Beaumont Willy Ray's Bar-B-Q CompanyThe atmosphere's way too nice for barbecue, but seventeen-month-old Willy Ray's redeems itself with terrific meaty, unfatty ribs, moist pork, and tender brisket, all smoked over hickory and oak. The cafeteria line dispenses numerous daily-changing vegetables (including Cajun rice, turnip greens, a carrot soufflé that puts sweet-potato pie to shame, and an honest-to-god green salad). As for the sauce, it is of the stout, sweet-tart persuasion. Brisket plate $6.50. Beer. Rating: 4. 145 Interstate 10 North, 409-832-7770. AE, DS, MC, V. Open daily. ps

Eagle Lake Austin's Bar-B-Que When a building is this grim, the food had better be good, and it is. The serving line is so narrow that two people can't pass; the only seating area is a chain-link-fenced concrete slab outdoors by the highway. But your plate is loaded with great, moist pecan-smoked brisket; big ribs, meaty if a little stringy; and pretty good coarse-grained pork-and-beef sausage links. Side dishes include green beans, buttery boiled potatoes, and tart, mayonnaisey macaroni salad. (Vegetables and desserts are made by owners Denice and Ron Janow; Ron allowed as how the rice salad was a bit "al dente" when we visited.) Sauce would go better with spaghetti. Brisket plate $4.50. BYOB. Rating: 4. 507 E. Main (U.S. 90A), 409-234-5250. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Closed Sunday through Wednesday. ps

Egypt John's Country Store This antiques store, with adjoining saloon, offers only pecan-and-mesquite-smoked brisket and sausage (a pork-beef mixture) sandwiches, but the brisket's so melt-in-your-mouth tender it survives the rather flat sauce it's drenched in. Brisket sandwich $3.50, sausage sandwich $3.25. Brisket also sold by the pound ($7.50). Beer, wine. Rating: 4. 131 Northington Road, one block north of FM 102, 409-677-3536 or 281-242-7658. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Closed Monday through Thursday. jm

Hallettsville Novosad's Meat Market This no-frills Czech meat market makes its own spicy sausage (beef, pork, or a combination) and serves up commendable oak-smoked brisket, lamb and pork ribs, and chicken as well as pork steaks and chops. The thin brown sauce is hot and vinegary. Fine crunchy potato salad and confetti slaw. Brisket plate $5.29. BYOB. Rating: 4. 105 La Grange, on the square, 512-798-2770 or 512-798-4029. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Closed Sundays and Mondays. jm

Houston Goode Co. Texas BBQ When other places are busy, Goode's is mobbed. The line moves fast ("Help you, ma'am? Ma'am!"). The reward for enduring is masterful green-mesquite-smoked brisket (moist, yet crumbles when cut); firm, pink pork ribs; terrific plain-style pintos; fine jambalaya; soft, thick jalapeño cheese bread; renowned pecan pie; and more. Sauce medium thick, spicy, red. Texas chauvinism inspires a convincingly antiquated atmosphere (especially on Kirby). Brisket plate $6.95. Beer. Rating: 4.5. 5109 Kirby, 713-522-2530, and 8911 I-10 (Campbell Road exit), 713-464-1901. AE, DS, MC, V. Open daily. ps

Houston Pizzitola's Bar-B-Cue Going on 65, this tidy little cafe's original big brick pit is older than most of its customers. At noon hordes of business and neighborhood folks ravage the deliciously moist chicken and very fine hickory-smoked brisket (salt-and-pepper-rubbed and as tender as Granny's Sunday roast). These two standard-bearers best the skimpy ribs and flavorful but rather ordinary pork-and-beef sausage. Sauce is of the thin, vinegary-sweet, medium-hot variety. Attention health nuts: The grilled vegetables are great. Attention dessert hounds: So is Mrs. Pizzitola's fluffy homemade coconut cake. Brisket plate $7.95. Beer. Rating: 4. 1703 Shepherd Drive, 713-227-2283. AE, MC, V. Closed Sundays. ps

Kirbyville Lazy-H Smokehouse Velma Willett has ruled this scruffy, knotty-pine building on the highway for 22 years, selling homemade ice cream and peach cobbler, locally grown vegetables (on the Sunday buffet), and good hickory-and-oak-smoked meats. The homemade sausage (pure lean pork shoulder, no preservatives, no killer-nitrite taste) is great. One caveat: The place has a mothbally, attic smell, but once you start chatting with Velma, you don't even notice. Brisket plate $5 ($6 on Sundays). Rating: 3.5. Texas Highway 96, six miles south of town, 409-423-3309. AE, DS, MC, V, checks accepted. Open daily. ps

Navasota Ruthie's Pit Bar-B-Q Piles of superannuated magazines (including well-thumbed Victoria's Secret catalogs) entertain visitors who stop by Ruthie's small, quintessentially ramshackle roadhouse to inhale billows of oak, pecan, and mesquite smoke and some pretty good barbecue to boot. Your affable pitmaster is Louis Charles Henley (son of founders James and Ruthie), who provides brisket, fatty but flavorful ribs, Elgin beef sausage, and the usual sides. Definitely on the short list for Most Soul in Texas. Brisket plate $4.20. BYOB. Rating: 4. 903 W. Washington (Texas Highway 105), 409-825-2700. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Closed Sunday through Tuesday. ps

Robstown Joe Cotten's Barbecue Tex-Mex influence is apparent in the green olives atop the potato salad and in the mild, salsalike sauce (made with fresh ground tomatoes and laced with meat drippings and strips of tomato and onion). Meats are state-of-the-art mesquite-smoked brisket, sliced pork, pork ribs, and pork sausage (no preservatives), served on butcher paper. Fifty years old this year, the sprawling roadhouse seats 365. Brisket plate $7 at lunch, $8.05 at dinner. Beer. Rating: 5. Texas Highway 77 South, 512-767-9973. Cash only. Closed Sundays. jm

Swinney Switch Brown's Country Store Robert Brown does only one thing--beef sandwiches, chopped ($2) or sliced ($2.25)--but he does it perfectly, his judiciously mesquite-smoked brisket merging smoothly with his sweet, mild sauce. Mostly takeout (though the store has one table), served during lunch hours only. Brisket also sold by the pound ($5); drinks (including beer), chips, and such from store. Rating: 5. Take Exit 47 off I-37 to intersection of FM 534 and FM 3024, 512-547-3481. Cash only. Open daily. jm

Victoria Brother's Bar-B-Que Greg Garza, who opened this east-side joint last December after his porta-pit was closed for lack of refrigeration, credits "divine guidance from above" for his cooked-to-the-max mesquite-and-oak-smoked brisket (soft as butter), pork ribs (falling off the bone), and pork-and-beef sausage (extra-succulent). The beans are delicate, the potato salad is virtually mashed. Brisket plate $5. Rating: 4. 2106 Port Lavaca Drive, 512-575-9091. Cash only. Closed Sundays. jm

Wharton Hinze's Bar-B-QueA barnlike building that has expanded to surround two huge pecan trees dishes out some of the best pecan-smoked barbecue in the region: fabulous brisket (thick cut, firm yet tender); fatty, moist pork butt; big-boned, slightly dryish pork ribs. The meat's so good it doesn't matter that the carrot-and-raisin salad has (gag) pineapple or that the dirty rice tastes packaged. Sauce ketchupy, mild, very sweet. Brisket plate $6.25. Beer. Rating: 4. 3940 U.S. 59 Loop, 409-532-2710 (also in Sealy at 2101 Texas Highway 36 South at I-10, 409-885-7808). AE, MC, V, checks accepted. Open daily. ps