Austin Sam's Bar-B-QueAt this funky little East Austin joint, which was a favorite of Stevie Ray Vaughan's, the locals hang out as if time didn't exist. The barbecue is erratic, but when it's good, the green-oak-smoked meat sprinkled with a secret dry rub is a religious experience. After a good mixed plate of Sam's tender pork ribs, melting brisket, and Samson-strength mutton, you know God's not a vegetarian. Good beef-and-pork sausage, dryish chicken. Peppery, velvety smooth red sauce. Spicy pinto beans, mustardy mashed-style potato salad. Brisket plate $5. BYOB. Rating: 5. 2000 E. Twelfth, 512-478-0378. Cash only. Open daily. js

Austin Stubb'sRoadhouse-chic live music and 'cue emporium named for the late, legendary pitmaster C. B. Stubblefield, located downtown in a sprawling stone building with hardwood floors, faded brick walls, and an outside deck. Stubb's meats are pecan-smoked, including usually robust brisket (occasionally pot-roast bland), delectable beef ribs, and juice-oozing chicken. Also turkey breast, good pork-and-beef sausage. Numerous tasty homemade sides such as greens, mashed sweet potatoes, stewed okra, and jalapeÒo spinach. Desserts include wonderful banana pudding. Sauce is mildly spicy and medium thick. Brisket plate $5.95. Full bar. Rating: 3.5. 801 Red River, 512-480-8341. AE, DS, MC, V. Open daily. js

Bastrop Bastrop Bar-B-QWith its acoustic-tile ceiling and rusted farm implements placed just so on a redbrick wall, this place has zero atmosphere. The character is in the oak-smoked barbecue: powerful brisket, fall-apart pork ribs, and huge, tender beef ribs as well as pork chops, ribeyes, and finely ground, home-recipe all-beef sausage. The thin dill-pickle-juice-based hot sauce is better than it sounds. Standard sides, homemade. Brisket plate $5.29. BYOB. Rating: 4. 919 Main, 512-321-7719. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Closed Sundays. js

Brady Lone Star B-B-QSpare but pleasant concrete-floored eatery with stained-glass Texas flag in the window. Mesquite-smoked unfatty brisket that comes from a company in . . . Green Bay, Wisconsin?! "It's better meat," says owner Chuck Dalchau. "It'll make people mad when they hear that, but it's a fact." Also, thick pork chops, good sirloin, chicken, ribs, undistinguished beef-and-pork sausage, and on Saturdays, goat. Delicious homemade sides and fruit cobblers. Brisket plate about $4.25. BYOB. Rating: 4. 2010 S. Bridge (U.S. 87 South), 915-597-1936. MC, V, checks accepted. Open daily. js

Burnet Burnet County Bar-B-Q Inside this rustic log cabin-style building, warmed in wintertime by a wood-burning stove, patrons enjoy mesquite-smoked meats: meltingly tender pork ribs, fourteen-to-eighteen-hour brisket, Elgin beef sausage from Southside Market, and ham. Pretty good homemade tomato-based sauce. Also, tasty homemade slaw and jalapeño-spiked beans. Yummy pies are made by a woman in Oatmeal. Brisket plate $5.25. BYOB. Rating: 4. 616 Buchanan Drive (Texas Highway 29), 512-756-6468. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Closed Tuesdays. js

Elgin Southside Market BBQ Talk about big. Every Saturday the Southside sells 2,000 pounds of Elgin beef sausage, 500 pounds of other meats (brisket; beef and pork steaks; beef, mutton, and pork ribs, plus baby back pork ribs), and 50 to 75 chickens. Amazingly, it's all pretty darned good, though you can quibble that the brisket might not be as tender as some. The pork ribs (big chestnut-colored slabs) are fine. Sauce is thin, red, not strongly sweet or sour, and very distinctive. The crowds eat off butcher paper at school-cafeteria tables in a modern converted bank building. Brisket plate $4.75. Beer. Rating: 4. 1212 U.S. 290, at Texas Highway 95, 512-285-3407. DS, MC, V, checks accepted. Open daily. ps

Fredericksburg Ken Hall and Company Texas Barbecue Old cowboy boots and cowboy hats line one wall of this rec room of a place owned by a former pro football player (for the Oilers, among others). Moist mesquite-smoked pork roast, fall-off-the-bone pork ribs, and brisket (lean slice: blah; fatty slice: wow!). Also turkey, chicken, and from the local Dutchman's Market, flavorful pork-and-beef sausage. Homemade sides include unexceptional green beans and corn. Brisket plate $5.49. Beer. Rating: 4. 1.5 miles from downtown on Texas Highway 87 South, 210-997-2353. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Closed Mondays. js

Ingram Buddy's Bar-B-Que Cooked over oak and a little mesquite, the brisket at this pretty little house with green walls and a stone fireplace is bland. Everything else, however, is superlative: exquisite pork ribs (slightly charred outside, toothsome inside), full-flavored, ungreasy beef-and-pork sausage, and juicy chicken. Homemade sides include cucumber salad. Brisket plate $4.60. BYOB. Rating: 4. 2900 Junction Highway (Texas Highway 27), one mile east of town, 210-367-4040. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Closed Sundays and Mondays. js

Llano Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Q See Jim Shahin's story about Cooper's in the Top Three. 604 W. Young (Texas Highway 29), Llano, 915-247-5713. Brisket plate about $3.50. BYOB. Rating: 5. AE, DS, MC, V, checks accepted. Open Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday through Sunday till 8. js

Lockhart Black's Barbecue There is something timeless about the feel of this relaxed cafe with Texas license plates lining one wood wall and Longhorn horns decorating the others. No wonder: It has been run by the same family since 1932. Owner Edgar Black, the son of the founder, still does things the way Daddy did, using post oak to indirectly smoke the meat, which is seasoned only with salt and pepper. The moist, deep-flavored brisket cooks for 24 hours, the good beef-and-pork sausage is homemade. Hammy pork ribs, chicken redolent of smoke. Made-from-scratch sauce is thick, red, sweet, nothing special. The sides are numerous but uninspired. Brisket plate about $4.60. Beer. Rating: 4. 215 N. Main, 512-398-2712. DS, MC, V, checks accepted. Open daily. js

Lockhart Chisholm Trail B-B-Q Long beige-brick building with lots of pickup trucks in its rutted parking lot. Inside, signs of trouble: a salad bar, fried catfish--in other words, a full-service restaurant. But . . . terrific homemade coarse-ground, peppery beef-and-pork sausage, fabulous oak-smoked beef ribs with the taste of basted-on sauce. Brisket and pork ribs pretty good; thick red sauce undistinguished. Not bad sides, you-name-it, all homemade. Brisket plate $3.60. Beer. Rating: 4. 1323 S. Colorado, 512-398-6027. AE, DS, MC, V, checks accepted. Open daily. js

Lockhart Kreuz Market See John Morthland's story about Kreuz Market in the Top Three. 208 South Commerce, Lockhart, 512-398-2361. Brisket $6.90 a pound. Beer. Rating: 5. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday till 6:30. jm

Willow City Harry's on the Loop Old house nestled among folds of the Hill Country. Folks play dominoes under a lethargic ceiling fan. In a side room, a stand-up piano. Walls thick with signatures, including Eric Clapton's. Picnic tables out back. Mesquite-smoked brisket: sensational. Pork ribs: meaty and delicious. Custom-made finely ground pork-and-beef sausage: spicy and good. Sharp red sauce. Homemade sides: beans with sausage, beans with brisket bits. Brisket plate $5.20. Beer. Rating: 4.5. From Fredericksburg, take Texas Highway 16 north for thirteen miles, then FM 1323 east for three miles, 210-685-3553. Checks accepted, no credit cards. Closed Tuesdays. js