BBQ Joints of Central Texas
Revised 03/15/03
These are BBQ spots I have eaten at
and enjoyed on one level or the other, be it the food or the atmosphere
of the place. I usually eat brisket, pork ribs, sometimes sausage
and on occasion chicken. My wife always has the chicken so her
opinion is the one voiced when speaking of the bird. I prefer
sauce on brisket and chicken so I give high marks for a good sauce.
Most of the sauces here are a tomato base style with the exception
of an occasional vinegar and red pepper mixture which I prefer
for ribs.
Artz
Rib House - Austin, Texas. My wife's
favorite. We eat there once a week. Great chicken, baby back ribs
and brisket. Live bluegrass music every Sunday. The sauce is a
constant favorite and the quality of the food is very consistent.
John Mueller's BBQ -
Austin, Texas. Great brisket, pork ribs and sausage served on butcher paper.
It has become my favorite Austin spot. It hasn't been there long, but it's the
real thing! I am becoming a real fan of his sausage, and I pick up a half pound
of brisket at least once a week for lunch. The crust on the meat is fantastic.
Two types of home made sauce, spicy or sweet; full of chopped onion and meat
bastings. It definitely does not come out of a bottle. I prefer the spicy but
sometimes I get both. If you feel the need for prime rib Mueller's has it.
Southside
Market and BBQ - Elgin, Texas. A Central
Texas perennial, home of the famous Elgin Sausage. I don't care
for the sausage myself, however they produce my favorite pork
spare ribs and that is all I ever order. They have two type sauce,
the traditional Texas tomato base as well as the East Texas vinegar
and red pepper mix. I prefer the vinegar mix for pork ribs. Butcher
paper service and the only place around that serves mutton if
you are so inclined.
Luling City Market
- Luling, Texas. If you are ever in Luling go there! One of the
older BBQ joints around. Brisket, pork ribs and sausage are first
rate and served on butcher paper. The sauce is outstanding.
Coopers
Old Time Pit BBQ - Llano, Texas. An
icon of great BBQ lives up to it's reputation. The meat is cooked
directly over coals in the West Texas pit style. You choose your
cut right from the grill and the decide whether or not to have
it dipped in a vinegar heavy sauce before taking it inside for
purchase with the classic selection of sides. The giant pork chops
are not to be missed and the pork ribs were pretty good too.
Mann's Smokehouse BBQ
- Austin, Texas. I need a Q joint that is close to work so that
I can have my fix when I feel the need - which is at least once
a week. This is my lunch standby. A very friendly family run business
with some pretty decent fare. I prefer the sliced brisket with
black eyed peas and potato salad. The sauce is good and tangy.
They have more sides than I have ever seen at a BBQ establishment;
including fried green tomatoes. They have a trivia question that
will get you a free meal if you are the first one to answer that
day. I have won 23 time at this point which lets you know how
often I go there. They also carry Dr. Pepper made from "Pure
Imperial Cane Sugar", as well as a host of other bottled
soda pop from the past.
County
Line - Austin, Texas. Voted "Best
Place To Take Your Parents". Good brisket and pork ribs.
The orange flavored pork sauce is an old favorite of mine. I don't
go there much these days but I do have fond memories of feasting
on pork ribs and brisket with fresh baked bread a few years back.
It is a chain restaurant but the food is usually pretty good.
Iron Works - Austin, Texas. OK downtown (next to Convention
Center so it is a little pricey) BBQ joint with a good reputation.
The building itself is of interest as it was an old blacksmith
shop that made cattle brands for years and they were tested out
on the walls inside and outside the building. I do enjoy their
sauce.
Salt Lick - Austin,
Texas. Cooking is done over huge brick pits and the place is huge
itself. It has a long standing reputation as one of the best however
I found it to be good Q but nothing to get too excited about.
BBQ Dynasties of Texas
- An Austin Chronicle article on the BBQ families of Central Texas.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Dale Baker's BBQ - Austin,
Texas, 3303 Lake Austin Blvd. across from the golf course. It has been gone
since 1975, but in it's time it was my all time favorite. I still have dreams
of their sauce. I have been trying to replicate it for years with minimal success.
It had a touch of mustard, plenty of meat drippings and the memory may be fonder
that the reality but I sure do miss it.
Dale Baker opened in 1952. In 1928 he learned to cook
BBQ from Elmo Underwood, the patriarch of Underwood BBQ, which was a BBQ chain
scattered throughout Texas. During the 1960's Dale Baker was the caterer for
many of Lyndon Johnson's barbecue's at the LBJ Ranch. Dale had two pits. One
was 18' x 6' and the other was 40' x 6' with fire pits at each end and a capacity
to cook 250 briskets at once! When I first started going there in 1969 one of
the features I remember was sawdust on the floor. However the City of Austin,
using their questionable wisdom, made them stop using it for "health code"
reasons. Dale Baker Sr. died in 1970. A series of unfortunate events took place
in the following years that eventually led to the family being swindled out
of their birthright by an unscrupulous realtor. The restaurant closed it's doors
on October 31, 1975.
Dale's youngest son, Billy Baker, has recently contacted
me and announced that he will soon be selling BBQ in Comanche, Texas using 1970's
prices (about $4.50 per pound) and serving that famous sauce. I will be heading
that way, you may be assured!
Jerry Jacob's BBQ - Austin,
Texas, 1400 Barton Springs Rd. Jerry and Robbie Jacobs operated the joint for
about 35 years. I ate there many times in the 1970's for lunch. Tender brisket
wrapped in white bread with a thin sauce served by jolly old Jerry himself.
Somebody once robbed a bank in Austin and then stopped by Jerry's for some beef
and sausage where he was apprehended while chowing down. Sometimes you just
got to have some Q!
Shady Grove BBQ - Austin,
Texas, 1624 Barton Springs Rd. It was sort of a creepy, dark place run by an
elderly couple when I started going there in 1970. The thing I remember most
about it was when they handed you the change they would not place it in your
hand. They placed it on the counter and no matter how hard you would try to
catch it they would maneuver it so it ended up on the counter and not in your
palm. The brisket was pretty darn good though. It closed in 1982 after operating
for 25 years.
The Pit #3 - Austin, Texas,
501 E. 5th St. I worked across the street from this place for two years and
gained my taste for BBQ pork spare ribs as a result. I did not know it at the
time but it turned out the smoking room behind the serving line was actually
an old house that had been the residence
of Susanna Dickinson, the Anglo mother who survived the battle of the Alamo
. The restaurant had been built around the house at some point in it's history
and when it was torn down in the late 1990's the history came out and the old
house was saved and moved to be reconditioned at some time in the future.
Rosewood BBQ
- Austin, Texas. Rosewood and E. 11th. I attended ACC East Campus
in the mid 1970's and would stop in there for lunch. A very friendly
older couple ran the place and served up some mighty fine brisket
and pork ribs. It was my first experience with vinegar based sauce
and I would probably appreciate it more now than I did then.
Cap'n Tom's North Carolina Style BBQ - Austin, Texas, 11800 North Lamar Rd. The pig was king in this
very un-Texas BBQ joint. It was the only place in town that had "pulled
pork". It was not there for long but I had a few very memorable meals in
this restaurant that was decorated with every kind of pig memento you could
think of. One of his specialties was fried corn on the cob and the walls were
filled with pictures of his seafaring past.
Bragger's BBQ
- Austin, Texas. W. Anderson Ln. by the RR tracks. It was one
of my weekly lunch stops throughout the 1990's. A good consistent
brisket plate with an adequate sauce and plain yet tasty pinto
beans kept me happy for years. The nice lady who owned it sold
it in 1999 and then died a week later. I sure do miss her and
her good chow as the joint did not survive long after her passing.
