The Epicenter of Central Texas BBQ

One of the big highlights of this BBQ Pilgrimage was learning fair bit about Texas history and how the area around Austin developed.
Of course the Czechs and Germans played a huge roll and when you start looking at the BBQ culture in Central Texas it really comes down to cooking locally. This area is the start of the Chisom Trail and there is also an amazing amount of Post Oak, Pecan and Mesquite wood. Basically the mathematical equation is:  Beef + wood smoking = Central Texas BBQ.

So, where is the epicenter of Central Texas BBQ? If you ask me, it has to be just south of Austin in the communities of Lockhart, Luling and Gonzales.  We set out on a Tuesday (this is a great way to beat the crowds-think I am kidding? These BBQ joints are known to sell product upwards of over a 1000 lbs per day) and first hit City Market in Luling. From my previous post you can see that this place has gotten (literally) world wide recognition.  The next stop was to Gonzales and Gonzales Food Market.  Daniel Vaughn at Full Custom Gospel BBQ has a terrific story about Gonzales Food Market.  Gonzales Food Market is a modest little family run enterprise. This was the only place we had a chance to sample lamb ribs (killer!) and the sausage was terrific. Pickles, white bread and sweet tea and you have lunch.

 Gonzales Food Market

I would say that the other incredible thing about touring through Texas was the discovery of all of the historic courthouses.

Texas is divided up into 254 counties and nearly all of them have a  historic architectural gem of a courthouse. Check this link for a comprehensive list of all the historic courthouses in Texas.

Gonzales County Courthouse-Gonzales, Texas

After Gonzales we headed up to Lockhart and hit the Holy Trinity of Smitty's, Black BBQ and Kreuz Market. All three of these establishments are enshrined in Texas BBQ lore. We sampled brisket, ribs and sausage at all three spots and of the three, our favorite was Kreuz Market. 

 Schoen Boy's at Kreuz Market

Kreuz Market-Brisket & Sausage

The brisket is apparently hot smoked and so the cooking time is decreased. The smoke ring and bark on the brisket was something I hadn't seen elsewhere and if this hadn't been the last of five stops we would have gone back for seconds.

Since Lockhart is so small, do take time to walk the historic downtown. Lockhart is also home to Caldwell County and another beautiful courthouse.

Caldwell County Courthouse-Lockhart, Texas

Gonzales on Dwellable

City Market Luling

City Market-Luling, Tx

When you see an article in Newsweek magazine that lists the worlds greatest restaurants I think it brings visions of Thomas Keller's French Laundry,  Ferran Adrià's El Bulli or some other white table cloth temple of fine dining. We landed in Central Texas the same week that City Market was named as one of the 101 destination restaurants in the world (not the county, not the state, but the world!). If you are looking for a maitre' d, white table clothes or fine china.....then  this isn't the place for you.

If you are looking for perfectly smoked brisket, house made sausage, perfect ribs  and a Big Red (cherry red soda pop that tastes like a red gumball-big favorite with the locals and perfect for BBQ), then this is your place.

City Market is small, worn, smokey and a slice of Americana that is quickly disappearing from our landscape. The food was off the hook good and this little place is on our list of places to hit again when we are back in the area.

Pit Room-City Market-Luling, Tx

Brisket, Sausage, Ribs

Fine Dining

City Market-Luling, Tx

Opie's-Spicewood, Tx

Opie's -Spicewood, Tx

Our trip to Central Texas would have been amiss if we hadn't made the trip out to Hill Country. Once you are about 30 minutes west of Austin you are in the "boonies", but that said you will see some of the most hauntingly stark and beautiful landscape I have ever had the privilege to see. From Austin we headed west on Texas-71and it   took us about 90 minutes to get to Spicewood. 

My son and I got to Opie's right at noon and we dove into a big helping of Brisket, Ribs and Sausage. The brisket had a great dark bark and a subtle smokey edge. The pork ribs we had were as good as anything we had on this trip-well rendered with just a hint of texture left-almost perfect. The sausage was a course grind mix that was hot, juicy and mouthwateringly good. 

                                 

BBQ Trinity of Brisket, Sausage and Pork Ribs

If you are headed that way you best keep your eyes peeled because Spicewood is pretty much a gas station and this killer BBQ joint.  

Hill Country is a beautiful place to travel through and you could do much worse than to have Opie's picked out as a lunch stop.

Spicewood on Dwellable

Franklin Barbecue

 Franklin Barbecue

What is the "hottest" Barbecue venue we visited on our pilgrimage to Texas? The answer to that would be Franklin Barbecue just east of downtown Austin.  We showed up  at 8:30am (they open at 11:00am) and we were still 4 & 5th in line. We stood around, we chatted up the folks in line and by the time we got in for food I felt like we had experienced a shared rite of passage. Was the wait worth it? Hell yeah! Just a suggestion, if you are planning on a visit to Franklin Barbecue go ahead and show up early. Bring a cooler with sodas and beer or your favorite adult beverage. The atmosphere of the line is similar to what you might experience tailgating for a big football game.  Share your beverages and your stories and don't even think about taking cuts in line.
From Franklin's website:

With the encouragement of friends, Aaron and his wife Stacy debuted Franklin BBQ in late 2009 on an East Austin parking lot. From the walk-up window of a travel trailer turned brisket stand, patrons quickly noticed the Franklins were selling the best barbecue around. By spring, the line of admirers snaked around the block, and the press followed. In less than two years, the duo could count contributors from The Washington Post, Texas Monthly, and Cooking Channel among a growing chorus hailing Franklin among America’s BBQ elite—mentioned in the breath as Smitty’s, Kreuz’s, and other stalwart temples to the holy craft of smoked meat that line the Central Texas brisket belt. In the summer of 2010, Bon Appetit hailed Franklin BBQ as the best in America.

Aaron and Stacy quickly outgrew their trailer, and moved their operation to a brick and mortar location in March of 2011. And despite the new digs and every reasonable effort to increase production, Franklin BBQ’s line is as long as ever, and the restaurant has sold out of brisket every day of its existence.

My "new" buddy Johnnie gave me a Lone Star...gotta love that!

Doesn't look so bad?

Damn! 10:30am and looking at a 3 hour wait for food

Schoen's & Aaron Franklin

Some of the best BBQ in the freaking world!

We ordered brisket, sausage, and some pork ribs. The brisket had a tremendous bark (I ordered from the fat end) and the intramuscular fat and collagen had been perfectly rendered. 

Daniel Vaughn at Full Custom Gospel BBQ has called this the best brisket anywhere (you won't get any argument from me).

Tender, juicy, smokey and as good a brisket as we had on the trip (remember we hit 18 places so that statement might carry a bit more weight). The ribs were great but I thought they needed just a little more time...just my opinion. The sausage was house made and was up to par with the rest of the lineup here. The natural casing and the course ground meat is typical of this part of Texas. The snap of the casing and the juiciness of the sausage were perfect.  Franklin's is definitely on our list for our return visit to Austin.

Austin on Dwellable

Snow's BBQ

Kerry, Ms. Tootsie & The Schoen boys

The first (real) BBQ restaurant my son and I visited was Snow's in Lexington, Tx. We had visited Lambert's in Austin the night before and while the food was crazy good, the whole reason we had traveled to Central Texas was to hit these small town BBQ joints.
Lexington is about 90 minutes east of Austin and there isn't much to draw anyone to this town with a population of 1182. From the looks of things this area is all about farming, ranching and dang good BBQ.

Snow's-Lexington, Texas

Snow's BBQ is only open on Saturdays and not only did we get a chance to eat this amazing food, but we also had a chance to chat with Kerry and Ms. Tootsie. Ms Tootsie told me they cook about 1100 lbs of product (they sell out of food every weekend) and that she had gotten up at 2:00 am to work the pits. We ordered pork ribs, brisket and a jalapeno sausage. The brisket was tender and the smoke ring was about 1/2" deep. The ribs were perfect, great texture, moist and they gave me a glimpse of my first "sugar cookie" (crisp perfectly rendered fat). The sausage had great texture and a touch of heat to go along with the snap of the natural casing. 
We had 17 more places to hit over a 7 day period, but you know what? Snow's was the pick of the BBQ litter and a place we will both get back to.

Ribs with a "sugar cookie"

From Snow's website: Kerry Bexley, owner of Snow’s BBQ, knew there was a demand for good BBQ in the small town of Lexington with a population of only 1100 people. Lexington has always been known for its Saturday BBQ. It’s just a tradition! Kerry and Ms. Tootsie Tomanetz, pit boss, discussed the possibilities in the late 90’s of opening a BBQ joint, but took no action until several years later.

In November of 2002, Kerry stopped to visit with Ms. Tootsie, kicked the ashes around, and discussed again the opening of this joint. She told Kerry that if he was serious, they better sit down and have a real "heart to heart". They did just that, and Kerry immediately started building the BBQ pits. March 1, 2003, was the first day of business… and Kerry’s intuition was right. Good BBQ, good service, and friendly people has helped to keep the fire burning, maintaining a steady and consistent business for the last five years. Along with Ms. Tootsie and Kerry, his daughters help out each Saturday morning learning the importance of responsibility and dealing with the public.

The fire almost got out of control in May 2008 when Texas Monthlymagazine named Snow’s BBQ as the best in Texas! (Read Article) Since that time, the entire staff at Snow’s BBQ has been doing everything possible to keep up with the demand and most important, maintain the quality. It looks like a long road ahead, but it is a challenge everyone is ready for.