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[Food] Best BBQ in Houston

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by bobmarley, Feb 13, 2013.

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droopy421 Member

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Just stopped by Gatlin's apparently they are sold out of all meat early on Fridays and Saturdays, nice lady at the counter. Just have to try it another time, now I'm in the mood for bbq so I'll probably try one of the other places I have yet to visit.

#81 droopy421, Feb 16, 2013

Mr. Clutch Member

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I like Hickory Hollow too.

#82 Mr. Clutch, Feb 16, 2013
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My son was sick so we just went to Luling. Holy **** those were some tasty ribs and awesome brisket. Didnt need sauce. Will definitely be eating there again.

#83 moestavern19, Feb 16, 2013
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moestavern19 said: ↑

My son was sick so we just went to Luling. Holy **** those were some tasty ribs and awesome brisket. Didnt need sauce. Will definitely be eating there again.
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go

to

GATLINS

.

#84 SWTsig, Feb 16, 2013
Mr. Clutch Member

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GATLINS

to

go

.

#85 Mr. Clutch, Feb 17, 2013
moestavern19 Member

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**** that ****, I'm not standing in line for an hour with a sick 1 year old.

#86 moestavern19, Feb 17, 2013
droopy421 Member

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Like I said, went to Gatlin's Saturday and they were sold out before I got there. Went and tried Pizzitola's, good ribs, not much else was good though.

#87 droopy421, Feb 18, 2013

HeWhoIsLunchbox Member

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Mr. Clutch said: ↑

I like Hickory Hollow too.
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Went there yesterday and got the chopped beef sandwich. It wasn't overly impressive. Fries were pretty good though. I'll probably be going back, but mostly because it's the closest BBQ joint.

#88 HeWhoIsLunchbox, Feb 18, 2013
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HeWhoIsLunchbox said: ↑

Went there yesterday and got the chopped beef sandwich. It wasn't overly impressive. Fries were pretty good though. I'll probably be going back, but mostly because it's the closest BBQ joint.
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Not a fan of their BBQ, but they have some great Catfish and one damn good chicken fried steak.

#89 LonghornFan, Feb 18, 2013
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LonghornFan said: ↑

Not a fan of their BBQ, but they have some great Catfish and one damn good chicken fried steak.
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I'll have to try the chicken fried steak next time I go.

#90 HeWhoIsLunchbox, Feb 18, 2013
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On the way to Dallas this weekend we stopped in Waco and tried to eat BBQ at Tony DaMaria's. Line was crazy!! They ran out by 12:30pm!!

Then again it is one of the top 50 BBQ places in Texas so says Texas Monthly.

He told me next time if I call ahead he will hold some for me though. Nice guy.

No Brisket left so I ate sausage, beans, and potato salad. All was splendid.

#91 bobmarley, Feb 18, 2013
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droopy421 said: ↑

Like I said, went to Gatlin's Saturday and they were sold out before I got there. Went and tried Pizzitola's, good ribs, not much else was good though.
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Pizzitola's is only good for ribs and banana pudding. The rest is mediocre

#92 Blake, Feb 18, 2013
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Grand Prize in Texas City is very good.

#93 da1, Feb 18, 2013

AkeemTheDreem86 Member

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Blake said: ↑

had Luling for lunch. Brisket was good, sausage excellent and ribs okay. But that sauce makes it all worthwhile...
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That's Luling for ya. Still the best overall in Houston in my opinion.

#94 AkeemTheDreem86, Feb 18, 2013
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http://www.chron.com/life/food/arti...496.php?cmpid=entertainmenthcat#photo-4219915

The smoked turkey and the cobbler were already gone when I lined up outside the Corkscrew BBQ trailer at a quarter past noon on a recent Saturday. Said items were inscribed, with hot-pink marker, on the dreaded "Sold out" whiteboard propped against the order window.

Two dozen other hopefuls were in front of me, and the queue simmered with anticipation sharpened by a jittery dash of anxiety. Houstonians of every flavor swapped barbecue intelligence and debated about what they were going to order. ("Get the brisket," I told anyone who'd listen.) They even discussed the finer points of cobbler, notwithstanding the fact that they wouldn't get any today.

They craned their necks and stood on tiptoe to see what new items had appeared on the "Sold out" sign. When "sausage" went on the sign at precisely 12:53 p.m., a muffled groan was heard. A burly fellow who discovered that they were out of baked potatoes - he'd wanted the pulled-pork number with pico de gallo and poblano ranch dressing for his mom - silently mouthed a mild epithet, turning aside as he did so in deference to Corkscrew's tongue-in-cheek reminder: "We sell out every day! Please, no whining."

People whine anyway. That's because Will and Nichole Buckman, the dedicated young couple that runs this sleek barbecue trailer, are producing barbecue of the sort that inspires fierce yearnings. They're Houston's answer to Austin's new-generation barbecue couple, Aaron and Stacy Franklin, who run the sainted Franklin Barbecue and who, like the Buckmans, started out in a trailer.

As at Franklin, selling out is a good thing at Corkscrew, which opens at 11 a.m. and closes when all the meat it sold. "We fill the pit up, cook all night, and that's what we have for the day, and when it's gone, it's gone," the Buckmans explain on their website. So unsold meats aren't held over to the next day, their moisture levels and textures hopelessly compromised. And as at Franklin, the wait becomes its own semi-sacred rite of passage, a social occasion and passion play of sorts.

On a busy weekend, it took me half an hour to reach the order window, but oh, the triumph I felt when my name was called 10 minutes later, after Will Buckman meticulously cut my meat to order, and I bore my plate to a picnic table. That first bite of Buckman's brisket is always a peak experience for me: so softly pebbled is its texture, so rosy and compelling its smoke ring, so charry and well-seasoned its crust, so alluring its delicious little ribbon of well-rendered fat cap.

This is brisket I want to eat as simply as possible: savored plain, sans bread or sauce at first, and later with a torn-off chunk of white bread, a sliver of raw onion and just the tiniest dab of the Buckmans' sauce. That sauce is too Texas-sweet for my tastes, but there's enough vinegar tang to make it suitable in small doses, and I'm not here for the sauce, anyway.

I'm here for spicy-salty pork-sausage links with snappy casings, coarsely ground and popping with juice; or for majestic, carefully trimmed ribs swabbed with a distinctive rub incorporating soft, scarlet bits of red chile pepper along with black pepper and salt. The ribs may not be as barky and primal as I tend to like, but there is no arguing with the tender but resilient pork and its unusually rounded bloom of smoke flavor, a product of the red oak that Will Buckman uses. It's a trait that informs every one of his meats.

I'm here, too, for the comfortable, quirky little world the Buckmans have created on an obscure lot on the northern edge of Spring, just before that suburb turns into The Woodlands. Corkscrew's collection of neatly screened smoker shed, glossy black-and-pink trailer and arching metal RV cover - which provides shelter for a clutch of picnic tables - looks like some orderly gypsy encampment. (The adjacent Mr. Detail car business, a riot of sheds and metal carports and even a thatched palapa, with a flag snapping in the cool breeze, heightens this effect.)

Indie folk/country music filters from the sound system, and a demented hot-pink pig using a corkscrew for a pogo stick bounces across the side of the trailer. Fans stand ready to stir the air if needed. It all feels familial and nicely detailed, right down to the carefully curated array of hot sauces on display and the ceramic pig that guards a condiment table.

Riverstones crunch underfoot, the better for when it rains; and the faint scent of woodsmoke lingers in the air, the gift of the brave new smoker the Buckmans had to buy recently to meet the demand for their wares. After being open a year, they realized their old smoker was just too small.

No wonder, with even their smoked half chickens and the turkey breast way better than average - paragons, really - and an excellent version of pulled pork, crusty edged and seriously smoky. Pulled pork may not be part of the Texas barbecue canon, but the Buckmans show it can be taken seriously here.

Or not. One thing I like about Corkscrew is Nichole Buckman's playful blending of local culinary strains into the barbecue tradition. Pulled pork or brisket tacos? Why not, and why not put freshly chopped pico de gallo on top instead of barbecue sauce; and hey, what about a house-made poblano ranch dressing for good measure? Sounds nuts, tastes unexpectedly great.

So does the so-called Bobert sandwich, in which sliced brisket meets pico de gallo and poblano ranch inside a bun, a combo that shows off the rich, beefy smoked brisket flavor much better than barbecue sauce and pickles would, if the truth be known. There's even a pulled-pork stuffed potato done in this style, and I have a feeling it works better than the regular stuffed potatoes with that very sweet barbecue sauce, which grows cloying in the context after a few bites.

Nichole Buckman's sides have some personality, and I have the feeling she's just getting started. I love her sour cream potato salad with its black peppery bite; and her homey mac and cheese. The coarsely shredded slaw is all fresh crunch with only a faint tinge of sweetness, almost a neutral pop of texture against the richness of the meats and the other sides. (I wouldn't mind a little bump of acidity in the slaw to sharpen the flavors.) The beans? Too sweet to hold my interest.

The cobbler that is so quick to sell out is a shortcake type, its bottom crust deeply caramelized in places, meshed with canned peaches, or maybe cherries or blueberries. It is friendly and homespun rather than serious and, ahem, artisanal.

But there is no mistaking the seriousness of Corkscrew's meats. The brisket in particular is astonishingly consistent: this in a world where brisket is the trickiest, least consistent item of the barbecue oeuvre. The only flaw I've noticed is a tendency to oversalt. One day the turkey was too salty for me to eat more than a little; on the next visit, the salt was in balance, but the ribs and the chicken seemed overly salted.

In general, though, the quality here seems rock solid. I'd put the place in my current barbecue top three, along with Virgie's and Gatlin's. Two of my most demanding barbecue-connoisseur friends, when pressed, could not remember ever experiencing an "off day" at Corkscrew. They gladly travel the 30-some miles up Interstate 45 to Sawdust, turning left on Budde, for the Corkscrew experience.

So, I suspect, will lots of Houstonians who make the trek. Just remember: go as close to 11 a.m. as you can. Prepare to wait cheerfully, both in line and while your order is prepared. Right now Corkscrew is a tightly wound three-person operation working as carefully and efficiently as they can.

Bring your own beer if you like. Before you leave the house, check Corkscrew's Twitter feed, @CorkscrewBBQ, or its Facebook page to see if they're sold out yet. After 2 p.m., it's best to call ahead.

And try to keep the whining to a minimum
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Anyone been?

#95 Big MAK, Feb 20, 2013
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I've been going to Corkscrew for a while, was there yesterday in fact. I like it for the most part. I've never tried going on the weekend, but during the week its pretty easy to get what you want. I really like the brisket and sausage. Some of the best in town. I've had the pulled pork as well and didn't like it. It was way too sweet. They put some type of sweet sauce in it and it takes away from the smoked flavor of the pork. If you get a sliced beef sandwich, tell them to put the sauce on the side as they put too much on it. They just upgraded their trailer, but it still needs to be bigger...especially after this review, because I can see all the BBQ nerds flocking to this place

#96 ontherox21, Feb 20, 2013
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Burns BBQ is also pretty good.

#97 rocketlaunch, Feb 20, 2013
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Killens BBQ in pearland. Not quite Franklin but gettin close, and the wait isn't bad (yet)

#98 BullFan, Jun 8, 2013

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Went to Gatlins today. Waited about 45 mins, got to the counter and they were out of Ribs, Deer Sausage, and Spicy Sausage. After we ordered, they were out of the pulled pork and by 1:30 they were out of everything except brisket.

#99 le081488, Jun 8, 2013
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BullFan said: ↑

Killens BBQ in pearland. Not quite Franklin but gettin close, and the wait isn't bad (yet)
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a member of 12 years and 500 posts without a single rep? let me change that for you.

#100 cardpire, Jun 8, 2013

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