Tom and Bingo’s Hickory Pit Bar-B-Que
Lubbock, TX 79410
Hours: Open Mon–Sat 11–3:30. Closed Sun.
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Texas Monthly rating: 4.50
TEXAS MONTHLY SAYS: 2011: The tantalizing aroma of hickory smoke led us to this barbecue shrine, where seating is limited to a few well-worn school desk chairs. The menu is limited as well: brisket sandwiches, ham sandwiches, and burgers with chips (no fries). The brisket is tender, smoky, and proud of its messy, juicy bits of fat. For the ravenous or masochistic, the Tech Cycle goes all out, with brisket, ham, and a burger patty on a toasted bun jazzed with a peppery barbecue sauce. Keep August’s Pie—a locally made chocolate or fruit fried pie—in mind for next time.
2008: For more than fifty years, this boxy luncheonette has turned out sliced- and chopped-beef sandwiches as good as you’ll ever eat, plus smoked-ham sandwiches and smoked burgers. That’s all, but that’s enough. The brisket, cooked for sixteen to eighteen hours in a well-worn brick pit, is lean and succulent, with a char that crunches slightly. Grill-warmed buns are brushed with a thinner, more red-peppery version of the mild house sauce.
BBQ SNOB SAYS: 2009: Guest Contributor—Straight from the Panhandle, the Midnight Smoker shares his beef from Tom and Bingo’s BBQ.
Tom and Bingo’s, Lubbock’s sole representative in the Top 50 list presented in last June’s TEXAS MONTHLY, is one of the longest operating restaurants in the city. The store is a real little joint, known for its tiny floor area, its school-desk seating, and its brisket sandwiches. I headed there on a recent weekday to have a couple.
Readers of this blog know the custom is for us reviewers to sample and write about servings of sliced brisket, pork ribs, and sausage. But at Tom and Bingo’s, they only serve brisket on sandwiches, and they don’t serve ribs or sausage at all. You can get your brisket regular or chopped, although there is no difference between them. The meat is cut the same either way, but if you want it chopped, they just chop it up before placing it on the bun. The meat on both my sandwiches was very moist and tender, but the smoky flavor was faint. The sandwiches were good, but a little too small and a little too fatty. The vinegar-based sauce had a nice tang to it and helped to flavor up the beef.
Frankly, I think most Lubbock ’cue aficionados would agree with me that Tom and Bingo’s, while a neat place with some history behind it, does not serve the city’s best brisket.
