to go to arrive. ( I forgot to mention in my initial review here that we also ordered to go because they won't sell pounds of meat to eat in, which is kind of strange but that's their policy) Meanwhile I watched an enormous amount of deserts, pies with very high meringue toppings, cobblers, etc go out to customers, so I suspect the deserts are good, at a minimum but we didn't try any. Got the meats, along with sauce, plus a quart of sauce to go, just in case, and hit the road......Brisket was fairly good, smoked pork was really excellent, and ribs were decent plus.....good rub, some smoke. Sauce was noteworthy since I liked it and it was tomato based, with just a bit of sweet and overtones of comino. I thought it was quite good, not wonderful but far better than most (Coleman's previously reviewed would be better, for instance). For a change, Adam agreed with me. All in all, Hinze's is worth a stop, but not worth going out of your way for IMO.

Travel notes:

As mentioned on the way home from Victoria we traveled up 59 to Houston. We stopped in two "smokehouses" on the way, the first Prasek's Hillje Smokehouse is about halfway between Vic. and Houston on 59 outside the small community of Hillje as it's name indicates. We stopped there about 11 AM on a Sunday and judging by the booming business they are very successful. They are basically a full service everything convenience store cum smokehouse cum restaurant, etc. It was wall to wall people buying meats, meals, gas, lunch, etc.

I wasn't nearly as impressed as the rest of the crowd seemed to be. I bought a pretty broad selection of their dried sausage, as well as some of their fresh selections, some jerky, etc.

The only two items of the 10 or so that I bought that stood out were the venison, pork, and jalapeno sausage sticks at about $14.00/pound and some poppy seed kolaches (about $12/dozen). Both were exceptional to my tastes. The poppy seed kolaches' (one of my favorite bread type deserts) actual bread was only fair, but they were stuffed with more poppy seed filling than any I've had and the filling was excellent. Not something I expected in a "smokehouse" but they pretty much try to be everything to everybody and do a fair job of it. Be aware that if you are in a job that requires urine tests, that poppy seeds can possibly cause a false positive for the herion group soon after their ingestion. These have enough in them to make this a consideration.

The sausage sticks mentioned above were also very good, like a slim jim, about 1/2 inch in diameter and quite tasty.

The 3 types of dried sausages I tried were decent but undistinguished. Jerky was good, but at about $22/pound not a bargain.

The boudin was the worst I've ever had, mostly rice, poorly seasoned and just a total waste of money and ingredients.

Prasek's was clean and very crowded, they must be doing it mostly right, but I think most of their clients don't know what better dried sausages, etc are supposed to taste like and I damn sure know that Prasek's and their clientele don't know what boudin is supposed to taste like.

Further up the road, near Wharton, we stopped in JR's Smokehouse on 59. JR's has basically the same type meats as Prasek's but is smaller and not as crowded. Based on the very limited shopping we did there, I'd say the crowds have it a bit backwards and I predict that JR's will have continued and growing success. I was seduced by their sign advertising "smoked cajun crawfish sausage". Since that is just about all I bought there, I can't really review the place, but it is VERY TASTY. It is a great breakfast or dinner, for that matter, sausage and with the unusual ingredients is a good change from normal sausages. It would also make a good sandwich but ours didn't get that far. This is fresh sausage which must be cooked prior to eating and must be kept cold, like on ice, if you're traveling any distance with it. Highly recommended if you like crawfish.

13) Bodacious Bar-B-Q, 100 W. Ferguson, Mount Pleasant, Tx (sort of one of a chain of about 10 remaining Bodacious' but a franchisee, not one managed by the lady who owns some or most of them out of Longview, this one mentioned in DeMers' book (review to follow shortly) which is why I tried it today) Overall rating C-

I hope this was just a fluke in John DeMers' book, because this was pretty much a disaster as far as Q goes to my and my families' tastes. It is the only one of the Bodacious chain he mentions and it has to be the worst or the rest of them wouldn't still be in business. It is an old franchisee (been in business in this location since 1979, how I don't understand) and he pretty much does it his way, and I'm sure he likes it, but I/we didn't.

We had to go to Mount Pleasant which is about 50 miles S of us to pick up a few items (everywhere that has much of anything beyond a Walmart is 50 miles or more from us) and figured we'd try this Q joint which we drive by almost every trip there instead of our standard Mexican Restaurant, "Two Senoritas" (very decent Tex-Mex, recommended) just off I-30. That was a mistake. Since the whole crew was there, I ordered 2 pounds of sliced brisket, 2 pounds of ribs, and wanted a pound of sliced pork (with the standard plan to take some home for later, sandwiches, etc), but they wouldn't serve it sliced, only pulled.......since they had to pull it anyway, I couldn't see why slicing it would make it any worse (and it wouldn't have)......so I ordered a pound of pulled pork. The brisket was well smoked, good smoke line, but had little or no real flavor and was distinctly dry and crumbly. Not horrible, but well below average. Pork was as bad with no redeeming tastes that I could detect. Ribs were the best of the three but they only aspired to average. Sauce, which I believe is supplied by the Bodacious chain, is only fair, as I mentioned in my review of the Bodacious we ate at in Longview. Tomato based, somewhat sweet, fair, but not great and it was the best thing we tried.

This just goes to illustrate how individual Q pitmasters have their own style. The Bodacious we tried in Longview was quite good and I'd go back there again anytime, this one will never see any more of my money. Not recommended, but to be fair, it was just average minus, with nothing to raise it above that level.

Oh, almost forgot to mention, there was one thing that was kind of interesting there. The Men's room had a toilet seat and cover made of clear acrylic (or some kind of clear plastic) with pieces of aged barbed wire embedded in both. Kind of cool in a rustic Texas sort of way. I'm going to look for a set for my ranch getaway if I ever finish it.

Not a Fluke IMHO, has not been acceptable in several years, was @ one time very good

Near Houston out by the Pecan Plantation subdivision in Richmond, Texas is the "Swinging Door". 3814 FM 359. Always have good ribs and the brisket is smokey. The sauce doesn't over power the smoke.

For me Kruez is the "Holy Grail" of Texas BBQ.
My personal favorite is the smoked Ribeye.

Another great place is the "Church of Burnt Offering",(Mount Zion Baptist Church) in Huntsville, is an experience. Totally different than any BBQ joint in Texas!

Roy's sauce is good. We use it at the Hoot and Shoot. It does cover a lot of sins in BBQ.

There is a place called Rudy's in Sinton close to Corpus that has good brisket also further north in Atascosa county is a McBees who have two locations was ther in March visiting my mom and kin and was very good.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
Here's a thread you might take a look at.

New thread with pictures...

Looks like he made quite the BBQ tour.

Any of the places in Brady Texas. Some hints about BBQ in Texas: Almost any place is worth trying some will be wonderful one day and so, so the next; a dead give away of inferior BBQ is if the sauce is served on the meat instead of on the side; be wary if a place makes too big of a deal about the sauce, remember in Texas BBQ sauce is either unecessary or a mere condiment not a main part of the meal.

A lot of the reviews in this thread are for places near Houston; there's some good stuff in that area but it tends to be in the style of the deep south. The central Texas, Hill country places will probably be more like the BBQ most Texans are used to. If a place has cabrito (goat) try it; it may be the best of all.

If God invented anything better than Kreuz's brisket, he kept it for himself. I rest my case!

14) OO Smokehouse, 200 S. Montgomery St, Sherman Texas (Tx Monthly top 50 rating 4.25)
my rating B- (see review below, for brisket and pork only)

I had to go to Ft Worth to pick up a rifle I had bought so, never one to pass up another chance at new or better Q, I drove 82 and stopped by OO (pronounced "Oh Oh" after the owner Wayne Ooten) Smokehouse about 10 minutes after they opened at 11 AM last Tuesday. Unfortunately they didn't have any ribs ready, which, according to Tx Monthly is one of their claims to fame. Also this is a "to go" smokehouse with no interior seating at all. Supposedly they have a picnic table behind the building but since temperatures were already in the upper 90s I didn't feel like even checking to see if it was still there. At any rate, I bought a pound of sliced brisket and a pound of sliced pork (which they normally pull but the owner was nice enough to slice it for me). Took it down the road. Brisket was decent and pork was fair. If the guy uses a rub, it must be really mild since there is no distinctive flavor or bite to the meat. Pretty ordinary but acceptable. Sauce was somewhat distinctive, tomato based, with a hint of both vinegar and sugar plus a fairly strong overtone of some unidentified spice. Not hot and not particularly appealing by itself, but surprisingly it really added to the meat, not covering it up but adding complexity. First time I've really run into this. All in all, it ain't a bad joint but not something I'd go out of my way for (and since I didn't get any, after trying twice (see below) I can't say if the ribs would make it worthwhile or not).

Update, 2016: This joint is closed for good.

15) Dicky's Barbecue, 529 W. Lamar, Sherman, Tx (one of about 63 chain locations, must make them one of the bigger if not the biggest Q chains in the country, originally started in Dallas area I believe) overall rating B--

After stopping at OO in the morning, I went on to Ft Worth, picked up rifle and stopped by Cabela's for a hour or so on way back. After window shopping in the gun library for a while but, surprisingly,(they have an excellent sale price on a few W.C. Scotts) keeping my money in my pocket, I started back home. Since for some odd reason, Sherman has or, at least last Tuesday, had by far the cheapest fuel prices in N. Texas (2.149 gas, and 2.179 diesel while all the other diesel for 200 miles was 2.399 or higher)I decided I'd kill two birds with one stone and stop in by OO Smokehouse again and pick up some ribs, while getting some go juice for the Cummins somewhere in town. Went back to OO, and this is 5 plus hours since I was there in the morning, and owner says ribs still aren't ready. Drat. So I go by the combination fuel stop/convenience store/Q joint that is Dicky's just E of 75 to fuel up and try their Q. Got a pound of ribs and a pound of brisket, both were very tender as a result of being cooked wrapped, had good smoke color on outside but little real flavor. I'd call it Q for the uninformed or city types. Not bad, very tender, but very middle of the road. Apparently they have 3 types of sauce, original, sweet, and hot. I got the hot and it was not hot and fairly sweet tomato based. Based on what it tasted like, I'd hesitate to get the sweet sauce without an insulin pack available. Average minus, but nothing to make it horrible. Again, middle of the road. Frankly I don't see how they can be so successful, it says more about their customers tastes (or maybe mine.....naaaah ) than the quality of their product.

Place was clean and spacious, friendly folks, easy to stop in, so it has some pluses, as well as cheap fuel in Sherman area (they all were basically the same price) at least for now.

Travel notes:

Dropped in to visit Mt. Pleasant Meat Company, 2260 N. Edwards Rd., Mt. Pleasant Tx. the other day. This is a gas station/convenience store/meat market about 1/2 mile North of I30 on corner of 271 and N. Edwards Rd. I had heard how good they were. Hmmmmm.....well, not so much. I bought a pound of their jerky ($24/lb), a couple of pounds ($4.59/lb) each of their smoked bohemian style sausage, one with jalapenos and cheese, and one the standard variety, and one pound of their summer sausage ($4.59, I think, but am not sure, this is from memory and I'm not as young as I once was) with jalapenos and cheese.

I like smoke flavor and smoky meats but I finally met my match in this jerky. I think it is all but inedible for most people unless they're in the Andes surrounded by snow. It tastes like you've been chewing on the inside of a smoker for an hour or so. It is barely edible with enough beer but when you're through drink some Coke to cut the smoke flavor in your mouth, unless you like to smoke cigars after dinner and then you'll be pre-prepped. This is probably the worst jerky I've ever had and that's saying something considering some of my home experiments.

OTOH, their sausages of both types were quite good, on a par with or slightly better than Prasek's. They are similar to Eckrich's or other commercial sausages in that they are cooked but need to be refrigerated until used.

Finally, the summer sausage was quite good as well, good spice flavor and just a good solid product. Recommended.

In short, if you're driving I-30 by Mt. Pleasant it is worth a stop if you're in a sausage mood, but avoid the jerky at all costs.

It is on the same exit as Two Senorita's, a very decent Tex-Mex restaurant so you can have lunch there and then get some sausages to take home. Meat Company is on other (East) side of road about 1/2 mile North.

Gato

I got lost somewhere on the thread. I went back and found mention of places in Round Rock, and all over Central, Texas; but you didn't mention Austin specifically. I'll be in Austin and Giddings come September which is pretty close; but without going to Llano, Brady or Round Rock; what's your Best Bet in Austin? (I believe my son-in-law took us to The Salt Lick a few years ago in Driftwood.)

Kensco:

I can recommend from books, but I haven't been to any Q joints in Austin in years. Last couple of times I was there we went to Tex-Mex or Thai. I'll let the locals or people with more personal and current knowledge mention some spots. The reviews I'm making now are based on current visits, so I don't review or recommend something I haven't been to since I started this "fun" project, it is amazing the difference between eating Q to just eat and eating it to review it. I like the latter now that I've tried it.

My son has a state Baseball tournament in Hillsboro this weekend and I'm going to drop down from there to visit some of the Big 10 but considering the traffic in Austin I'm sure I won't go there.

I'll check one out in the Buda-Austin-Giddings area.

I'll probably have some recs for you by next week. I'm planning on spending baseball tourney time visiting Q joints.

16) Blaylock Bar-B-Que, 2310 N. Jefferson, Mt. Pleasant, Tx (approx 1/4 mile north of I-30, exit 162) Overall rating B-

I stopped in here to complete (I think) my sweep of the Q joints in Mt. Pleasant. Blaylock has a big billboard on I-30 advertising themselves as "World's Best". I had been in there some years back and remember being unimpressed and this visit didn't substantially change that impression. Owner cooks with oak. I got a couple of pounds of sliced brisket and a pound of ribs to go. They were out of pork. Brisket was probably better than ribs. It was quite tender with some smoke flavor and a decent char. Tenderness was due to being wrapped, which does maintain moisture but sacrifices more smoke flavor IMO. Ribs were short cut, decent, tender for same reasons as brisket, and had a slightly sweet rub on them. Not bad, not great. Sauce was tomato based, seemed awfully similar to Cattleman's which doesn't make it bad, just undistinguished. All in all, I'd say it is decent but nearly as good as the claim to "world's best" would indicate.

some others:
Eagle Lake: Austin's
Yoakum: Fat Albert's
Cuero: Schmolik's
Gonzales: City Market
Schulenburg: City Market
Luling: City Market
Halletsville: Novosad's
Sealy: Hinze's
Junction: Lum's

Whatever happened to Wagon Wheel in Nacogdoches & Bodacious in Corrigan or Longview?

17) Bubba's Bar-B-Q and Steakhouse, 210 South I-45, Ennis, Tx (located on E side of 45, take exit 251A, crossover I-45 and go N on frontage road about 1/4 mile or so) (Tx Monthly Top 50 Rating 4.0) my overall rating B+

My son has a state baseball tournament in Hillsboro this weekend, so I was elected as his chaffeur. Ennis is very little out of the way, so I dropped in there this afternoon to sample their Q. Hopefully I'll have pics to post when I return home. Nice smoker set up to left of restaurant. Had 2 other ball players with me, so ordered 2 lbs sliced brisket, and 2 lbs ribs. Both were tender, almost certainly due to being wrapped for part of cooking time. Ribs were very good, good color, good smoke, and just a very decent rib. Brisket was decent but not up to the quality of the ribs IMO. On both meats, the smoke and cooking is almost, if not, all of the flavor. I could detect no real rub. Frankly while quite tasty, the rub is the difference between just very good ribs, such as these and great ones. Same for brisket. Sauce was tomato based and fairly sweet. Not bad but not good. I had a brain storm which actually worked quite well, add a fair amount of tabasco to it, and the vinegar and pepper actually made it pretty good. Try it if faced with some too sweet sauce. All in all, a decent place for Q, worth a stop if you're on I-45.

Bryan-College Station area:
Martin's BBQ, open same location since the 1920's. Cooked over oak coals, I don't think any of the meats are ever wrapped during cooking. We eat lunch there weekly (Wed); I usually get the pork sandwich (pork shoulder), and others dine on the brisket. Ribs look mighty good, but I have not had them in yrs (they don't fit in my sandwich...). You will smell like a BBQ joint by the time you leave..

C&J BBQ now operates three locations locally, and I have never been disappointed. Business visitors taken to C&J's have always raved about the meats (usual fare, plus turkey and pork loin), but sometimes they are Yankees, and their opinion has no basis, other than what they just ate...
J Cody's is also locally owned, cooked over mesquite, dang good ribs and chicken. And they cook the steaks over mesquite coals..yum!
All the others are chain locations...

I prefer hickory, and am fortunate to have bulldozed down several in clearing some land. Lifetime supply!

Greg

Well kind of un--fair Smitty's is in my family, mother in law, and father in laws place. I love there BBQ. I have to say its one of the best.

I also really like Luling City Market, Gonzales City market is also very good.

I can smoke meat pretty damn good too, but I'm not for hire!

Ed

Rudy's in Tyler Texas is Pretty good.

If your ever in gods country try The Back Room In Columbia Falls MT has some damn fine BBQ. great ribs,brisket,chicken. They serve it with fry bred that is to die for. Montana is not known for BBQ but this place will defiantly hold It's own with anything in the world. I Have chewed bones all over the U.S some good and some not so good and The Back Room Is in my top 3. Get there early Its standing room only every night of the week.

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.

19) Clem Mikeska's BBQ, 2170-B N. Main, Belton,
Texas (one of at least 4 of the Clem Mikeka's stores, and somehow related to the numerous other Mikeska's around Central and South Texas)(be advised the 2170 N Main is Well North of Downtown Belton and just a mile or so South of Temple's City Limits, point is, if you exit the "main st" exit off of I-35 you will be quite a ways from the store, I'm not familiar enough with the area to suggest a better route, but someone probably can) my overall rating B

At any rate, this Mikeska's is a new, typical sort of cafeteria style Q store. Nice, pleasant, but no real soul or feeling of old style Q left. Person who took my order was friendly, had worked there a year, didn't know what type of, if any wood, they used, didn't know if they used gas, etc.

Unlike most places, this particular one did not offer sliced brisket, instead they have sliced barbecued sirloin. I ordered a pound of ribs and a pound of sirloin. Sirlon was good, well smoked and tender but somewhat dry. Ribs were good, well smoked and tender. Sauce was a major downer. My best one word description would be, "Awful". It had no distinctive spices, was not sweet or sour, and had a distinct underflavor of tomato soup. I hated it.

If the sirloin was cooked just a tad less, it would be really excellent. Based on what I had I'm giving this joint a "B" but it could easily be better if I caught them on an offday. Bring your own sauce.

I may have missed it...hasn't anybody mentioned Louie Mueller's in Taylor?
kh

Guys

I'm getting a little concerned about Gato. I suspect before this is all over we are going to have to plan an Intervention, or depending on how bad it gets, an Exorcism. I think the quest for a better BBQ has just about consumed him.

I suspect one day to see the poor bastard on a street corner in Texas, a mear shell of himself, holding up a cardboard sign..."will work for BBQ".

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
Guys

I'm getting a little concerned about Gato. I suspect before this is all over we are going to have to plan an Intervention, or depending on how bad it gets, an Exorcism. I think the quest for a better BBQ has just about consumed him.

I suspect one day to see the poor bastard on a street corner in Texas, a mear shell of himself, holding up a cardboard sign..."will work for BBQ".

Intervention,
Not at all,
he apparently just has a bit more road time right now than some of the rest of us-----unfortunately (for us).

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
Guys

I'm getting a little concerned about Gato. I suspect before this is all over we are going to have to plan an Intervention, or depending on how bad it gets, an Exorcism. I think the quest for a better BBQ has just about consumed him.

I suspect one day to see the poor bastard on a street corner in Texas, a mear shell of himself, holding up a cardboard sign..."will work for BBQ".

All donations gratefully accepted......good beer will do if you're short of cash......

Actually it is a lot of fun and I'm always looking for any reason (excuse) to go somewhere and hit a few new joints. I thought I'd get down to Taylor, Lockhart, Luling and Elgin last week but as much as I love trying new Q, after about 3 or 4 joints, I'm ready to re-group for a few days, so I skipped driving the extra 300 mi RT that the above joints would have required.

When it cools off a bit, maybe we'll throw an inaugural AR Q party at my place, if it ever quits raining. Rest of state is in a drought and we're drowning up here.....10 inches in last few days.

Wild Blue BBQ on hiway 100 on the north end of Los Fresnos, TX. RRRRealllllly good and very large portions.

Just now finished watching a food channel special on BBQ.

Shootoff between Kansas city, North Carolina,
Texas and Tennesee.

Tennesee won, but the judges were Kaliforna
"cowboys"? Some contest?

Or anywhere.......

My absolute favorite is ribs done in his homemade sauce by Chris McKinney in
Willard, Ohio. I could eat 'em till I burst!

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
Guys

I'm getting a little concerned about Gato. I suspect before this is all over we are going to have to plan an Intervention, or depending on how bad it gets, an Exorcism. I think the quest for a better BBQ has just about consumed him.

I suspect one day to see the poor bastard on a street corner in Texas, a mear shell of himself, holding up a cardboard sign..."will work for BBQ".

Gato is going to need a "will work for Lipitor sign" or donations to a Lipitor fund.

Good health is simply a slower rate of dying. Last time I checked no one gets out of here alive and I'm not egotistical enough to think I'll be the first.

I've had a really good run, no regrets here. Que sera, sera.

Tried the Salt Lick in Round Rock (next to Dell Diamond) last night. Really good. Orginal is best however.

I'm closing in on Texas Bar-B-Q. I'm in Dallas, heading for Austin Friday. I've only gotten as close as a plate of baby-back-ribs at Friday's last night, but I'm getting close. I can smell it. I'm getting a fresh stock of Zocor today. I'm ready.

I have not spotted Gato sleeping under a bridge yet. I'm sure most of the Q-joints have his picture up like they used to do in Vegas when they had seen too much of your action. If anyone wants me to try some joint in the Austin-Buda area, point me in the right direction, I've got the money.