Texas BBQ

damn!!!!!! won't be able to attend as just planned a vacation for that week.

In the past few months, have been to the three heavyweights of TX BBQ: Snows, Kreuz, and Salt Lick.

Kreuz - Have been 3-4 times. Prime rib is nothing to brag about. Pork Chops are really good. Beef ribs were not good at all. But its all about sausage and brisket over here. The jalopeno sausage is the perfect blend of spicy and juicy and full of flavor. The brisket is moist and flavorful.


Salt Lick - Did not have one bad item here. Everything was 8/10 or above. Sausage was juicy, baby back ribs were fall off the bone tender and their moist brisket was absolutely amazing!

Snows - Chicken is okay, sausage is okay, the pork chops kinda sucked. But Snows is all about brisket. And man oh man their brisket might be the single most flavorful piece of meat that has entered my mouth. The first bite you take just makes you think the world has come to a complete stop and its all about you and that wonderful piece of meat sitting in front of you. Miss Tootsie is God and her brisket is my religion. One might think the brisket is good at Kreuz and Salt Licks and it is, but if you ever taste Snows brisket it will ruin all others for you. If you are a bbq fan then you are doing yourself a great disservice if you haven't driven to Snows to have the brisket.

 

Franklin BBQ in Austin has brisket at least on par with Snow's. Check it.

 

I don't see Franklin BBQ at this year's Texas Monthly competition. That sucks. Wanted to try them out. I guess I'm just going to have to drop by. Are they a "real store" now, because I thought I read they used to serve out of a roadside trailer or something.

I'm interested in trying Buzzie's since they apparently tied with Snow's for the best brisket at last year's competition. I also remember reading a while back that Buzzie's would be opening a location in Houston, but I'm not sure that's still a go or not.

 

am i the only one that thinks salt lick, while not bad, is incredibly overrated? its got a national reputation b/c people come to austin and they always want to eat there.

like watching the bats come out of the congress bridge - the only time i go there is w/ out-of-towners (at least the ones i cant convince to go to louie mullers, mikeskas, blacks or smittys instead). dont get me wrong, its not bad at all, but when you have at least 10 better bbq joints w/in a 45 minute radius of austin what is the point? it takes about 20-25 minutes to get there from downtown. it doesnt take much longer to get to the true texas bbq meccas that are taylor and lockhart, so why even waste your time w/ salt lick?

 

this.

the que is decent enough, no doubt, but if i'm going to drive 20-30 mins outside of austin for que it isn't going to be for salt lick. it's definitely fun to haul your own booze and have a damn good time outside but i usually only go when someone from out of town wants to go.

 

Their bbq is good. Their sides are good, and their sauce, if you're into that sort of thing, is better than everyone else's. And it's BYOB, and out in the country. When I lived in Austin, I took it for granted. Now I live in the Bay area, where bbq mostly sucks. I'd kill for Salt lick right now. I got a pulled pork bbq sandwich from a food truck here last night, and it was terrible. The sauce was super sweet and there was a freaking ton if it. There was little to no smoke flavor. God dam I miss Texas bbq sometimes. Even Salt Lick.

 

I agree its not very good and Ive been going or 20+ yrs. its all about the atmosphere there. Their potato salad is good though, I actually googled the recipe and copied it a few weeks ago.

Franklins is the best in Austin and its not even close. gotta get there early

for all of central Texas its Franklins, snows, coopers, smittys and kreutz in no particular order. this thread makes me want to take a trip to lockhart for dinner

 

I remember Food Network or Travel Channel having some show about the 100 best places to eat or something in the nation. They got to some restaurant that was on the East Coast and one of the people they interviewed at that restaurant was wearing a Salt Lick BBQ shirt. I thought that was kind of funny.

I recorded a Bobby Flay BBQ episode on the Cooking channel that I just watched and the description on my UVerse said that somebody named "Rachael" would be going to Austin, Tx. to visit various places and one place was Salt Lick BBQ. I think UVerse was screwed up because the show had Flay as a host and nobody named Rachael was on there. Maybe it was Rachael Ray, who knows, but whoever it was chose Salt Lick for her BBQ destination in the Austin area. Flay, btw, did go to Cooper's on this show (which I guess is technically in Llano).

 

im up in taylor every month or so for work - 9 out of 10 times i go to muellers. everything there is excellent - the only complaint i have is that the portions on their sides are weak. they are kind of pricey too, but if they gave you more it would be tolerable - their whole thing is that they are a meat market first - i think they only offer sides b/c they have to.

i love eating there b/c for the rest of they day you reek of smoke (the 2nd best kind).

 

forgot about muellers, that is good as well

 

I've only been to Salt Lick once and absolutely loved it. IMO opinion bbq'ing is definitely more complex then other methods of cooking and no one can get it perfect every single time.

For example, I had been to Kreuz three times in the past year and loved it every single time. Took some friends last month and it was extremely dissapointing. The brisket was nothing but fat and whatever meat was in it was absolutely dry.

I loved Salt Licks because pretty much everything was really really good. Including the sides and the sauce.

At Snows its only brisket and Kreuz its brisket and sausage at the most.

 

I feel like I need to do a head to head comparison between the two. I've been to each place twice and just think the brisket is amazing at both places. The sauce at Franklin though (the espresso sauce) - it is unusual and amazing. That may put it over the edge. Plus the pulled pork at Franklin - outstanding.

 

When you go to Taylor go under the overpass and try the Taylor city cafe and try the BBQ turkey sausage, most of the locals go there to get BBQ. The owner of Mullers also graces that place often for beer & BBQ. The place is very old don't slam the doors ,may fall down.

 

Adam Richman went to Salt Lick on Man vs. Food.

I really thought their brisket was mediocre, but the ribs were pretty damn good.

I like Goode Company myself. Baked potato loaded with pork, extra jalapeno bread, and the best pecan pie I've ever had.

 

If Snows and Salt Lick are the Hakeem and Clyde of bbq, Goode Company is Rafer Altson. The place absolutely blows.

 

Did you see how fat he got after the first few seasons?

So fat that they basically had to pull him off the show, and now he's hosting "Man vs Food Nation"... where regular people try the challenges instead of just him