I'll post some suggestions later. But in the meanwhile, I hear there's a great new Australian restaurant opening in Dallas.......

We had a good day. Had lunch at Rudy's on 360 in Austin. The beef, ribs, chile-sausage, and regular sausage were excellent. I was surprised how good the creamed-corn was. The only let-down was the bread; just plain-old sandwich bread, not Texas Toast or equivalent.

The other surprise was that the sauce detracted from the flavor of the meat.

Skipped the dessert, and went to Cabela's to kill a few hours........better than dessert.

You guys are killing me. I am in Gainesville, Florida, light-loaded with restaurant chains and silly, Univ./Fla.-proximal eateries designed to attract the 50,000 Daddy-moneyed, sophomoric student consumers that finance this town. There is not only NOT a decent BBQ joint; there is NOT a decent restaurant. So, I read this thread and bleed green.

20) Sonny Bryan's, Exit 66 I-35W North of Ft. Worth

How the mighty have fallen! I realize this isn't the original AND that another group has bought the Sonny Bryan's name, business, etc. (unconfirmed but I believe to be true) but this was nearly a new low in Q. I had to go pick up a gun I had bought, it was continuing the monsoon we've been in for a week, so rather than fight the wet traffic to get back to Dallas and some good food, I decided I'd drop in the Sonny Bryan's, easily visible from I-35W, and about a mile N of Cabela's. Bad decision.

Surprisingly there was a good lunch crowd, hopefully enjoying such classics as Frito Pie which was on the menu. It couldn't have been the Q. Help was friendly and prompt and I got a pound of ribs and a pound of brisket to go. Ribs were somewhat better than brisket but that meant they just barely reached the acceptable level. Poor rub, no significant smoke taste, and reasonably tender. Brisket was much worse, no significant smoke taste, generally poor. Sauce was tomato based and had some slightly bitter flavor, equally poor but it helped the brisket somewhat. And to think, this name used to be one of the foundations of Dallas Q, Sonny Bryan is undoubtedly rolling over in his grave.....overall rating C---.

Please note that I'm grading these on JUST the quality of the Q with other extraneous factors mentioned if I sample them. Most of the time I stick with ribs and brisket and pork if they have it. Based on the crowd, the "other" items, including chicken fried steak, frito pie, etc would have to be better here than the Q or the people in N. Ft. Wth are starving, a condition which I doubt.

Salt Lick in Austin Texas. The 'Lick" rules.

I don't know if the bryan's have sold the name but there are a lot of them open now. Large resturant types and small sandwich shop types in gas stations. The original is still the best- in Dallas at Inwood rd at Harry Hines blvd.

nvr mind nn

Gatogordo, I was late getting to this thread. I spent from kindergartin through 7th grade in Mt. Pleasant which sounds close to your stomping grounds. I know your thread is Q, but the thing I miss most about that country are the catfish joints. I can get decent catfish here in west Tx. but there is not anyone within 200 miles that knows a hushpuppy from his own heinie hole. I consider David Baird's place south of Daingerfield past the Lonestar steel plant the absolute finest I've tried.

quote:

Originally posted by gbanger:
I consider David Baird's place south of Daingerfield past the Lonestar steel plant the absolute finest I've tried.

Yeah, it's still excellent, but, David's first place was even better.

But , none compare to my Dear departed Aunt's place--Lakeview on Caddo, both gone.

Are you talking about the place that was just West of Oil City, La? Been a long time but I ate there many times and it was damn good.

We should start a new thread on catfish joints. In general, I've never eaten at a David Beard's place that I thought was really superior, including the one in Ore City. Actually a good friend of mine cooks the best catfish I know of, but catfish is so easy to do with just a bit of knowledge (and a cooker with a thermometer) that it is not really somewhat mystical like Q.

Locally, they serve all you can eat catfish filets only (but everyone knows that fiddlers are the best) at Nette's (I think) in Naples, Tx for Fri lunch. Usually quite good.

The original Vaughn's Hill Top Catfish Restaurant in Red Hill, Tx (North of Linden) (there are a few other Vaughn's, all owned by family members as far as I know, but I haven't tried them) on Hwy 8 (I think, without looking at a map) used to have truly superior catfish when the founding father was alive. He died a few years back and now it is somewhat spotty but often excellent.

I've been meaning to go to one outside of Jefferson, name escapes me at the moment, and I'll report on it when I do.

There is also an excellent Catfish joint, "Doc's", in Garland Ark (I dunno the population but I'll call it 150 and may be on the high side) about 25 miles or so W of Texarkana. Highly recommended but crowded and, as I recall, only open on Thur, Fri and Sat nites.

Unfortunately many of the catfish joints have succumbed to the siren call of pre-made hushpuppies which, while not horrible, are by no means, a real hushpuppy.

Lakeview was in Uncertain.

I can't think of the name of the place near Oil City, I do remember it was good.

The Vaughn's were always good.

The Cypress Inn in Benton was good the one time I stopped. as was Pelican in Vivian., and Dixie in Minden.

Spruell's in Doddridge , Ar. was my favorite , after my Aunt's place, of course .

Finally came to me, name of Oil City area restaurant was Kool Point. May still be a camp there, not sure.

Restaurant I was talking around Jefferson is Dawn's Caddo Crossing near Karnack.

Guys, you're right that propper catfish cooking ain't rocket science. It's just that every place I'm close to, the hushpuppies are an afterthought instead of an intregal part of the meal. You east Texans are spoiled. I went to Texarkanna about 6 years ago and on my way back west I turned off at Daingerfield and went to David's. It had been so long since I had a real hushpuppy, I only ate about 12 before the fish came (whole cats) the only way.

Gatogordo, sorry for highjacking your thread. This is the last non Q post I'll make. One other East Texas cousine memory I have is a hotlink joint in downtown Pittsburg. Dad took me there. It was the greasiest nastiest eating place I had ever been in. This was in the early '70s and nobody then had heard of cholesterol. You got a sleave of crackers to eat with your hotlinks and believe me, you could have rubbed them on a cardboard refrigerator box and been able to read the model and serial numbers. The place was considered an institution, though. All the courthouse crowd and other bigwigs ate there. Also, so I won't have to make another post, I enjoyed seeing a real old fashioned syrup making operation. They used a cane press and cooked it off in open kettles under a shed. For a young man who grew up on Mrs. Buttersworth, the blackstrap was a little strong, but I really liked the ribboncane. I bet you would have to look far and wide to find that nowdays.

That's what Dad's are supposed to do.

http://www.pittsburghotlink.com/History.html
http://www.pittsburghotlinks.net/About_Us.html

But, I hated making syrup.
(our mill was further east.)

Thanks, DuggaBoye. I had no idea they were still around. I'm glad I remembered it was in Pittsburg. I have slept a few times since. I'm sure going to make it my business to go back the next time I'm in that part of the state.

gbanger:

As far as I'm concerned, if you're talking about good food, especially in the mecca of fine food (not that haute cuisine stuff that takes 3 meals to make a decent appetizer) TEXAS then you're not hijacking anything.

The restaurant you're remembering in Pittsburg (which isn't all that far from me by Texas standards) is almost certainly Pittsburg Hot Links, 136 W. Marshall St, in downtown Pittsburg. It's been in business for over a 100 years, with different owners, of course.

If you can't make it over to Pittsburg (let me know and I'll meet you for lunch) you can order the more or less original hot links online here.....Pittsburg hot links

I was just thinking the other day that I hadn't seen a sugar cane syrup mill in years. They used to be, while not common, several of them in the areas of E Texas that we frequented. Of course, they were the historic way of getting sweetner out in the boonies, processed cane sugar was pretty rare in the late 1800s or early 1900s. The basic process was to have a horse or mule turning a roller which squeezed the juice out of the cane, then putting it in a huge vat, which was heated by a wood burning fire and when it thickened sufficiently was put in pint or quart jars as the real sugar cane syrup. The smell was unmistakable. Same thing applies to whisky stills but the smell is usually not so widely available.

Opps, I see some of my "thunder" was stolen by Duggaboye while I was doing something else online. Nothing unusual there, he's a fart old smucker.

21) Bodacious Bar-B-Q, 2227 S. Mobberly St, Longview, Tx.

This is a loose end I've been wanting to tie up for a while. Duggaboye recommended it some months back and I mistakenly went to another location (N. 6th St) in Longview (see previous review) which is a worthwhile Q joint in it's own right.

This is the original Bodacious location and is still owned by the wife of the founder. Her daughter's boyfriend was the very friendly person who took our order and talked to us a bit. He had just returned from a "fill in" for her daughter's Bodacious in San Angelo, which is a pretty fair piece from Longview.

Cooking is done on electric smokers using mostly Ok Mesquite (!) according to above information source. A purist, which I am to some extent, would prefer open flames, but it is hard to argue with their results.

This stop was kind of an afterthought, my wife and I went down to Kilgore to pick up a shotgun I had purchased and we drove rt by this place on the way back to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in the area, Posados in Longview, as well. I asked her if we wanted to buy some Q to go for dinner. Sure, so we ordered 2 pounds brisket, 2 pounds ribs, and wound up with 2 pounds of cut pork shoulder (Boston Butt) as well. Normally they only "pull" the shoulder, but the guy was nice enough to say, if you want it cut, I'll cut it. Pork was really exceptional, smoked first and cooked in foil for tenderness. Great flavor and char.
Brisket was good, but not great, probably a bit more moist than the one we had at the other Bodacious but not as well smoked. Ribs were somewhat different than the other Bodacious as well. In spite of my professed preference for unsweet Q, these had a somewhat sweet finish with a bit of pepper and were tender and well smoked. I'd say they were equally as good as the ribs at the other Bodacious but undoubtedly prepared by different pitmasters. Sauce was basically the same as the other Bodacious, tomato based, somewhat sweet, but decent. Considering some of the sauces I've had lately, "decent" is a big improvement. The other Bodacious on 6th may be owned by a different person, I forgot to ask. Quite a few of the Bodacious' are, such as the disaster I reviewed in Mt. Pleasant. I sampled just enough to get an opinion after we ordered and then went on to Posados Restaurant (highly recommended). Opinion was confirmed last night.

Overall grade A---, highly recommended.

They've changed to electrics???

(Well, I haven't been in there in the past two years)

Glad it's still good.

At least the one that I saw behind the sales area was electric which yesterday had the ribs in it........let me add that it probably uses gas with electric thermostat controls. I saw the cords coming out of it and just thought "electric" without thinking it through. I'm reasonably sure they use gas for the main heat source and the electric to control the temp but this is kind of second guessing based on a quick glance and I admit that I am not all that knowledgeable about the various gas cookers available these days.

22) Uncle Buck's Smoke House, 2920 Jewella Ave, Shreveport, La (mentioned as one of best in Louisiana in David Gelin's Book, "BBQ Joints" (reviewed above).

Well, first let me mention that, as outlined in the book, Uncle Buck's is both a Q joint on one side of the building and a juke joint/bar on the other and the clientele of the latter is all black. It is not a place or an area that I, much less someone who doesn't know their way around, would want to be after dark. This is not an idle observation, don't ignore it.

I went for lunch, and besides Q they serve some well reviewed hamburgers and other foods. Your first clue that it is a black owned and supported business is when they have two kinds of fried fish dinners, catfish ($7.50) and buffalo ($6.50). You don't see buffalo plates very often, if ever.

I ordered my usual of a few pounds of ribs, brisket and a side of one pound of sausage to go. Spoke to the owners, Carolyn and Buck Banks, friendly people who work hard at their business. The ribs were very good, heavy smoke, good flavor, very slight sweet rub, which I had to eat for a while to detect, almost no added flavor, they let the meat and smoke sing and they make a good duet. Brisket was fair, not as smoky, tender but undistinguished. Sausage was not especially to my tastes, fair but, again, nothing special. Sauce was tomato based, very slightly sweet, with possibly some drippings in there. It sounds better than it was, I didn't hate it but didn't think it was very good either. Ribs are definitely worth a visit IN DAYTIME, not to mention I might go back for a plate of buffalo. Overall grade, B.

Here goes.

Hog's Breath Cafe in Perth, Australia (east or west of Texas depending on which way you're facing). I tried their baby-back ribs and they had too much fat on them and had no flavor. It tasted like they may have boiled them to death. The sauce was 3 on scale of 10, and there was very little of it. My friend said the brisket was good, but it didn't look it. I won't be going back.

Kensco:

Thanks, next time I'm in Perth, I'll be sure to scratch that one off my list.

I had to make a quick trip to Cotulla Texas last Thurs and Fri to look at a ranch I was considering buying. I could have flown with a friend who was considering partnering the deal with me, but I elected to drive so I could visit a few more Q joints. I was lucky and went to two of the top 5 in Texas Monthly's rating last year. It killed me to drive right by 3 or 4 more really highly rated places but there is such a thing as Q overdose and I'm doing this for fun, not profit.

First place I visited was:

23) Louie Mueller Barbecue, 206 W. Second, Taylor Tx. Tied in Texas Monthly's ratings with 4 others at a perfect 5.0 for second best in Texas. Mentioned in almost all Q books which cover Texas Barbecue.

I got there after a pretty long drive at 5 after 6 PM Thurs aft. Pulled into parking lot and my heart fell, sign said, 10-6, Mon-Sat. I though, "This is a real bummer, missed it by 5 minutes.", but I saw someone inside so figured maybe I could beg a brisket out the back door.....went in and found that they had extended their summer hours and were open until 7:30. That was the best news of the day, closely followed by their having Shiner Bock on draft. Even tho alone, I wanted a good sampling so I ordered a pound of brisket, a pound of ribs (they only had a 1/2 pound left so I took that), a pound of pork loin, and a ring of sausage. Nothing like a light repast.

Place is huge, used to be girl's basketball court way back when, has walls about 18-20 feet high and has 3 pits stuffed with post oak in back. They've been cooking great Q on this spot since 1959, started by current owner's Daddy. He hasn't lost the family touch.

They serve their draft beer in frozen pint jars. Worked for me. The bartender/cashier, a very friendly lady named Sonja, served me a couple and a smile.

Now to the point of this, the Q. They cook their Q with a rub of cracked or very coarsely ground peppercorns and probably a bit of salt. It comes out a helluva lot better and more complex than that would indicate. Brisket was heavily smoked and very tender. Just about as good a Brisket as you can get. I wouldn't say the best I've had, but certainly a very strong contender. You can eat different styles that you may appreciate more, but it would be hard to eat better pure Texas Brisket. Surprisingly, the ribs, cooked with the same rub were nearly as good, athough the Brisket was the star of the ball, without doubt. I don't recall any place I've visited yet that had the main two meats so close in quality. The pork loin was somewhat disappointing, possibly because of the dryness of the meat initially (meaning they can't smoke it for very long or it will really dry out) it had little real smoke flavor or penetration. Good meat, but not great Q. The sausage was good but not great. I'm not a real sausage aficionado, I make my own, and, while I still haven't perfected my processes, I am not fond of the overly fatty products sold commercially. This was good but not great. I should have tried the jalapeno style, but you can't try everything in one trip. I will be back. Only real bummer was the barbecue sauce. It was basically drippings, with little added flavor or spice. I didn't hate it, but it didn't add much or change the meat impact for the better. The quality of the sauce was not approaching the quality of the meat and was best left off for my tastes.

I guess, taking it all into account, atmosphere, history, and, of course, by far the most important item, the Q, I'm going to give it a solid A for an overall grade, my highest so far. Better sauce would have added a plus, for sure.

I have family in Taylor, so I ave eaten their Q more than once. Of course, when they are sold out you have to try one of the other two places in town.

After leaving Taylor and Louie Mueller's I drove about 3 hours South and spent night in Pearsall. Got up Friday AM and drove on the 30 miles S to Cotulla where I had breakfast at Uncle Moe's (recommended). The chorizo and eggs were excellent. Spend 5 minutes touring Cotulla in my truck and saw all of it twice.

After meeting my friend at Cotulla International (I'm not kidding, a Gulfstream landed while we were there, day before deer season opening, doncha know?)we looked over the ranch, discussed our observations, and he took off into the wild blue while I got behind my Cummins and drove back N on I-35 where I stopped for lunch at.........

24) Cowpokes Texas-Style Bar-B-Que, 805 W. Comal, Pearsall, Tx (about 300 yds E of I-35)(one of the top 50 in Texas Monthly's ratings and had a 4.25/5.00)

This is a fairly new metal building, with the kind of typical cafeteria style serving area found in many of the newer joints. Clean and attractive but lacking in the grease layers and soul of old time Q joints. I ordered a pound of brisket, pound of ribs, and a ring of hot, as in spicy, sausage. The brisket was truly excellent, supposedly smoked for 20 to 30 hours. Very thick slices, which I liked, VERY tender, moist and had an excellent smoke flavor. I'd put their brisket in the same area of excellence as Louie Mueller's but different. OTOH, the ribs were disappointing considering the quality of the brisket. They had little real smoke flavor and just didn't get there as far as I was concerned. Not bad, but not close to the brisket. Hot sausage was very good, spicy but not overwhelmingly so.......I like really hot and this wasn't but they have to fix it for commericial consumption and most people wouldn't eat what I'd call hot. Very good, nonetheless. Q Sauce was tomato based, somewhat sweet. Typical commercial sauce, not bad, but not in any way exceptional.

Overall I'll give them a solid B+, based on the outstanding brisket.

After leaving Pearsall and Cowpokes, I drove N to San Antonio, took a right turn on 10 (via 410) and drove over to Luling where I tried.....

25) Luling City Market, 635 E Davis, Luling, Tx (one of top 5 in Texas Monthly's ratings with a 5.00/5.00) Mentioned in several books about Texas Q as well.

Went in and walked to the back Q enclosure where I ordered a pound of brisket, pound of ribs, and a "ringlet" of sausage. This is where they lost me.....since I was going to sample it on the go with about a 6 hour drive home in front of me, I asked for some sauce to go with the meat......I've never run into this before....."You'll have to buy the sauce up front." What!!! They give you sauce if you eat in, but they won't give you any to go.......F*****K! At any rate, undaunted, I paid in the Q enclosure, which was interesting, 3 big open from top a la Cooper's type pits but with indirect heat/smoke, one was full of hundreds of the "ringlets" of sausage ($2), and walked up front, carrying my $25 worth of meat so I could buy some Q sauce. I was not a happy camper. They graciously sold me about 3 ounces of sauce for 50 cents.

At any rate, brisket was good but not nearly on the order of Mueller's IMO, ribs were fair, tender but with no distinctive "bite", and ringlet of sausage was again, good, but not great, fatty with a somewhat different flavor than most. This ringlet was about the smallest tied off sausage I've seen, it is about the size of a short fat hot dog, tied with butcher's twine on both ends so it can be hung on a rod to be smoked. I think the flavor that made it taste a bit different was extra sage, but wouldn't swear to it. Sauce was actually very good, a mixture somewhat like I've mentioned as a good starting mixture above, sweet with vinegar and mustard as offsetting flavors. Different and quite tasty even if the SOBs make you buy it for to go orders.

I was not nearly as impressed as Texas Monthly, even before factoring in have to buy the sauce, I give it a B+ and the only reason for the plus is the sauce......GRRRRRR! I won't be back, I'll take my business to places that treat all their customers equally.

This must be a Texas thing !.

I do so enjoy BBQ my own self and live far far west of the Tejas line, Like the Pacific Ocean !.

So being a resourceful sort of Guy . I borrowed a Gal from North Carolina a gentleman from Tennessee

and a good ole boy from Texas. I then had them rustle up the Best of the Best at the National BBQ

down Nashville way some years back . ( would have loved to have made the Nat. Championships in

Meridian, Texas in October ) However work and Oktoberfest in Bonn Germany made up for it !.

Anyway I grabbed up all that BBQ and did an analysis on it , came up with super rub.

Made my own sauce Tomato as well as vinegar .

Found out a lot of things including Smoker tips , which I've NEVER cleaned in 26 Years now .

Wood selection mop sauce low and slow steady as she goes TENDER FLAVORFUL and DAM GOOD EATEN !.

Oh I also purchased several cook books including one of my favorites personally signed by

Justin Wilson and the modern grill master himself Steven Raichlen

http://www.barbecuebible.com/

Mex food we got , Tex food we don't ! ; So what's a Man to do who loads and brews his own ?.

SMOKE YOUR OWN !. When it comes to eating it's the next best thing to living in Texas I could think of !.

*See we got a bunch of slack jawed lose wristed limp types and those are mainly politicians and Frisco

sandle knee shufflers running our state into bankruptcy hell . While doing so we have this anti smoking

establishment known as http://www.aqmd.gov/ !. So how is a restaurant going to make decent BBQ without smoke ?.

It's OK to suck the end of exhaust pipes and industrial waste , but Lord almighty don't let them burn

a smoker , that air is contaminated !. * You got the picture !. So doing your own is a necessity out this way !.

My ex wife and family grew up in Lockhart, so I've eaten my fair share of BBQ. The locals went to Chisholom Trail. Enough said! Lee

Sam's Club!



At the considerable risk of sounding lazy, I have many times stopped by Sam's Club and picked up a Saunder's fully smoked brisket (pre-sliced) and just heated it in the oven. Jeffe buys them for the big bore shoots in Juliff and gets lots of compliments. They are hard to beat when your in a hurry or if you don't have the desire to learn to do your own.

BTT while waiting for updates.

The Holy Grail of Texas BBQ is Kruez Market in Lockhart, Texas. There is no sauce only meat. The smoked Ribeye and Pork Cop are awesome.

Another great place for Ribs and Brisket is "The Swinging Door" near Richmond, Texas.

Texas BBQ is all about the smoke!

quote:

kaprota: My ex wife and family grew up in Lockhart, so I've eaten my fair share of BBQ. The locals went to Chisholom Trail.

I attended a BD celebration recently in Lockhart catered by Chisholm Trail and it was as good as BBQ gets, sausage the best I have ever had.

While trying to get some last minute car shopping done Dec 31st, driven by tax considerations and a soon to be driver son, said son and I were driving from car dealership to car dealership (being subjected to the usual treatment of car salesmen where they treat you like a moron, financial and otherwise and start from there....grrrrr ) in Dallas and stopped by.........

26) Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse, 2202 Inwood Road, Dallas, Tx. This is the original "famous to Dallas Qers" location. Since I had a horrible, from a Q POV, experience at the one up near Cabela's N or Ft Worth (see review above) I thought I'd check out the mother ship. I am happy to say it is much better than the later version but not nearly as good as legend would have it being. Sonny Bryan is deceased and the Bryan family no longer has anything to do with the business except for owning some of the land under the actual locations. My son and I were in a rush, so we ordered a pound of brisket, a pound of ribs, and an order of onion rings to go. They have an excellent selection of Texas brewed beers but since I was driving, the weather sucked, and it was near rush hour, I had to pass. The onion rings were special, homemade and fried right in front of you, huge, good breading, highly recommended and with the Q sauce on them even better. The brisket was tender and good, but had no real smoke flavor or smoke line, kind of like a very good pot roast, which doesn't say much for it's Q qualities. The ribs were very good, excellent flavor, tender, and a great reddish finish, making them alone worth the visit. Sauce was middle of road tomato based, slightly sweet, with a hint of lemon. Better than average but not wonderful. All in all, the Original is much better than the imitation location I went to near Cabela's but not up to it's legendary reputation (if it ever was, I've eaten there many times over the years (but it's probably been 20 years since I was there last) and while I recall it as being adequate (which by Texas standards is still way better than most anywhere else), I never went into Q thrill palpitations over their product like in a true Texas Class Q joint (Texas Class is a gathering of the Val and Salutatorians of World Class Q ) . For the ribs and onion rings definitely worth a visit if you're in the area tho. Overall grade B.

BTW I have not forgotten the rec for Sammy's, but since it closes at 3 PM it was too late to get there, maybe next trip.

But did you find a car?

I hate the large dealerships with lots of turnover as the salesmen may not know anything about the product. Looked at the 4-door Wrangler a couple of years ago and the salesman was not able to show us how to raise and lower the soft top. I asked about the Rubicon version and he wanted to sell me a Commander...

2 actually, one new 2010 F150 Supercab 4x4 for the kid, and a used 2008 Vette for Mom and Dad, which I saw that day, but decided on the next on the phone (no real tax benefits on used car). Second childhood, ya know? But hey, there ain't no Brinks trucks in funeral parades! Both from Sam Pack's 5 Star Ford, Carrollton. I can actually recommend a salesman there, their internet guy, Chris Sherman. He's still a car salesman, but far better than most. I'm not so fond of their paperwork people but I am REALLY capable or saying "no", politely the first time or two and then I get more serious about it. I did and do most of my shopping by newpaper ads, internet and phone because I just about can't stand the usual carsalesman's BS, confirm price and availability before going. We'd own a new Dodge truck for the kid but got seriously jerked around by Randall Noe in Terrell (well known high pressure joint, but does usually have best prices if you can cut thru the BS) luckily all on the phone. I was trying to buy a new Expedition for wife is why I was in Sonny Bryan's area but the dealership had one at advertised (Good!) price but mistakenly told us it was available in Silver, got there, was actually doing paperwork and they said, "Opps, wrong car!" In fact, I think it was a real mistake on salesman's part, not a tactic, he promptly produced one at advertised price, just like the one I was going to buy, but wrong color for wife, so we passed and went to Sonny Bryan's to drown our sorrows.

Sounds like it was a productive trip!

It may just be a coincidence, but the salesmen/women who sold me on my last two new vehicles ended up leaving the dealerships about when I bought them -- do I drive them away?


The vehicles I bought were on a supplier-discount type plan so the cost is pretty much a known factor. Really makes the chore easier.

NOTE: This place burned to the ground about a year ago and has not been re-built and does not appear that it will be at this time.

27) Ramage Old Farm Market, 901 Main St., Hooks, Tx, Store is just N of I-30. Hooks is about 15 mi W of Texarkana. Mentioned in some Q book that I forget right now, will try to find it later.

I went to local high school basketball game at Hooks where they beat our home town girls (including my daughter) in an exciting game. Rather than stay for the Varsity Boys Game, I elected to go eat at Ramage Farms just a few blocks from the High School across the interstate. I drive by it all the time on the way to Texarkana, but have never stopped in to eat. That was a mistake. I'll be back.

Since I was alone, I ordered a rib plate and a pound of brisket to go. Ribs and Brisket are cooked in what I would call the classic Southern style, heavy on smoke with little or no rub. Ribs were quite good and the Brisket was even better. Heavy smoke ring and char on brisket, really solid fine eating and certainly in the top 2 or 3 that I've tried since this thread started. They had two kinds of sauce, I chose the hot, which is a little bit spicy but not anywhere near what I would call hot, but, this is designed for travelers as well as locals and most people can't eat what I call hot. Sauce was tomato based, fairly sweet. Not terrible but not at all exceptional and did not help meat any. The meats are much better than the sauce. On the way out, I bought ten pounds of cracked pecans ($2.25 #) so we can have a few more pecan pies, etc and headed home. Besides the food, they have a store with a pretty broad selection of Texas products, not cheap, but interesting. My overall rating, B+++, definitely worth a stop off I-30.

They have a web site.....here

Addendum: May 14, 2010.

Family and I went there last night before youngest's softball game in Hooks. We all had brisket except for one shredded pork sandwich. All meats were on the dry side, not horribly so, but certainly not anything nearly as good as the last time. I also decided I really don't like their sauce. Also, general flavor of brisket was not as good. At any rate, based on last nights session, I'd give them a B---, which, I suppose, goes to show that all Q joints don't hit home runs everyday.

Final addedum: 1/20/15

As mentioned in another thread, this joint burnt to the ground a couple of years back. Now a FS sign is posted on property and it obviously is not going to be re-built.

I had to go to Ft. Worth Monday past to pick up some guns I purchased and I combined that with going to pick up one I had purchased from a fellow ARer near Austin. Since I didn't get his permission to use his name I can only say that if anyone in Central Texas wants some absolutely first class sheet metal, or copper work done PM me and I'll put you in touch with this craftsman. I've been around the building trades all my life and there aren't many like him left. At any rate, to continue on with this tale, after meeting the above ARer and visiting for a while, I drove down to Lockhart to add to my Q joints list.

Frankly I was just a slight bit disappointed, based on numerous reviews and word of mouth, I thought I was going to the earthly equivalent of Q heaven.....it just wasn't so. With a couple of notable exceptions, nothing I had was really bad, but nothing was "melt in your mouth" wonderful either. All of the three joints I visited on this expedition use post oak as their smoking wood.

I arrived about 4:30 PM and started with:

28) Black's Barbecue, 215 North Main St, Lockhart, Tx (not rated in the Tx Monthly Magazine article but mentioned in most of the books on Texas Q)

Black's advertises itself as the oldest Q joint in Texas in the same family, since 1932. I have no way to dispute this, so I'll accept it at face value. I met a young man, Bear Black, who is the 4th generation of Black's to work in this joint, which is a couple of blocks N of the NW corner of the Lockhart courthouse square, an interesting appearing edifice by itself. While most Q joint employee/owners, especially those in Texas are friendly, the man and woman who were working the meat counter and cash register at Black's went well beyond common friendly courtesy and were really downhome Texas kind of people. Since Lockhart is widely regarded as one of the mecca's of Texas Q, I expanded my sampling to include some of the sausages each joint produces. At Black's the man gave me a couple of extra bits of brisket as well as an extra rib. Super nice people and the younger Bear Black said, "We're glad you came and hope you'll come back." to me as I was leaving. Really left with a warm feeling for the people working there. I feel sure that if someone went back a time or two, they'd be calling you by name and asking, "Do you want your usual?".

Because I wanted to try multiple joints, I got all the meats to go, so I could sample them in my truck without filling up. I've done it enough now to be able to evaluate the quality TO MY TASTES (bears repeating, some people like chocolate and some vanilla, same holds true for variations in Q) with just a few bites. I got a pound of brisket, pound of ribs, a few original sausage and a few jalapeno and cheddar cheese sausages as well, plus some of their barbecue sauce. Everything was quite good, but not exceptional. Their style is more like what I call the E Tx, Louisana Q style that I grew up with. They have little or no rub and let the smoke do the talking for their product. Both the ribs and brisket were above average but not exceptional. Heavy smoke and well cooked and tender, just not "Wow" quality. Sausages were both very good. I think I slightly preferred the original combinations of spices. I liked the jalapeno and cheese almost as well but to me it didn't have as much mouth appeal as the original. J and C was slightly spicy but not really hot. Both VERY GOOD. They also have garlic, but I didn't try it, not because I don't like garlic, but I just figured I'd save something for next time. They must be doing something right at Black's since they sell about 3000 pounds of these smoked mini-sausage rings a week, plus thousands more pounds of ribs and brisket. Q sauce was tomato based, not really sweet at all (a plus IMO), and had mostly citrus overtones. Fairly good, but, again, not exceptional.

All in all, a very satisfying Q product and extra friendly staff who certainly made for a pleasant experience, but based solely on their Q I give them a solid B+.