General > Member Gatherings and Road Trips

Houston traffic sucks but we had fun anyway

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Ka Honu:
After Jack’s gathering last weekend and a few more days with my daughter and her family in Charlotte I got to Houston yesterday afternoon. IR2dum picked me up at the airport and chauffeured me through the horrible traffic to my hotel near the Galleria. I met up with a friend of mine from home (George Wilkinson – he met Bremer, tee, and Lost Arrow in New Orleans with us a few years ago).

Don and Barbara joined us for dinner at Ninfa’s (more horrible traffic) for one of the best Mexican meals I’ve had in years. It was great to finally meet Barbara – she’s a really neat lady (despite her horrible taste in men).

This morning Bremer picked me and George up at 10 AM for the "classic" BBQ tour. We headed down the road for a couple hours and after a pit stop at Buc-cee’s in Luling headed for our first BBQ “sampler” at City Market.

Then on to Lockhart for stops at Smitty’s, Black’s, & Kreuz Market for more BBQ, Round Rock for Round Rock Donuts, Taylor for Louie Mueller’s BBQ, and finally to South Side Market in Elgin for hot gut sausage and Blu Bell ice cream before braving the traffic back to Houston – made it back to the hotel about 6.

Okay – now for the food…

We had “samplers” of BBQ at each stop, generally splitting about half a pound each of three meats among the three of us at each place. Concentrated mostly on brisket and sausage but also had some smoked ham, pork belly burnt ends, smoked prime rib, and smoked pork belly in the mix. The final damage was about three pounds of mixed BBQ per person plus a couple of donuts, some beverages (including Shiner Bock for the passengers and Big Red for the driver/guide). I bought a t-shirt in Elgin and the lady gave me a scoop of Blu Bell cherry ice cream with the purchase. No wonder we can hardly move.

Louie Miller’s made the best brisket and sausage (by a measurable margin). Most everything else was pretty good but frankly most of our forum members do better (although we don’t have to cook day in and day out at the industrial level with its own set of unique supply and quality control challenges).

Bottom line: It was a great trip even though I thought the taste at most of the places had slipped since my last visit in 2008.

Tomorrow will likely be the best of the lot – we’re off to Killen’s in Pearland for lunch. More as it happens…

ACW3:
That is ONE great start for a BBQ road trip!!  Can't wait to hear more.

Art

Turtle, what is the over/under on the weight you will gain on this road trip?

Jaxon:
Don is the best host and guide you can have for the bbq crawl.

When he took us to these places, the folks let us go behind the counters to see the pits up close.  All of the pit masters were very friendly and answered any questions we had.  I couldn't believe how many LONG pits there were at Kreutz market.  I took plenty of pictures but don't know how to post 'em.

Ka Honu:

--- Quote from: ACW3 on October 08, 2021, 11:36:48 PM ---Turtle, what is the over/under on the weight you will gain on this road trip?
--- End quote ---
Doesn't matter. Bet the Over.



--- Quote from: Jaxon on October 09, 2021, 08:50:46 AM ---I took plenty of pictures but don't know how to post 'em.
--- End quote ---
Call dee - he's good at that stuff.

Ka Honu:
This just in!!!

All brisket bets are off! We had lunch today at Killen's BBQ in Pearland and while their pork ribs were okay and their sausage pretty good, their brisket was by far the best we've had so far. Simple (salt, pepper, garlic rub), tender, juicy, excellent bark and great taste. Bremer was a bit smug (He predicted it) but aside from that it was wonderful and renewed my faith.

Time to at least temporarily realign the taste buds so back to Tex-Mex tonight at El Tiempo and brunch tomorrow at Caracol. Stay tuned for details.

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