Thread: Smartie's BBQ Bar & Grill #32

Come on in and take a load off, folks -- life's too short to argue politics all the time so no political wrangling allowed here! Live entertainment, free drinks & an endless jukebox... can't beat that deal!!!

Gonna do a little tour of BBQ joints this time around. I'll start with some Texas classics... then let's see what you got!

Mmmmmm, BBQ. This is how we do it in Texas: Salt Lick BBQ, Driftwood, TX

Review: The Salt Lick BBQ is a legendary barbecue restaurant that has reduced two of my family members to tears. Over the years, the Lick has become a Hill Country tourist attraction, but it’s still hard to beat their family-style dinner ($18.95 per person) – all you can eat platters of bronzed pork ribs, luscious brisket and taut pork sausage. Be sure to request refills of burnt ends, the prized outside pieces of brisket that are caramelized and chewy from smoke-buffeted sauce applications. Dinner comes with helpings of German potato salad (with mustard and onions), cole slaw (with celery seed), pinto beans and white bread. Slather on The Salt Lick’s classic vinegar and mustard-based barbecue sauce, or a habanero version that’s a lighter shade of orange, with more kick.

Beverage anyone?

Woot!

I smelled that way -> -> over there!

And I recognize that pit right off!

I used to live about 7 mins from the Salt Lick. It's an Austin signature restaurant.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAtmhPUAg4U"]Good time for this one...[/ame]

City Market – Luling, TX

Review: Up the road in Lockhart, you’ll find mammoth barbecue barns selling many more meats and sides, but none can match the simple perfection of City Market. The menu couldn’t be simpler: beef brisket, pork ribs, and hot sausage links. The pit man lifts the lid to reveal a smoker full of perfect house-made sausage links. Experts carve ribs and brisket on the wood block. It would be a mistake not to order pork ribs, brisket and sausage links, the holy trinity of central Texas barbecue. Ribs and links get no better, and the brisket, with its nice outer char, certainly holds its own. The ribs have an unbeatable caramelized crust, which lock in the essential juices of the pork. The link features a coarse texture and an unrivaled peppery kick. An old hot sauce bottle housed a sensational burnt-orange barbecue sauce that nearly matched the zing of its previous tenant.


Louie Mueller Barbecue- Taylor, TX

Review: American Airlines Flight 1182 from LAX to Austin might as well be called the Brisket Express. Every spring, my father, brother and I meet at the Bergstrom baggage claim and quickly turn to the most important matter in any trip with a barbecue bent: where to eat first. In 2007, we already planned to end our weekend planned to end our weekend at The Salt Lick, so we needed an equally formidable launching pad. Louie Mueller Barbecue has been “a Texas tradition since 1949” and ensconced in its current location since 1959. Louie passed away in 1992, but son Bobby has done wonders to further his father’s legacy. He revealed the meats are smoked for 6-8 hours using oak, depending on the cut of meat. Brisket is nice and juicy, with at least a quarter-inch smoke ring and a caramelized exterior. Pork ribs are bronzed and peppery, with an addictive chew. Course sausage links have a nice kick and are pleasantly greasy, with taut skins.

Black's Barbecue - Lockhart, TX

Review: The oldest barbecue house in Texas that’s been continually operated by the same family dates to 1932. As in most central Texas barbecue establishments, smokers are accessed using a weighted pully system. Here, the black smokers are housed in red brick. A pit man wields a cleaver and a knife. On our visit, we scored a sausage link, brisket, pork ribs and pork loin, along with a dish of the house barbecue sauce. The sausage was coarse and peppery and the brisket was slightly fatty, but that translated into unbelievable flavor and fork tenderness. The pork ribs had a nice chew to them, and the pork loin, available only on weekends, had a gamy tenderness.


Thanks, Josh -- great tour!

Top 5 Texas Hill Country Barbecue Joints

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ubTQfr_tyY"]The BBQ Song[/ame]

*throws sawdust on floor*

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsZL10oxPwY"]It's Only Make Believe[/ame]

Originally Posted by Smartmouthwoman

City Market – Luling, TX

Review: Up the road in Lockhart, you’ll find mammoth barbecue barns selling many more meats and sides, but none can match the simple perfection of City Market. The menu couldn’t be simpler: beef brisket, pork ribs, and hot sausage links. The pit man lifts the lid to reveal a smoker full of perfect house-made sausage links. Experts carve ribs and brisket on the wood block. It would be a mistake not to order pork ribs, brisket and sausage links, the holy trinity of central Texas barbecue. Ribs and links get no better, and the brisket, with its nice outer char, certainly holds its own. The ribs have an unbeatable caramelized crust, which lock in the essential juices of the pork. The link features a coarse texture and an unrivaled peppery kick. An old hot sauce bottle housed a sensational burnt-orange barbecue sauce that nearly matched the zing of its previous tenant.

I have also dined here. Yummmm. IMHO, City Market is much better than the Salt Lick.
City Market is very traditional, the real deal. Salt Lick is bbq tweaked, unique, Austintascious.

*sets peanuts out*.....*cracks two - pops in mouth - tosses shells on floor*

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPNVii9wRU0"]*kicks juker*[/ame]

Originally Posted by gypzy

Woot!

I smelled that way -> -> over there!

And I recognize that pit right off!

I used to live about 7 mins from the Salt Lick. It's an Austin signature restaurant.

Good time for this one...

LUV IT!!!

Also never heard it! Where do you come up with this stuff, Gypz???

This is how we do it out here in the wild wild west.