The World's Best Barbecue is in Taylor, Texas. Or is it Lockhart?
A Cityslicker's Guide to the Pits.
(Page 3 of 3)
Residents of Fort Worth don't need to make a day trip to find classic barbecue; one of the finest places in the state is five minutes from downtown. It's Angelo's, half honky-tonk and half barbecue shrine. Though sandwiches are available, you'd do better ordering by the pound. Your meat will come in big, bite-sized chunks with toothpicks; brown bread and sauce are on the side. Angelo's carvers are the swiftest, most skilled I have seen anywhere — like the legendary Chinese cook with his cleaver moving quicker than the eye can see.
The meat is tender and fragrant, with a distant hint of sweetness. I swear they must use molasses somewhere in the process, but they deny it. Sawdust floors and low ceilings heighten the atmosphere. You'll want to sit and nurse your beer for awhile before you go.
Dallas appears to have a considerable number of fair-to-middling barbecue places, mostly of the East Texas sandwich type. I have only found one that qualifies as absolutely outstanding, and it even flunks the test if you are seeking even a minimum of comfort in your surroundings. The Dallas champion is Sonny Bryan's, a drive-in barbecue specialty house that looks like a long-abandoned Dairy Queen. This is the only place I know that regularly runs out of meat before closing time. When you have tasted one of their sandwiches you will understand why. Not only are they the largest I have ever seen (equivalent to two of anyone else's), they are stuffed with incredibly well-flavored beef. To get one, however, is like trying to shop at Northpark on the weekend before Christmas.
The tiny interior is divided into three parts: the back, where the carvers and other personnel bump into the each other preparing the sandwiches and trimmings; a runway in the center no more than five feet wide and twenty feet long, where hopeful customers jostle for position; and a glassed front room scarcely larger than the runway, where those who have succeeded sit at one-armed desks with their sandwiches, their faces wreathed in smiles of triumph and contentment. To place your order, you inform the clerk at the counter and she asks for your initials; when they are called, your order is ready. The sauce is served separately, in resurrected catsup bottles on a hot plate. It is thick, rather sweet, and among the best anywhere. At Sonny Bryan's there is no need to order by the pound, since one overstuffed sandwich is plenty. Just remember to go at off-hours, or be prepared to wait and eat in your car.
Houston is blessed with several outstanding barbecue places. Among the best is Otto's, originally a hamburger specialty shop that served barbecue in the back. Its fame as a purveyor of Central Texas-type has now equaled or outstripped its original reputation. Closer to downtown, Matt Garner's holds securely to its position as one of the best black barbecue places in the state. My personal favorite, however, cannot be explained in conventional terms—though it appears to be as conventional as a restaurant could be. It's the Western Kitchen. The sandwiches here have remained of consistently high quality for the fourteen years I have sampled them. Although the beef, pork, ham or ribs can be purchased by the pound, they lose their special succulence that way. The sauce, by itself, is nothing special. Disassemble the sandwich into its component parts and the magic is gone; I don't know why, but it is. Try the sandwiches (especially the pork) on the premises, accompanied by some of the last homemade non-frozen french fries to be had, and you may agree that the East Texas tradition is alive and well in Houston.
Although Austin is squarely in the center of the best barbecue in Texas, nothing in the capital can equal Kruez's or Louie Mueller's. Enough good places do exist, however, that you are in no danger of going hungry. The best is The Pit #3 downtown (not to be confused with others in this owner-operated chain). Young Mike Schroeder returned from Vietnam to salvage the reputation of what was once one of the state's feeblest excuses for a barbecue restaurant. With the aid of a ferris-wheel type grill that bastes the meat with its own juices, he has succeeded admirably. The best bet is the chunk, a large well-trimmed piece from the fat end of the brisket. The ribs are also excellent. If you prefer extra-lean beef, the sliced sandwiches and the orders are all taken from the lean end of the brisket—a nod in the direction of quality that many barbecue places don't bother with.
The best of the other Austin places include Dale Baker's (one of the few in town to carry pork regularly; their mustardy sauce is something you'll either love or hate); Hobo Joe's (thinly sliced beef or sausage accompanied by a watery sauce whose appeal doesn't become apparent until after several bites); and Howard's, a top quality black barbecue place outlandishly misplaced in a shiny converted Ozark Fried Chicken building on far-suburban Burnet Road.
Some of San Antonio's best barbecue can be found in a little white frame building on the East Side, tucked away across an alley-like street behind a supermarket loading dock. It's called the Gulf Street Inn—but the only identification you'll see outside is a faded orange sign reading "BAR-B-Q." The dark, smoky interior of this tiny place has all the ambience of an opium den, but the owner Buster Landrum serves a solid blend of the two regional styles: brisket by the pound in a spicy sauce. A side order of beans comes free. Not the place to go for elegant dining; but when your taste buds are begging for some basic Texas food, slip away from that crowd going to La Louisiane, put on your Levi's, and come here.
A more conventional citified barbecue emporium is Meggs, specializing in Hill Country type brisket and ribs in the city's southwestern quadrant. Mesquite is the favored wood of the Hill Country, imparting a full-smoked flavor that stays with you all afternoon; personally I find it rather acrid, but there's no doubt about its authenticity. Meggs cooks their brisket sixteen hours, starting during the night with slow-burning oak and switching to mesquite in the morning once the meat has become tender enough to absorb the more highly-flavored smoke.
A Barbecue Baedeker
Angelo's Barbecue
2533 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth
(817) 332-0357
Mon. thru Sat. 11-10, Closed Sun.
Dale Baker Food Products
3303 Lake Austin Blvd., Austin
(512) 477-8211
Black's Barbecue
201 North Main, Lockhart
(512) 398-2712
Mon. thru Sat., 7-7, Closed Sun.
Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse
201 North Main, Lockhart
(512) 398-2712
Mon. thru Sat., 7-7, Closed Sun.
Dozier's Grocery & Market
Farm Rd. 359, Fulshear
(713) 346-1411
Tues. and Thurs., 7-6:30, Fri. thru Sun,. 7-7, Closed Mon.
Matt Garner
138 West Gray, Houston
(713) 528-8438
Tues. thru Thurs., 9-7, Closed Mon.
Gulf Street Inn
231 Gulf St., San Antonio
(512) 223-8164
Mon. thru Fri. (ex. Wed.), A. A.M.- Midnight, Sat. 8 A.M.-1 A.M., Closed Wed. & Sun.
Hobo Joe's Barbecue
5812 Manor Road, Austin
(713) 926-7152
Tues. thru Fri., 11-2 & 4-2, Sat., 11-7, Closed Sun. & Mon.
Howard's Bar-B-Q
5119 Burnet Rd., Austin
(512) 453-3241
Mon. thru Sat., 11-9, Sun,. 11-8.
Inman Kitchen
1006 Berry St., Llano
(915) 247-5257
Mon. thru Sat., 7 A.M.-8 P.M., Closed Sun. except deer season.
Kreuz Market
208 S. Commerce, Lockhart
(512) 398-2361
Mon. thru Fri., 7 A.M.-6 P.M., Sat. 5 A.M.-7 P.M., Closed Sun.
Luling City Market
633 Davis St., Luling
(512) 875-9019
Mon. thru Sat., 9:30-6 P.M., Closed Sun.
Megg's Bar-B-Q
3543 Military Drive Sw, San Antonio
(512) 923-7171
Mon. thru Sat., 9-7 P.M., Closed Sun.
Louie Mueller's
206 West Second, Taylor
(512) 352-6206
Mon. thru Sat. (ex. Thur.), 7-7, Thur., 7-2, Sun 7-1.
Otto's Bar-B-Q
5502 Memorial (in the back), Houston
(713) 864-2573
Mon. thru Sat., 11-7 P.M., Closed Sun.
The Pit #3
501 East Fifth, Austin
(512) 478-1166
Mon. thru Sat., 10:30-7:30, Closed Sun.
Swan's Country House Barbecue
US Highway 290, Hempstead
(713) 826-8132
9 A.M.-Midnight every day.
Western Kitchen
2171 Richmond Ave., 7610 Kempwood, Houston
Mon. thru Fri., 11-9, Kempwood location open Sat., 11-9, Both closed Sun.
Zak's Place
1107 West Second, Taylor
(512) 352-9054
8-7 every day.
Metzler Bros. Barbecue
Highway 82, Lindsay, Tex.
665-9040
Tues. thru Sat., 9 A.M. Midnight, Sun., Noon-Midnight.
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