It’s good people, and it’s $15-per-pound good too. Three visits over the last three weeks have confirmed it. Brisket has morphed from very good to nearly perfect over those past three visits since my last review. The sausage just keeps getting better too, although it’s not quite to the level of making an all-beef convert out of me. My affection for the clod here is well documented, and the pork chop has always been top notch. The problem for me is with the big and meaty spare ribs whose inconsistency is frustrating.

02/25/11

On a lunch trip with a friend I was spotted immediately. They were offering rib tip samples with every order, so I grabbed a couple along with my brisket, clod, and sausage. These rib tips had a wet-looking sheen on them from the salty rub bringing out the moisture of the meat. These tips had good smoke and adequate tenderness that made me hope for some rib improvement on my next visit. Brisket on this visit had all the great flavor qualities of a top-notch brisket but was a tad dry and chewy. An inquisitive manager was polite with his questioning and genuinely interested on improving his product.

03/11/11

I dropped off a decoy to order for me on the next visit in hopes that there would be no specialty cuts. Anonymity of food critics is a well-known aspiration, but I have a small advantage in that the food type I write about cannot be quickly remedied. The brisket that I’m served has probably been smoking for upwards of ten hours, but there are better cuts than others on that brisket, and I wanted to be sure I wasn’t getting preferential treatment. The meat that came out of the paper ran clear with juices and was just as good as the previous visit. Ribs again had an odd but good flavor from a rub heavy on aromatics, including coriander and a dozen or so other ingredients. No matter the seasoning, the meat was tough to separate from the bone and simply tasted underdone. All of that powder-heavy rub also hindered a nice crust from forming. I was going to stop at this point, but a friend invited me to dinner the day before I planned to post the review, so I thought I’d wait.

03/22/11

What resulted at dinner service were the same chewy ribs and some of the best brisket I have eaten anywhere—and the finest I have eaten in Dallas. The end cut from the point is a fatty, crusty delicacy that was given its proper due here. After one bite, the three tablemates were fighting over the rest. Luckily we had plenty of sliced point meat to move on to. The fat that remained on each of these slices was so richly flavored, intensely smoky, and perfectly silky that it was consumed more quickly than the meat. Each new bite built on the last until the hefty portion of meat had been annihilated. The brisket from this meal could stand against any I’ve had at Kreuz Market, which is why I’ve wrestled so much with the star rating. Based on the inconsistent ribs it’s tough to go beyond three stars, but with brisket being done this well before they’re even two months old, I’ve got to give it a strong recommendation for anyone looking for great barbecue in Dallas.

(This review originally appeared on Full Custom Gospel BBQ.)