Many BBQ joints serve good meats but not many offer good sides. I personally like turnip or other greens with BBQ. I despise potato salads that taste like cold mashed potatoes with mustard & pickel bits, like so many places serve.

I don't know where the best is today but I do know where it was in 1952. When I would travel from my home in Mississippi to gunsmith school in Trinidad,Co I would go thru Gainesville on highway 82. There was this small and I do mean small bar-b-q place on the south side of the highway that had the longest pit I have ever seen out back. The guy said he had special hickory chips made for it. I actually drove down there one weekend from Trinidad just to get some of his bar-b-q. It was by far the finest I have ever eaten and there was an awful lot of good Bar-b-q around my home.

I had to make a quick trip to Shreveport, La yesterday to pick up my 2010 tax returns. Yesterday was the absolute last day to file without penalties. My accountant is taking me off of his Christmas list......

At any rate, while driving back home in somewhat of a rush to get wife to sign forms, I grabbed a to-go Q lunch at Podnuh's Bar-B-Q, the orginal opened about 30 years ago in the Broadmoor area of Shreveport, that location is now closed but it was quite good as I recall, there are 4 locations now in the S'port/Bossier City area......and here is a review of the one on N. Market.

39) Podnuh's Bar-B-Q, 1915 N. Market, Shreveport, La 71107

I ordered my "standard" of a pound of ribs and a pound of brisket, sliced thick. Ribs were $10.99/pound and brisket was a buck more at $11.99. Very reasonable prices by today's levels.

Ribs were good but some of the end pieces were slightly overcooked, a not uncommon event because they are considerably thinner than the rest of the rack. Had a dark finish and slightly sweet rub flavor. Good smoke. A better than average but not outstanding product.

Brisket was decent, had a fair smoke ring, but not much flavor, either of meat, smoke, or rub. It was more tender than most tho. I'd call it average with maybe a very small plus.

I basically hated the Q sauce, kind of a tomato base with some strange flavor I've run into a couple of times before (cumin?).

All in all, I'd give it a C++. There was nothing really wrong with the meats but nothing outstanding either and the sauce was a strong negative to my tastes. YMMV.

This is an acceptable Q joint but not worth going out of your way for IMO. The meats were very edible but all in all, I'd strongly advise going about a mile south to Jack's on the same street at 1301 N. Market (see review #35 above).

Updates:

The Original Sonny Bryan's in Dallas (see review #26 above) had a fire a couple of weeks back but I understand the damage wasn't too severe and they were planning on re-opening shortly and may have already.

Ramage's on I-30 (Hooks, Tx about 15 miles W of Texarkana(see review #27) also had a fire in the last month or so and the damage looks to be much more extensive as in there is nothing usable left but the sign, whether or when they will re-open is unknown at this time.

I recently was informed that George Coleman, the founder of Coleman's Barbecue in Clarksville Texas (see review #4) died some last February and the business is now being run by his son, Dewayne . Unfortunately, I've also heard he is not maintaining the high standards in Q of his father. I hope this is not true, and I'll drop in there before long for an updated taste test.

It's been a while but I haven't lost my BBQ addiction so here is a new report.

My youngest daughter is the first baseperson on a local softball team who won their district championship against some tough opponents. They went to the State Championships last weekend in Mckinney (eventually lost but played well) which is a very nice booming bedroom community about 30 miles N of Dallas. I went and while there, my oldest daughter and I ate, not once, but twice at:

40) Hutchins BBQ and Catfish (founded 1978), 1301 N. Tennessee St. McKinney, Tx phone 972 548 2629 (Take Greenville-Denton exit off 75, go East about a mile on University to Tennesse St. which connects at 90 degrees, Hutchins is about a block and a half S on W side of Tennesse)

We went in an it looked good. Kind of old and greasy like any good Q joint should be. I was going to order my standard of a pound of ribs and a pound of brisket but the nice and helpful Q cutter pointed out that for only a couple of bucks more than a pound of either I could get an "all you can eat" for $14.95 (drink extra). I fell on it like a frog on a june bug and ordered a plate full, and I do mean full, of ribs, brisket, and sausage. The next time, to cover the bases, I ordered a plate full of ribs, chicken, and pulled pork. As described, it was all you could eat, but unless you've got a huge appetite, a plate full, a side or two and the exceptionally good banana pudding is really all you can eat. We didn't try the catfish, even tho I really like fried catfish too, because the Q was too good to pass up both visits.

Bottom line, both my daughter who is a good Q reviewer in her own right and I agreed that EVERYTHING was very good to excellent. The ribs were the most outstanding, closely followed by the pulled pork. Brisket was very good as well, and the sausage was good plus (I'm not the world's biggest sausage fan and have never had any Texas style BBQed sausage that REALLY blew my skirt up, now boudin, that's another issue). Chicken was also quite good but was outshined by other meats IMO. All meats were very solidly smoked over real fires using pecan wood. Ribs were dark on outside and really tender unless you got one of the thin ends. Brisket had a good smoke line. Cutter often pulled the outside layer off when serving. I told him to leave it on or add it to my plate. Damn fine eating.

Sauce was interesting and came in a standard and a spicy variety. Both were slightly tomato based, seemed like they had some coffee in there. Spicy seemed like it just had some cayenne added. Both were very good and quite a bit different than the more "standard" Q sauces one runs into. I liked it but would only give it a very good score.

At any rate, this is a VERY SOLID HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q joint. I've had slightly better Q of any of the various meats at other places but I've never been to a place that did the whole spectrum so well. My ONLY complaint is that I wish they had beer. I might not drive the 2 plus hours one way from my house JUST to eat there, but I'll certainly consider it as a good incentive to go to Dallas more often. My score: B+++. Try it, you'll like it.

PS: Since my son is going to be a freshman at UT Austin in August, expect many more Q reviews in the near future.

Dang, Gato!! You got me wanting to take a road trip!!

Hola Gato,when you came here a couple of years ago to buy that S+W 629 performance center,I told you to try Smokey Mo's,but you had to go west.Next time you're here in the Leander/Cedar Park/Liberty Hill/Georgetown area try to catch one of the outlets.I recommend their stuffed baked potato w/everything (BBQ inc.)

Someone ought to start a thread on Barbacoa, which for you non-Texicans is basically barbequed head. It is truly awesome, although I've cut back on eating brains due to mad cow. Still do it now and then.

The other day on the radio there was a program about the millions of dollars that the government was spending to fund these scientists to discover that there was an enzyme in cattle intestines that cures headaches (read hangovers).We call it Menudo.Another waste of our money for what we Texicans figured out long ago.

Norman, the stuff (barbacoa) works without a doubt.

Wished I had known about it in my younger years it would have saved a lot of miserable days.

opps, Menudo, got tacos on the brain this AM

Menudo is great too.

Still remember the day we took some Yankee hunters to a little taqueria we frequented after a goose hunt. They all ordered traditional breakfasts - eggs, bacon -- I got my usual, barbacoa (It was Sunday).

One of them commented to the waitress how good my breakfast smelled and said he'd like some of that. When it arrived, he asked me what it was. I told him not to worry about it and he enjoyed his barbacoa tacos. Afterwards he insisted on knowing what it was and I must say he was a rather good sport after finding out.

In that same vein,when I took my young sons years ago down to the roping arena;we were having a "fry" which consisted of all the local ranchers cutting their calves. We had mucho ice chests full of the goods. Ingredients for the batter were?A large bowl of corn meal,salt,pepper + (SECRET ingrediants!) + a huge pot of grease.When those "oysters" came out of the pot...well,they were super good to say t5he least. My 2 youngest boys at time were there of course + being just like brothers,directly the younger one comes to me + says "Dad,what are we eating?" I told him "mountain oysters" to which he replied."Oh Good,Jake told me I was eating bull nuts."

I had to make a day and a half trip over to Dallas for some business and to pick up #1 daughter at DFW. As often happens, the best laid plans of mice, etc changed. I had planned to go to Sammy's BBQ in downtown Dallas but my son and I had a miscommunication and he didn't get his butt in gear soon enough to drive the 2 3/4 hours while making Sammy's somewhat restricted hours of 11 to 3. I've been trying to get to Sammy's for a couple of years now since Charles Helms recced it earlier in this thread but haven't made it yet. Maybe next time.......

So, WTH, we are on 121, going to our hotel in Grapevine and my son and his iphone comes up with a close Q joint and we swing by and try.....

#41) Hard 8 BBQ, 688 Freeport Parkway
Coppell, TX

This is one of their 3 locations, the original in Stephenville (about 50 mi SW Ft. Worth), which my son had been to and said was good, this one and one in Roanoke, which is more or less 15 mi W of this one.

This one is reached by going N from 121 (the DFW/635 route) on Freeport Parkway a couple of miles and there it is on the SE corner in the middle of a warehouse area.

This one is loosely based on the same layout as Cooper's in Llano with several large square pits outside near stacks of mesquite.

Food is chosen in a line that has an open pit in front of you. Choices include brisket, pork ribs, sausage, hot or standard, chicken, shrimp and chicken "bitelets" which are shrimp or chicken, with a slice of jalapeno, wrapped in bacon and barbecued. We got a large selection of brisket, ribs, hot sausage, and shrimp bitelets (my term BTW. I think they call them brush poppers). After you select an item, they put it and any others on a plastic tray covered with butcher wrapping paper and weigh it and charge you by the pound, same price for all the Q, the bitelets were $1.70 each. I didn't catch the wt. but the two of us got $34 worth of Q and couldn't quite finish it, which is saying something since my son normally can eat the South end of a North bound mule and want more.

It's hard to go farther without a word about the atmosphere. Building is set up sort of like a barn with nice decorations (including a nilgai on walls), live (probably on Fri and Sat nites, not sure about this, but they did have an area for a small band) and piped country music, and a bar. All in all, more or less like a Texas honky-tonk. In short, I felt right at home even tho this is a relatively new building. There is a nice outside dining area but this was about 4:00 PM and our balmy Texas weather was right at 105 on my car's themometer, so, not surprisingly, we chose the inside ACed area. Everyone we interacted with or met was friendly and smiling, the Texas way. I thought one of the signs on the wall, "It's not my job" was retired." was telling. They all, even the ones who had nothing to do with our actual meal were outgoing, asked if we had enjoyed our meal, etc.

I told the smiling cutter that we wanted that brisket bark that they normally cut away. It was very good, with plenty of excellent mesquite flavor, a solid but unobtrusive rub, and a very tender inside. The ribs were good but not quite as good as the brisket. The shrimp bitelets were also quite tasty but, again, not quite up to their regular Q IMO. As readers who have followed my posts know, I'm not the biggest smoked sausage fan but this sausage with small chunks of jalapeno inside was a superior product. Not overly greasy and very tasty with just enought spice not to burn the uninitiated to the ground. Personally, it could have been a bit hotter to my tastes, but then again, I like both my food and women HOT. Try it, you'll like it and the sausage is good too.

Sauce was kind of strange. Tomato based, but dark with a strange flavor. At first I hated it but it kind of grew on me and it became tolerable. Still, definitely not to my tastes, but at least it is not Cattleman's spiced up.

Meats only, I'd give this place a solid B+, throw in the atmosphere and I'd make it a B+++. Highly recommended if you're picking up some non-Texans at DFW airport and you want to introduce them to an easily accessible Texas style Q joint.

I know it's not connoisseur, but I kinda like Soulmans BBQ in Rockwall off I-30. The brisket most days.

If you're ever in Memphis and want the best dry rub ribs in world, stop by the Charlie Vergo's Rendezvous in downtown Memphis. For just a regular BBQ sandwich Tops BBQ (many locations) is hard to beat.

Terry

I'm not sure there is such a thing as connoisseur Q. But then again, I would have said the same thing about Mexican until I ate at an AMAZING Mexican restaurant "Mi Dia" in Grapevine yesterday.

There's actually 2 Soulman's in that area, one on N side of I30 by a gas station in (probably)Royse City, but close to Rockwall on the East, and a new one basically in the Rockwall "strip" on the S side of I30. I've been tempted to stop many times but it's close enough to Dallas that I haven't, but will soon. I even suggested it on the trip above, but #1 son said, "Let's go through Dallas before rush hour." Smart kid, even if he is related to me or the mailman.

Report will follow shortly, I promise.

I've also been kind of thinking of a Q run to Memphis, it's not all that far and a fairly easy run on 30. Hopefully before too long, especially if I can come up with another reason to go in that direction. I like to combine trips if possible.

Well, this isn't my normal review method, but I believe it to be accurate enough for making a Q dining decision. I had some business to transact with a good friend in Ft. Worth. We had been discussing a Texas Q Safari for a while and I had been kidding him about Ft. Worth Q. So, he said, "Ok, a**hole (he knows me well), come on over, and I'll buy some good local Q and we'll sample and grade it while feeding the office and friends." Seemed like a deal to me......So bright (ummmm, in the case of my son, not so bright, he rarely jumps up bright eyed and bushy tailed, especially at 5 AM) and early yesterday morning we took off for Ft. Worth. Arrived about 8:30 and took care of our business while eagerly awaiting one of his crew that was assigned to go out and gather the Q.

Finally, it arrived and we dug in.....my friend bought 3 pounds of ribs and 3 pounds of brisket from 3 places (18 pounds total) along with sides . Adam and I contributed our appetites, some home grown peppers courtesy of my wife that will really light you up but are not "burn you down" hot, and my daughter had made one of her specialties, a banana pudding, which is particularly good eating, if I do say so myself. There were something on the order of 12 people who ate, most of whom were at least semi-knowledgeable Q eaters (after all, this is Texas, ya know), their picks more or less matched mine and my friends and the details follow:

42)Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-b-ques, 301 Stockyards Blvd., Ft. Worth, Texas, just a stone's throw from Billy Bob's Texas. (my overall grade B+)

Cooper's, which is branching out into a junior chain from the very well known original location in Llano, is highly cussed and discussed on the net for this location. It's been a while since I ate at the Llano location, and this goes against the widely held opinion, but from memory, I liked this locations Q much better than the original. Note I am referring to Q ONLY, not ambiance, which the Llano location with it's numerous pits, burnt in grease and smoke layers wins hands down.

The ribs were good, but probably the worst of the 3 sampled, for two reasons, they weren't cooked as long thus lacking more smoke flavor, and because of this they also weren't nearly as tender as the other two. This is partly because they are what we call country rib size, meaning much larger than the others, and Cooper's uses a faster hotter Q method which tends not to tenderize ribs as well because they would be overcooked before they became really fall off the rib tender. That said, they were still good and tasty, they just didn't rise above that level.

The brisket was very good. I graded it very slightly inferior to The Railhead's but just by a cat's whisker difference. Mostly on the rub flavor. As far as tenderness and smoke they were really even. Cooper's uses just salt and pepper for a rub, ala Louis Mueller's (but not as well done), and while very good, it didn't lend the flavors to the brisket that a little more complex rub, such as Railhead's, does. But still a very good product.

The sauce, which many people seem to hate, was outstanding, quite vinegary and really was a foil to the meat. One of the better ones I've tasted by far. My buddy loves it as well. OTOH my son, Adam, who seems to take after his mother wih his aversion to sour flavors hated it.

I've mentioned this earlier in this thread, but since it is getting long enough that many people are not reading my every word (sad to say, their loss..... ), I want to point out that good Q doesn't need sauce and I consider the sauce when I assign a final grade but only to a very minor extent unless it is truly awful. I consider sauce as a fine additive, sort of like chocolate sauce on good vanilla ice cream, when it is good and will dip a piece of Q in it from time to time, but mostly my Q is eaten sauceless unless it is very fine sauce indeed.

On my buddy's recommendation, I tried their beans and they were really excellent, with bits of meat and large quantities of jalapenos in the mix. Not particularly hot, but a very fine side if you like beans with your Q.

Based on the ribs, I gave Cooper's one less "plus" than Railhead, but the sauce should really make them equal IF it is to your taste.

43) The Railhead B-B-Q, 2900 Montgomery St., Ft. Worth, Texas (just S of I-30) (my overall grade: B++)

The ribs were, in my opinion, very slightly overcooked, very dark and semi-crusty, which my buddy described as typical, and quite tasty with a solid smoke flavor. I considered them to be better than acceptable but if one got a slightly less cooked batch they would have been extremely good.

The brisket more or less tied with Cooper's as the best of the 3 and is a very solid product, not wonderful, but very good. I actually gave it a very slight edge to Cooper's, but it was really too close to call on a single sample. Further research is called for. Cooked with much of the fat layer on which gives it that good taste and tenderness (we won't discuss the negative heart healthy aspects, after all this is Q eating, not a gym class) that brisket connoisseurs love. It was fall apart tender without being dry and had a decent rub and solid smoke ring. Very high quality product.

I didn't try any of the sides, but the sauce was an almost cloyingly sweet tomato base which I really didn't like. It might satisfy the Kraft style Q sauce fans, but waaay too sweet for me.

44)Woody Creek Bar-B-Q, 6986 Green Oaks Rd., Ft. Worth, Tx. (my overall grade: B-)

This was a semi-secret Q spot of my buddies. It can't be all that secret since this is their second location from the original in Springtown, Tx, a small community about 30 mi NW of Ft. Worth. They're doing something right to be able to expand.

This was one of those good news, bad news, spots. The good news is that the ribs were clearly the best IMO and definitely rose to the extremely good level. Well cooked, falling off the bone tender, and just damn fine eating. Very highly recommended. Based just on the ribs, they ran away with it IMO.

The bad news was the brisket. They choose to trim almost all of the fat off BEFORE cooking (many do it after, usually by just scraping it off as they cut it) and this makes for a tougher and, of course, leaner end product. Decent but that's about all and that might be bit more than it deserves. The differences might not have been so obvious if the ribs had not been so outstanding. I have rarely been to a Q joint where the differences in quality between the two primary meats were so stark.

The sauce was sweet, tomato based, not as bad as Railhead's but very ordinary. Based only on ribs this would be the star of the 3 but with the brisket I had to drop it down to a B-.

If you want some damn fine ribs in Ft. Worth, go here first.

That's all, but everyone loved my daughter's banana pudding (B++ ), which is fairly simple to make and quite good.

Monday I had to drive to Shreeveport. On the way up, I stopped in Bryan for lunch at a place called Sodolaks. Never been there before. Ordered the brisket plate. Holy Cow!! They brought out a "lunch" plate that must've had 1/2 lb of brisket on it. And it was so soft that I had trouble keeping it on the fork. Damn good! And the sweet tea was served in ginormous mason jars. Good choices for sides available and you got to have two! All that food for $8.99.
I'm in love. <3

Gato,remember to check out Smokey Mo's next time you're in the Austin area. They have won the central Tx. BBQ award the last 6 years running at least that's what the papers say. It
is good BBQ + the beans are to die for.

Thanks for the tip, twice.

I'll make it a point to stop at the one in Round Rock on my next trip to Austin. I'm not sure who gave them awards (I can't find any record for them winning any awards but that certainly doesn't mean it didn't happen), but they're going to have to be incredible to beat some other older better known names in the Austin area.

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
I know it's not connoisseur, but I kinda like Soulmans BBQ in Rockwall off I-30. The brisket most days.

If you're ever in Memphis and want the best dry rub ribs in world, stop by the Charlie Vergo's Rendezvous in downtown Memphis. For just a regular BBQ sandwich Tops BBQ (many locations) is hard to beat.

Terry

quote:

There's actually 2 Soulman's in that area, one on N side of I30 by a gas station in (probably)Royse City, but close to Rockwall on the East, and a new one basically in the Rockwall "strip" on the S side of I30. I've been tempted to stop many times but it's close enough to Dallas that I haven't, but will soon.

Well, "soon" came along sooner than I really expected. I had some business to do in Ft. Worth yesterday and took the friend I do business with to Mi Dia (VERY highly recommended but it ain't cheap), a gourmet Mexican restaurant I "discovered" in Grapevine for an early lunch. We proceeded back to his office in Arlington and finished our business transactions which took a while.

On the way home, I was passing through Rockwall/Royse City on I30 and was slightly hungry and more thirsty (couldn't have had anything to do with the salt encrusted Margarita earlier, I'm sure )so I figured, "WTH, let's stop at Soulman's in Royse City and get a drink and some Q and check it out." It was literally a last second decision to take the off ramp, which leads to this review.....

45) Soulman's Bar-B-Q, 818 E. I-30, Royse City, Tx (overall grade B--)

This is kind of a tough review. As food or a to-go meal it is quite good. As the poster above mentioned, it ain't "connoisseur" Q, as a matter of fact, IMO, it is barely Q at all. I asked for and received my standard of a pound of ribs and a pound of sliced brisket to go, along with some sauce and a Coke.

The ribs were quite tasty, very tender but with basically NO Q flavor. They had the slightest amount of rub on them with zero smoke line.

The brisket has a bit of smoke, was tender, very slightly dry but was a solid meat product, with little reflection of real Q.

Folks were Texas friendly and place has a pleasant Q joint atmosphere with lots on sides available cafeteria style.

Sauce was decent, tomato based but not overly sweet.

As I said, hard to grade this one, it has a very decent commercial Q quality ribs and brisket with very little relationship to real Q. I'd have no problem eating there again (but will probably try the one in Rockwall, a few miles to the West before stopping here again) but it is what it is. My overall grade B-- simply because of the lack of relationship to smoked Q and real Q flavor but the food quality is very acceptable, beats the hell out of McDonald's, that's for sure and, unless you're there at prime meal time, the service is at least as quick.

I'm in solid Q overdose territory, but feel certain I will recover. I had to take my son to UT Austin to check into his dorm room yesterday. We left about 9:30 arriving Austin about 3. The next few hours were taken by moving his giant pile of stuff into his room. Then, he said, "Well, I need a few things from Walmart, like clothes washing detergent (never washed the first T shirt AFAIK)." Never one to waste an opportunity for Q exploration, I said, "Let's run up to the one in Round Rock and maybe check out the Salt Lick". Not being a dummy, he agreed and we drove the 20 mi or so N. to dine, after Walmart's at......

46) The Salt Lick, 3350 E. Palm Valley Blvd. (Hwy 79, roughly 4 mi E of I-35), Round Rock, Tx. (Overall grade B++)

This one is another tough one to grade. We arrived about the time the Round Rock Express (AAA TX Ranger's minor league club) game was starting at the Dell Diamond, which is next to The Salt Lick. This version which has been here about 5 years is supposed to be based on the original in Driftwood. Whoever was the architect did a great job, very nice and very well done. Looks like an old Texas homestead, we walked in on a long porch with a guitar player to the left in the courtyard with tables and a bar on the back. Some beautiful old oaks in one corner. I kind of wanted to sit outside, it was down to a cool low 90s and about dark and the patio had fans, a bar, and the live music, but Adam is not fond of heat, so he said "Inside, please". We talked to the hostess and she said it would be quicker if we sat and ate at the bar. Sounded like a helluva good idea to me. This place is LARGE inside, with seating for at least 200 people and it was basically full. The only Q place I've been that was larger is Kreuz' in Lockhart and that is a real BARN. (see review above)

At any rate, we walked in, and the pits and cutting/serving area are to the immediate right and the bar, which seated maybe 10 places is on the opposite side to the left. We sat down and both bartenders, Josh and Cory, can only be complimented on their Texas manners. As a matter of fact, everyone we associated with was classically Texas friendly and it made the experience all that much better. I ordered a Shiner Pale Ale Draught for a start and we looked at menu.

A quick glance at the menu convinced both of us to go for the "All you can eat" at $19.95 per person. Adam and I had not eaten all day and were hungry. We so ordered one of those apiece and VERY shortly, we had sides (potatoes, cole slaw, beans, and onions and pickles) along with bread in front of us. Almost immediately followed by a HUGE plate of sliced brisket, ribs, and sausage. And when I say huge, I mean it. It had to weigh at LEAST 2 pounds and I'm used to judging Q wts. I thought, "Man, they really give you plenty of meat for only 2 people." And THEN, they bought Adam's plate of meat out, it was nearly as large. I'm thinking, "You've got to be kidding me, we can't eat anything like this much meat."

So we dug in and I ordered a Austin Amber Draught (very good microbrew from Austin duh!, it is closer to dark than amber) to accompany the the Q assualt. This brings us the star of the whole meal, IMO, the sauces. The sauces, which were invented by Hisako, the Hawaiian born Japanese descent wife of the founder, is really hard to describe and is like no other Q sauce you've ever tasted. It has no tomato content at all and comes in 2 versions, standard and hot. I LOVED both of them, leaning very slightly towards the hotter version (which is what I would describe as slightly warm, not really HOT) and Adam leaned towards the standard. They actually are different sauces, not one sauce with peppers added to make the "hot" version.

There is much discussion of these sauces on the net, with some purists hating them and others loving them. We are firmly in the latter group. Personally it is probably the best Q sauce I've ever had.

The 3 meats were fairly easy to judge, we both thought the brisket was by far the best, followed by the ribs and, slightly behind the ribs, the sausage, in that order. BUT to be honest, all 3 were good solid Q but even the brisket which was tender and had some smoke flavor (oak) was just a good product, not rising to the level of the better Qs.

The cole slaw, which I am not normally very fond of, usually being too sweet and drenched in mayo, deserves its own mention. Shredded cabbage with a dressing that is basically a slightly sweet vinagrette. Excellent to my taste. OTOH I thought the beans were not all that great. YMMV.

So we are stuffed with about a 1/2 pound of various Qs left out of the original 4 pounds, and we say to Cory, our bartender, "We know it's all you can eat, (where normally, in most restaurants,they won't let you take home leftovers) but we sure hate to see this go to waste." He smiled,handed us a to go box, and, Whoa, in about 30 seconds a THIRD giant plate of Q arrived. Cory smiled, and said, "We want to be sure everyone is happy." Adam called me tonight and said he and his roomate had finished that pile today. Thanks and a big tip and a tip of the hat to Cory.

Which brings me to why this is so hard to grade, based just on Q, I'd give them a B or even a B-, but factor in the sauce, the atmosphere, and the friendly staff and it has to be a B+ and probably should be higher. (Note: After thinking about it for another day and considering the superior quality of the overall experience I have added a "plus" to the rating) If I was going to take someone who didn't know squat about Texas or Texas Q to a place to have a Q dinner and a good time, this would be the spot. Don't misunderstand me, the Q is really very acceptable, it just is not outstanding.

I'd strongly suggest you try this or the original in Driftwood (which I went to just after it opened in the late 60s but barely remember it, possibly due to other strange substances in the air )for yourself and make your own decision. I'd almost guarantee you'll enjoy the experience. If your party is small, 2 or 3, I can't say enough nice things about the bartenders, so I'd sit there if I wasn't going to sit outside.

So today, I drove to Snow's in Lexington early this morning, arriving before 8, and then stopped by Carter's Q in Longview to cap the Q day off. Reviews to follow.

The Salt Lick does have great BBQ.Glad you + your son made a safe trip.Hope he enjoys U.T.

NC:

I'd say that the Salt Lick is a great experience, not really great Q, but, like I said, we really enjoyed it, whatever one likes about it.

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.

....just to let you know that I *LOVE* your reports. But, I am forced to enjoy the BBQ only in my imagination, darn it.

I chose a slightly longer and slower route back home, since I had Snow's Q and it was a beautiful partly cloudy Texas morning. Given no time urgency, I like to drive the back roads. I always see many interesting sights and places to file away for future visits.

At any rate, finally got to Longview about 12, and was looking forward to getting home in about an hour and a half. But I was driving N on 259 and drove by this converted gas station Q joint that has been there for several years and figured, "WTH, let's give it a roll." I've had it on my list for a while. So we wheeled into......

48) Carter's Bar-B-Q, 519 S Eastman Rd. (Hwy 259, a couple of miles N of I-20) Longview, Tx 75602 My overall grade B--

Walked in and ordered the standard of a pound each ribs/brisket. No use in beating this to death, the brisket was the ordinary variety I've been running into a lot lately (Soulman's being a prime example) and the ribs were just a tad better. Neither were bad, but neither were notable either. Sauce was tomato based, sweet, but not horribly so. Average.

Folks were friendly but busy as it was main lunch hour. Decent Q but only worth stopping if you're driving N on 259.

And now I'm caught up on my reviews, can't wait for the next Qexpedition.

soo which restaurant is number one ? Been to TX twice but never had any "real BBQ" that you guys are so famous for.

Well, like women, your "best" may not be mine.

That said, of the places I've tried, I'd have to rank Louie Mueller's of Taylor the best. But, Mr. Bobby Mueller (son of Louie, who had run the Q joint for many years) passed away a few years back (2008) and whether the difficult tradition AND WORK (they say Bobby worked at his craft 90 hours a week)of maintaining top quality Q will continue is debatable. The deterioration, if it happens, won't come all at once, but slowly. To date, the Q is still wonderful to my tastes. One of Bobby's sons has opened a place in Austin which I have not tried yet.

There are numerous places that might be better, Franklin's in Austin is getting a lot of good reviews but I haven't been there YET. I'm sure it won't be long now that I have a UT student in family.

And, don't forget, anyone can have a bad day or a relatively poor piece of meat. Consistency is one of the hallmarks of a great Q joint.

Of the places that are somewhat accessible for a visitor and give a great Texas Q experience while being entertaining, I'd recommend The Salt Lick (I've only been to the new one in Round Rock) but many people maintain that the original in Driftwood is better.....both are relatively close to Austin.

If you land at DFW airport, the Hard 8 in Coppell is worth a visit (maybe 10 minutes from terminal D).....not truly great Q but a solid Texas Q type place and a good experience.

Gatogordo, let me know when you are in austin, the lines at franklins are BRUTAl, like 2 to 3 hours every day, and they run out by 1pm....

We usually preorder (at least 5 pounds and a week in advance) to avoid the line.

If you let me know when you are coming, you are welcome to eat with us one of the days we preorder.

Patricio

Patricio:

I certainly appreciate the invitation and I might take advantage of your generosity. One of my least favorite things in this world is waiting in line (2-3 hours is absolutely out of the question, and 30 minutes would really be pushing my patience). The only problem is my "schedule" is very often set at the last minute but I'll keep it in mind.

What do you think of Franklin's Q?

Are you still a student at UT?

Gato
Enjoyed your reviews, but haven't tried any of your spots yet, except for the one in Luling. You generally downgrade the sauce it seems. What constitutes a good sauce in your opinion? And is there anything like that commercially available?

As another lifelong Texan and one who has consumed several hundred pounds of brisket, ribs, sausage, and so forth, I heartily recommend Brian's in the sprawling metropolis of Clute. Brian Devine owns the place, and his food is as good as it gets. Prices are extraordinarily fair considering what beef costs nowadays, and the sides are worth the drive themselves.

And FWIW, I have eaten at Cooper's, Hard Eight in Stephenville, and lots of others. Brian's is better than either of the first two, and they consistently battle for "best in Texas" bragging rights...

quote:

Originally posted by Mikelravy:
Gato
Enjoyed your reviews, but haven't tried any of your spots yet, except for the one in Luling. You generally downgrade the sauce it seems. What constitutes a good sauce in your opinion? And is there anything like that commercially available?

I generally downgrade the sauce because most of it is poor and often is simply an opened container of one of the commercial sauces. I don't particularly like sweet sauces, which immediately includes about 75% of what you are served. Cattlemans', sold in large containers in Sam's is often used as a base for Q sauce, or just used as the Q sauce without any additions. It isn't bad, just not good. I like sauces which complement the meat, not coat it in sugar. Relatively few places do this and most of those who do use vinegar to cut the sweet tomato flavor. I don't know of any commercial sauces that I really like. I'm sure there are some, but I don't buy them all that often. See my earlier post about making your own.

Thanks Gato I'll try it although getting decent q in PA is a real problem

Off topic, but I grew up using and loving Heinz 57 Steak Sauce back in the 50s and 60s. It had a distinctly tangy flavor. Somewhere along in the 70s some marketing genius decided that the flavor was "too old", "too sharp" or whatever and changed it to some kind of slightly honey mustard base taste type. I don't keep track of it but I think they have now changed it back to a compromise between the "new" flavor and the one I grew up with. Still a shadow of it's former self. I would dearly love to have the original recipe.

BTW I think sauces, steak or Q, should be a complement to the meat, not a coating or replacement flavor. When I eat good Q or good steaks, I might dip every 3rd or 5th bite into the sauce just as a change. The old black folks, for the last century at least, knew that vinegar and vinegar flavored sauce is a good foil for pork. I think the same holds true for good brisket since it is also fatty. In general, if they cut the fat off the brisket before cooking, it is not nearly as good.

All this post and all of my other opinion's on Q are my own and do not necessarilry reflect those of this site or other's who may well hold the exact opposite view for their tastes and we will both be correct. Well.....probably not.....

quote:

Originally posted by Mikelravy:
Thanks Gato I'll try it although getting decent q in PA is a real problem

Well, I've already confessed that I'm not a very good Q cooker (it will do, but is not great...the patience factor again) so I am hesitant to give Q cooking advice but cooking very decent Q is not difficult, it takes slow heat, smoke and time.

Of course having a "standard" Q pit helps, but it can easily be done in your backyard. If you've got some spare concrete blocks or bricks and some tin or metal siding around it is no big deal to make one and it can be removed without major effort. Any Q pit has 3 major parts, the fire area, the smoking area, and the chimney or smoke stack. The fire pit is usually separated from the smoking area but not always, it can be off to one side which is really easier to build. Easiest and simplest directions are to build a rectangle, longer than wide and have your rack on the smoke stack end and the fire pit on the other. Except for the rack, which can often be salvaged from an old grill type "barbecue pit", a perfectly usable pit can be built out of tin and some rebar or short posts to make the corners using wire to hold the tin in place. I haven't tried it without a stack but if the pit is long enough a simple opening cut in the tin cover might work well. For an initial cheap effort, you could use stove pipe (thinking about it a stove pipe would probably be too large unless you use a damper on it) or a smaller piece of pipe about 4 feet tall as a stack. Start the fire, let it burn down to a decent amount of coals and add the smoking wood, which in your area would likely be oak or hickory. Most fruit woods are good too, just DON'T use resinous woods such as pine or fir. The smoking woods MUST be dried, not green cut. Some people soak them in water to slow down the burn process but that is usually left to home Qers. Cover pit with tin, at least two pieces, three might be better, one for stack arrangement cutting out an opening on one end for the chimney or the smoke escape hole,one for access to meat, and one for access to fire to add smoking wood. It's possible, depending on how long your pit is, how big the fire is, etc that it might helpful or be essential to put up a "fire wall" blocking some of the direct heat from the meat. This could simply be a piece of tin about 3/4 or so as high as the pit where the heat would be somewhat reflected and the smoke would flow out the opening onto the meat.

Take some pork shoulder (Boston Butt), pork ribs, or a brisket (fat on) and rub it well with a 2-1-1 mixture of salt, black pepper (large grind) and cayenne (it won't cook through as hot but if someone is really worried about being too hot, they can cut back or skip it). Boston butt and ribs cook fairly fast by Q standards, brisket can take many hours (if you're cooking hot, 6 would be about a minimum)depending on heat of fire. With a home built pit such as above, you'll have to experiment but the results will rarely be bad and may amaze you at how good they are. If you want dead tender, wrap meats in heavy foil with the bottom sealed where it will hold juices for all but the last couple of hours of cooking, then open foil or take foil off. Won't be as heavily smoked, but I guarantee you'll like results. If you're experimenting (most of us always are)cut a slice as you cook it, and if it is still tough, cook it some more as you add beer to cook.

If there are only a couple of people at home, there is no crime in cutting a brisket in two and freezing the second half for later. Or call the neighbors over as long as they're not anti-gun/hunting.

These are the barest of outlines on building a potential cheap Q pit, but the general theory is all that is needed, which is that the fire (heat) must be far enough removed from the meat so that it cooks slowly while absorbing smoke and the smoke escape should usually be restricted somewhat. BTW obviously with metal siding, you're going to have some REALLY hot spots on the fire end, take this into account if ANY children are in the ares.

Great! I'm in the metal fabricating business so this has been on the back burner for awhile.
Thanks!
ps I've been hunting with a lot of my neighbors already.

Great just build one that looks like this one by Gator Pits and you'll be good to go anywhere.......

A guy I know a little has a smaller, but still large version of that. His is called the Smokeasauras. Works great.
I'm gonna get to work on it, you are making me hungry. PA just doesn't do q right.