
You can’t go home and tell your friends that you came to Central Texas and never ate any barbecue. It would be like going to SXSW and not listening to any music. But there are so many briskets and so little time! How do you sort it all out? No worries, here is our opinionated guide to the best of the best.

Find out who made the cut. And which joint ranks number one.
Sifting through old Texas newspapers, I found the first mention of commercial smoked meat from the Brenham Weekly Banner, which announced that a Bastrop butcher "keeps on hand at his stall a ready stock of barbecued meats and cooked sausages."
Texas barbecue, the classic version of which is distinguished by its use of beef brisket and its indirect smoking method, is superior to all other regional varieties of barbecue. There, we said it.
A Cityslicker's Guide to the Pits.
Where there's smoke, there's non-traditional barbecue. Jim Shahin writes about Asian styles in New York City, "pulled squash" in Arizona, and cauliflower, artichokes, and quail in Texas.
May 4, 2012 | by Jim Shahin
Separating the hits from the pits on the World Wide Web: A guide to a hundred of our favorite Texas-related sites.
August 1, 1996 | Feature

