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6 comments
Sunday, December 12th, 2010, 1:09 pm
Fielden says:
I can overwhelmingly concur with Larry’s assessment of the overall quality at Smitty’s and with the state of the Texas barbecue world in general. While Smitty’s is not at the top of my list, I confess that I enjoy sharing the experience of Central Texas barbecue with family and friends more here than at any other place. Smitty’s maintains old world, German meat-market humility, tradition, location, quality and consistency in a way the former namesake could have (wisely) done had it not chosen to erect a theme park on the outskirts of town. Even when they miss the mark (one they probably set themselves), the food is always delicious and satisfying. Turn of the century atmosphere and depression-era accoutrements help, as there’s more to this passion for barbecue than a meal. While there is better barbecue out there, all roads lead to Lockhart, the Rome of barbecue. Smitty’s is its Caesar, His Excellency the Emperor. All hail Caesar!
Saturday, October 16th, 2010, 2:48 am
Scott says:
Why isn’t anyone mentioning Black’s? On a cross country eating trip we detoured to Lockhart and tried Black’s, Smitty’s and Kreuz all within a couple of hours. We tried a bit of everything at each and Black’s was by far the stand out across the board. Extremely hospitable too compared to the others with a complimentary tour of the pit thrown in!
Saturday, June 26th, 2010, 9:12 am
cindy sharp says:
Me and my husband had watched the tv show a few months ago about the bbq places in lockhart so one weekend we traveled 4 hours from dallas to go try them out.we went to smittys first then to kreitz next. The brisket was tough and tasted more like pot roast all we needed was carrots and potatoes. The sausage was very greasy and crumbled apart.the ribs were tough.needless to say we wasted our time driving all the way here for poor bbq at both places and we won’t be back.
Thursday, November 5th, 2009, 9:06 am
Larry says:
My wife and I did a road trip from Snow’s, to Louie Mueller, to Southside, to Smitty’s, to Kreuz, and finally Blacks. Smitty’s was an arm and a leg above everyone else. It was almost like my wife and I took one bite of the brisket, and we both looked at each other was said with our eyes, "why did we waste our time going to all those other places?" Finally, a place that seasons their meat a little. Finally, a place where the smoke is bold enough without being overbearing. Finally, a place where the brisket can hold it’s form, not be dry, and still melt in your mouth. Not to mention, the emotional feeling of this place really added to the meal. The sausage was great too, though a little greasy. Good pepper flavor though, it didn’t fall apart when cut, and the meat actually had some texture to it instead of being mushy. I will say this: every BBQ place has a bad day. It’s possible that my bad experience at Kreuz was a fluke (I ranked Kreuz 5th out of the 6 places we went to). It’s possible the the dry brisket at Louie Mueller was caused by a fluke raise in the pit temperature that one day we went. But, nevertheless, Smitty’s is the only place that we went to that day, that makes me want to go back as soon as possible.
Friday, September 25th, 2009, 9:31 am
Michael Kelley says:
Just check the suggestions on where to eat brisket and you’ll know what to make of Jesse’s review.
Anyone here interested in mass market taste? I don’t think so.
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009, 9:11 pm
Jesse says:
2 Aug 09
We left Austin looking forward to eat at 1 of the top 5 BBQ’s places in Texas. What transpired was far from that.
I am not sure if it was an "off" day, but if Smitty’s made it in the top 5 of BBQ places in Texas 08 that is a very sad statement. The 1/2 lb of Brisket was tough and struggled to provide flavor. On the outside edges you could taste a hint of smoke flavor. The pork ribs were not much better than the brisket. Although they had a fraction more taste.
All in all we were VERY DISAPPOINTED and want to save others the gas and money. Insult to injury was the price for this gem of a meal. Your side items taste "ok", nothing interesting there.
Also the person grabbing bread had no gloves on or any indication sanitation was a priority. I am all for the no BS country BBQ, but with the viral/bacterial challenges of today I want good ole fashion BBQ NOT the next outbreak of e coli or strain of the flu.
If you are looking for good BBQ, don’t go to Smitty’s. I can’t speak for Kreuz as they were closed and we have not been there.
Here is some advice to save gas, time and money. Go to HEB get their Mesquite smoked brisket. It blows the doors off Smitty’s. No I don’t work for HEB, just trying to give you some context of what it boils down to. Even Rudy’s, County Line, Dukes are MUCH better if you are looking to go out to eat BBQ.
We plan to check out the other places on the top 5 list to broaden our horizons. It just happens Smitty’s was the first one we went to due to being open on Sunday. To us Smitty’s no longer exists, instead the "m" has been replaced with an "h".
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