Save the breakfast tacos for the weekdays. Leave the doughnuts for the vegetarians. Saturday morning is meant for feasting on brisket and sausage at Snow’s, in Lexington.

The joint is open only on Saturdays, starting at eight o’clock sharp. You’d do well to beat the line and arrive at seven-thirty, though you will have finished your dessert (do not skip the banana pudding) before most teenagers have rolled out of bed. Your friends say that’s too early for barbecue? Tell them to have a frittata for dinner if they seek dietary balance. Bring those skeptics along and let them be enraptured by the smoke and the sound of sizzling meat as you all dine alfresco on picnic tables so close to the barbecue pits they’ll warm your back.

At nearly eighty, pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz shows off her barbecue artistry with nothing but oak and seasoned meat. One of her specialties is an uncommon thick-cut pork steak that is perfumed by the aroma of fat crackling on the coals beneath. It might as well have been brushed with fire.

Owner Kerry Bexley gets credit for the tender brisket that emerges from two behemoth smokers he built in his spare time. He’ll serve as your affable host when Tootsie needs to shoo away the photo seekers and flip a rack full of chicken with a flick of her barbecue fork. Soak it in, but don’t despair when it’s time to leave. You can always come back next weekend.
516 Main, Lexington; 979-542-8189

This piece is just one bit of wisdom offered in our April 2015 cover story, “Welcome to Texas!” a friendly user’s guide for our state’s most recent transplants. To read more advice, go here.