Luling City Market on Richmond Ave. right inside the loop. Went there today, got a couple links, some slaw and potato salad. The key to the link is to cut it in half, wrap it in the bread, dunk it in the sauce, and enjoy. All you really need is one. I saved my second for dinner. Demeris (sp?) on Shepard is pretty good too, although I haven't been there in years.
Pizzatola's has the best ribs in the city now that Williams has burned down. Served dry and they don't need sauce to make them good. Luling City is has good meat and sausage but I hate their sauce. It's too mustardy for my tastes. Luckily most of the time their meet is good enough to eat dry which is how I like my BBQ any way. Burns in acres homes is good. Old man burns probably burned down williams place so he could have the title best bbq in acres homes.
Harris County BBQ (290/Hwy 6) Carls BBQ (290/Telge) Goode Co. BBQ (Kirby/59) Virgil's BBQ (290/Gessner)
I have never had bad BBQ sold in a gas station. 3 for 3 so far. Whenever I see some whole in the wall gas station with a smoker outside, I want to give it a try.
I've actually had pretty decent food at some Dickey's and nasty food at others. Everyone says the original Sonny Bryan's on Inwood is the best one. I've had Sonny Bryan's before and thought it wasn't anything special, but it wasn't at the one on Inwood. Clark's Outpost is about a 30-40 mile drive north of Dallas, but it gets good reviews. I tried it once and thought it was average. I had the ribs. I may head back to give it another chance. North Main BBQ i Euless is open Fri.-Sun. and is all-you-can-eat. It has a religious following, but I think it may be due to the fact it's a BBQ buffet. I've gone 3 times and the quality of the food varies. I had some really good brisket there once. Another time I went, it was so fatty I thought I was eating snot. Their ribs are hit-or-miss. Another one people rave about is Baker's Ribs - they have a few locations. I've never been. Big Al's Smokehouse on Inwood had decent ribs the only time I tried it, but I've never been back. I think all these places have their good and bad days and good and bad times of the day. I'm tempted to take an excursion down to the Austin area this weekend and see what all the fuss is about if I'm not swamped with work. Hmmm...
I finally tried Franklin. Holy crap. I have revised my "best" list. Snow's no longer resides in first place. Brisket - 10/10 Pulled Pork - 8.5/10 Beans - 8/10 Cole slaw - 8.5/10 Overall grade - 8.75/10 The brisket really was perfect in every possible way. The pieces on my plate were all from the fatty end, thick smoke ring, crusty-black rim and DRIPPING with juice. The flavor was spicy, but well-rounded. I need to return to taste the ribs soon. The place is BYOB also... Enjoy.
The wife & I stopped by Franklin's yesterday afternoon at about 2:00 (posted closing time is 4 pm) and as soon as we stepped in line, the server informed us that they were down to just a few scrapps, which he offered for free. Although all we got was the last of the brisket, it was still out of this world! Can't wait to get back and get a more thorough sampling of the bbq goodness. Seeing as how it's just a few blocks away, i'll probably be eating there every weekend
Texas is true BBQ -- everyplace else is just about the sauce they dump on their meat to cover their crappy pit skills.
Thelma's burned down, don't think she reopened. I loved the concept, cook all she can and stay open till it's gone. She had lines wrapped around the building, but I thought it was overrated. She had instant tea for god's sake. Instant tea!! You can't do that. I love Grand Prize in Texas City, there is a chop beef and sausage link sandwich on huge slices of the best jalapeño cheese bread I've ever had. The thing has to way about 2 pounds. You get that a side and a huge tea for 5.99. Think I'm gonna have to go today
Brother in Laws off I-10 East. The ribs, the brisket, good god. Just awesome. Tiny place in the ghetto, very reasonably priced and you get A LOT of food. I eat there for lunch at least 3 times a month. Every time I pull up, there has to be every expensive car in Houston parked out front due to the CEO's and others from the plants on the ship channel. Link.
