The Salt Lick BBQ - Texas

[Pappymn]

Thank you Sir!!  My BBQ is the best....until you run up the highway a bit and hit Muebes place!!!  OF course ya got Sparky a bit of the way farther up!!!

I guess we all consider ourselves "Backyard Legends" 

Cali produces some great BBQ people......who would of thought?

[smokeasaurus]

Once ya get past all the Quiche and Avocados and Sprouts there is some good lo and slo goin on 

[CaptJack]

Texas has pit brisket & German sausage
Cali has tri-tip
those eastern folk have pulled pork
and the mid-westerners have their ribs

I like tri-tip & ribs the best

and I like avocados & sprouts too 

[smokeasaurus]

I just like to flat out eat!! 

[Jaxon]

Here's my top 5 list.

1. Smitty's or Kreuz in Lockhart (almost one and the same. Same family that split apart, but they still maintain the same recipes and smoking styles. Be sure to try the bbq prime rib if they haven't sold out. The best greasy sausage in my opinion)
2. Southside Market in Elgin (great brisket and great sausage and I love their bbq'd mutton as well)
3. Louie Mueller in Taylor (Louie Mueller died a few years ago, but they have maintained the quality when his apprentice took over. The brisket is great and the sausage is wonderful)
4. Cooper's Old Time Pit BBQ in Llano (You order outside right off the pit. Excellent bbq chicken and jalepeno sausage))
5. City Market in Luling (like the Capt says, it's good. I particularly like their sausage)

Honorable mention - Mikeska's BBQ in Taylor (Right beside Louie Meuller's above. The only reason I am giving this place an honorable mention is because Tim Mikeska is an old friend and golf partner of mine and he might be reading this. In his favor, he has catered the bbq for the inaugarations of 3 presidents in Washington, DC, can't count how many governors in Austin, and an event for the Queen of England in London. He's gotta be doing something right.....OK, it's great bbq just in case he is reading this.) By the way Tim also owns The Taylor Cafe listed in the Texas Monthly article.

No one and the Texas Monthly article mentioned The Ironworks BBQ in Austin. Does anyone know if they are still in business. They should be close to the top of everyone's list, but I haven't been there in at least 5 years.

Don,

Where is your favorite BBQ place in Georgia?

[UWFSAE]

To chime in on this thread (since it seems it took a turn for TX-Q rather than just the Salt Lick) there are great places across the state.  Kreuz BBQ in Lockhart is incredibly traditional barbecue done with truly beautiful simplicity ... you can't go wrong with some brisket from here if you're between Houston and San Antonio.  I'm very partial to Franklin BBQ in Austin but be prepared to stand in line and be prepared for them to 86 the brisket ... it goes fast and when it's gone, it's gone.  The original Salt Lick in Driftwood is outstanding, IMO, but their Round Rock location (and even their Austin airport restaurant) are quite good in my half-dozen visits.

Up in Dallas I was very impressed recently with Tim Love's new restaurant The Woodshed Smokehouse.  The guy may be a celebrity chef but he understands how to smoke meat and the restaurant is actually upscale enough to make it a nice date night.

Here in the Houston area, my new uber-favorite is Ronnie Killen's new work in progress down in Pearland.  He has, hands down, the best steak place in the city (if not the state ... and yes, it's superior to Pappas, Perry's, Taste of Texas, Del Frisco, etc.) and he's really made a statement with his pop-up bbq sessions as he's building his brick-and-mortar restaurant.  Some dirt-eating, tree hugging, communist puppy-hater swiped his $9000 custom pit over the July 4th weekend but it's been recovered.  I've damn near stalked this BBQ ... he locally sources his product and dear sweet mother he does it right.  Other "very good" Houston bbq would be Pizzitola's, Demeris (gotta love a Greek family Texas-BBQ joint!).  Beaver's Icehouse is actually solid as well and has a killer weekend brunch that serves bbq.

I'd avoid the County Line mini-chain and I've never been big on Goode Co. in Houston but it's a local institution.

[IR2dum]

Here's my top 5 list.

1. Smitty's or Kreuz in Lockhart (almost one and the same. Same family that split apart, but they still maintain the same recipes and smoking styles. Be sure to try the bbq prime rib if they haven't sold out. The best greasy sausage in my opinion)
2. Southside Market in Elgin (great brisket and great sausage and I love their bbq'd mutton as well)
3. Louie Mueller in Taylor (Louie Mueller died a few years ago, but they have maintained the quality when his apprentice took over. The brisket is great and the sausage is wonderful)
4. Cooper's Old Time Pit BBQ in Llano (You order outside right off the pit. Excellent bbq chicken and jalepeno sausage))
5. City Market in Luling (like the Capt says, it's good. I particularly like their sausage)

Honorable mention - Mikeska's BBQ in Taylor (Right beside Louie Meuller's above. The only reason I am giving this place an honorable mention is because Tim Mikeska is an old friend and golf partner of mine and he might be reading this. In his favor, he has catered the bbq for the inaugarations of 3 presidents in Washington, DC, can't count how many governors in Austin, and an event for the Queen of England in London. He's gotta be doing something right.....OK, it's great bbq just in case he is reading this.) By the way Tim also owns The Taylor Cafe listed in the Texas Monthly article.

No one and the Texas Monthly article mentioned The Ironworks BBQ in Austin. Does anyone know if they are still in business. They should be close to the top of everyone's list, but I haven't been there in at least 5 years.

Don,

Where is your favorite BBQ place in Georgia?

Jaxon, I just ate there a couple of weeks ago. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was about 15 or 20 miles south of Macon just off I-75 in a little town called Byron. The proprietors had a great outdoor patio deck that was very hospitable and the food was delicious.

[IR2dum]

To chime in on this thread (since it seems it took a turn for TX-Q rather than just the Salt Lick) there are great places across the state.  Kreuz BBQ in Lockhart is incredibly traditional barbecue done with truly beautiful simplicity ... you can't go wrong with some brisket from here if you're between Houston and San Antonio.  I'm very partial to Franklin BBQ in Austin but be prepared to stand in line and be prepared for them to 86 the brisket ... it goes fast and when it's gone, it's gone.  The original Salt Lick in Driftwood is outstanding, IMO, but their Round Rock location (and even their Austin airport restaurant) are quite good in my half-dozen visits.

Up in Dallas I was very impressed recently with Tim Love's new restaurant The Woodshed Smokehouse.  The guy may be a celebrity chef but he understands how to smoke meat and the restaurant is actually upscale enough to make it a nice date night.

Here in the Houston area, my new uber-favorite is Ronnie Killen's new work in progress down in Pearland.  He has, hands down, the best steak place in the city (if not the state ... and yes, it's superior to Pappas, Perry's, Taste of Texas, Del Frisco, etc.) and he's really made a statement with his pop-up bbq sessions as he's building his brick-and-mortar restaurant.  Some dirt-eating, tree hugging, communist puppy-hater swiped his $9000 custom pit over the July 4th weekend but it's been recovered.  I've damn near stalked this BBQ ... he locally sources his product and dear sweet mother he does it right.  Other "very good" Houston bbq would be Pizzitola's, Demeris (gotta love a Greek family Texas-BBQ joint!).  Beaver's Icehouse is actually solid as well and has a killer weekend brunch that serves bbq.

I'd avoid the County Line mini-chain and I've never been big on Goode Co. in Houston but it's a local institution.

UWFSAE, I have read about the new BBQ in Pearland and I'm glad that Ronnie got his pit back. It was also stated that a week before it was stolen, someone had stolen several briskets off that pit. I don't think they ever found those briskets and I believe stealing briskets and a man's pit is a capital crime in Texas.  Capt Jack and I eat BBQ in Houston every couple of months and our consensus favorite is Pizzatola's. Our second choice is Gatlin's over in the Heights. I have never eaten at Beaver's Icehouse, but I want to give it a try. I'm with you on County Line. I also agree with you on The Woodshed Smokehouse, but the new BBQ restaurant in Dallas, that everyone is giving high marks to, is called Pecan Lodge. I would love to try that one. I think t² is going to test it out next week. By the way, in what part of Houston do you live?

[smokeasaurus]

Heck, stealin a briskie or a mans pit is a capital offense in any State.......

[UWFSAE]

@IR:  I'm over in the Lake Houston area ... not too much top tier bbq over here but some good places like Four Corners BBQ towards Baytown and Tin Roof BBQ in Atascosita.  When I used to work downtown we stopped at Gatlin's a few times but I thought it had huge swings in quality ... never bad, per se, but some times it seemed it was being held in steam trays.  I've heard of Pecan Lodge but usually when I'm up in Dallas it's for a Cowboys game and golf rather than a bbq field trip.

@Smoke:  Stealing ANY bbq should be a hanging offense ... this is Texas.  The funny thing is that the brisket theft made the front page of the Houston Chronicle, the newspaper for the fourth largest media market in the nation.  Only in Texas ... 

@Jaxon:  Macon Road BBQ down in Columbus is what I was weaned on and where I developed my taste for sliced pork rather than pulled.  It may not be "great" but it's a great memory for me.

[teesquare]

I will be in the Hill Country and Austin too...anybody got more suggestions for 'Q joints and really good Mexican food?

[rexster314]

From Texas Monthly. This is a good start
http://www.texasmonthly.com/eat-my-words/list-top-50-barbecue-joints

[UWFSAE]

Whoops, forgot Corkscrew out near the Woodlands ... they do some serious Q from that little trailer.