Facebook > Email > More Pinterest Print Twitter Play

May 2003

  • Features

    • Feature

      The Skinny on Slim

      By

      Thomas Austin Preston, Jr.—a.k.a. Amarillo Slim—has cut cards with LBJ and hustled all manner of sharpies at pool and Ping-Pong. But at 74, his greatest success continues to be at the poker table, as my $100 and I found out.

    • Feature

      The Enforcer

      By

      The name on everyone’s lips this legislative session is unknown to most people outside Austin—inside Austin too. But Mike Toomey, the governor’s chief of staff, is the most powerful political operative at the Capitol—and the most feared. Just ask his fellow Republicans.

    • Feature

      Barbecue Joints

      By

      ALAMO: Original Willie B’s Bar-B-Q, for its rib botana (Mexican snack) platters; 320 S. Alamo Road, 956-702-1370 AUSTIN: County Line on the Lake, for its potato salad not overwhelmed by mayo and sparked by just-right amounts of celery, pickle, and onion; 5204 FM 2222, 512-346-3664 BALLINGER: Lisa’s Cafe, for smoked cabbage, available on Fridays, Saturdays, …

    • Feature

      Cuts Above

      By

      To those who say barbecue is an art form, we say, “Amen.” Presenting the elite meat to eat—along with beans, bread, and sauce—from some of the state’s top pits.

    • Feature

      Top Fifty

      By , , , , , , , , and

      Unless otherwise noted, all places take credit cards. ABILENE: Harold’s Pit Bar-B-Q We didn’t catch pitmaster Harold Christian singing gospel songs to his customers, but we’re told that isn’t an unusual occurrence. This cozy little room, packed with nine picnic tables, seven booths, and a congregation of athletic trophies, is where Abilene gets its primo …

    • Feature

      Chain Gang

      By

      We admit being partial to the small, independent barbecue joint run by an ornery cuss who has smoke in his eyes and sauce in his veins. But we also concede that chain operations sell some darn good barbecue. So while we included only indies in our top fifty list, we herewith give the top multicity …

    • Feature

      The Best of the Best

      By , and

      Cooper’s Pit Bar-B-Q Mason The name “Cooper’s” has long been synonymous with Llano, but now the Mason operation of the same name has overtaken its distant cousin. Cooper’s Pit Bar-B-Q was opened in Mason in 1953 by the late George Cooper, whose son Tommy (also deceased) cloned it a decade later in Llano. Today the …

    • Feature

      More Than Meats . . .

      By

      AUSTIN: Artz Rib House, for its laid-back South Austin vibe, plus live music every evening but Wednesday, and Stubb’s Bar-B-Que, for its historic buildings, live music, and resounding Sunday gospel brunches. BOERNE: The Back Porch, for its wildlife viewing, with many feeders for birds and axis deer. CARTHAGE: Daddy Sam’s BBQ and Catfish, for having …

    • Feature

      Mail Call

      By

      NEED A TEXAS-STYLE GIFT for a friend? Barbecue is the answer. Of the many places that ship, we’ve tried and like these. All send the cooked and frozen meat in an insulated box, generally accompanied by reheating instructions. Prices do not include shipping unless otherwise noted. City Market in Schulenburg, 800-793-3440; citymarketsch.com. Besides brisket ($36.75 …

    • Feature

      Honorable Mention

      By

      ALAMO: Original Willie’s BBQ, for sweet pecan-smoked meat, a rarity in the mesquite-dominated Valley. ATLANTA: Tommy’s Bar-B-Que (5.5 miles south of town on U.S. 59), for melt-in-your-mouth pork ribs. AUSTIN: House Park Bar-B-Que, for lean, moist pork loin. BELMONT: The Goss Store, for its mouthwatering ribs and its funk-and-rust atmosphere. BROWNWOOD: Smitty’s Bar-B-Que Pit, for …

    • Feature

      Pit Stops

      By , , , , , , , , and

      Where are the best places to eat barbecue in Texas? Six years ago we published a highly subjective—and hotly debated— list of our fifty favorite joints, and now we’ve gone back for seconds. Ten intrepid souls drove more than 21,000 miles in search of 2003’s worthiest ‘cue. Here’s what they came back with: the top 5 and the next 45, plus honorable mentions, great chains, and meat by mail.

    • Feature

      O Sister, Where Art Thou?

      By

      History makes no mention of what was one of the most popular all-female country acts ever. Yet the story of the Goree Girls-inmates who banded together in the forties at Texas’ sole penitentiary for women—is worth a listen.

  • Around the State

    • Atsbox

      Get Out

      By

      TWOSOME The whole world will be watching Annika Sörenstam tee it up against the big boys May 22 through 25 at the Bank of America Colonial, at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. Sörenstam, the LPGA’s number one player last year and winner of 42 titles in nine years on the tour, casually mentioned in …

    • Atsbox

      Straight Talk

      By

      ENTER LAUGHING On May 19 actor-director Carl Reiner, who created the Emmy award-winning series The Dick Van Dyke Show, will interview Neil Simon for the debut of the Brinker International Lecture Series, in Dallas. What’s the difference between the comedy of your day and the comedy of today? The difference is that the subject matter …

    • Atsbox

      Dance

      By

      STEP OUT James Brown once said that any problem in the world can be solved by dancing. So this seems like a particularly good time to slip on the footwear of your choice and start practicing those fancy steps—whether they be of the boot-scootin’, foot-stomping, or smooth-sashaying variety. In addition to the many statewide Cinco …

    • Atsbox

      Opening

      By

      REVELATIONS For more than thirty years the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center has stood on a corner of the UT-Austin campus like a colossal intellectual tease. You could go into the center and ask to see a specific item—say, Charles Baudelaire’s original proof sheets of Les Litanies de Satan (with handwritten corrections) or Joseph Nicéphore …

  • Columns

    • Books

      Not Moving On

      By

      Fifteen years after Larry McMurtry announced he was through writing novels, he shows no sign of letting up. For this we should be thankful.

    • Faith

      Bless This House

      By

      Haven’t we settled the prayer-in-politics debate and turned our attention to more important things, like the budget shortfall? Apparently not.

    • Sports

      Play Bawl!

      By

      Yes, yes—come playoff time, the Houston Astros have a history of reducing grown men to tears. But thanks to Jeff Kent, this season could be different.

    • Behind the Lines

      So Far, So Bad

      By

      Capitol hell.

    • Music

      Independent’s Day

      By

      With the record business in the doldrums, what’s a talented, ambitious band to do? If you’re Austin’s Grupo Fantasma, you make it on your own.

    • Texana

      Wild Things

      By

      My siblings and I had plenty of pets growing up, but they were never quite as exciting as those we caught ourselves, such as tarantulas. And garden snakes. And of course, horny toads.

  • Reporter

  • Web

    • Texas Tidbits

      Texas Tidbits

      By

      How many calves were born in Texas in 2002? When did two of the big packing plants at the Fort Worth Stockyards close? We’ve got all the beef on beef in Texas.

    • Web Exclusive

      A Dinger

      By

      Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker talks about second baseman Jeff Kent and a budget like the New York Yankees’.

    • Books That Cook

      Books That Cook

      By

      Smoke and Spice: Cooking With Smoke, the Real Way to Barbecue

    • Pat's Pick

      On the Road

      By

      PLAINS AND FANCY You have to admire any chef in the vastness of rural Texas who decides to buck the menu monoliths of barbecue and chicken-fried steak. But that’s exactly what chef-owners Randy Allred and Edward Harvey are doing at Randy’s of Wildorado, their restaurant on Interstate 40 some fifteen miles west of Amarillo. At …

    • Pat's Pick

      Best Fests

      By

      THE MEAT OF THE MATTER Everyone has an opinion on what makes the best barbecue, and nowhere is this argument more intense than at a barbecue cookoff. In Texas there are more than 100 cookoffs a year, some 25 in May alone. Two of the more unusual ones focus on something besides Texas’ ever-popular beef …

    • Pat's Pick

      The Drálion

      By

      ORIENT EXCESS What a piece of work: towering walls draped in burgundy velvet, colossal silver candelabra, track lighting worthy of The Phantom of the Opera—I fully expected the servers to burst into song. Its name an amalgam of “dragon” and “lion,” The Drálion is exploiting Dallas’ culinary trend du jour, Asian-American fusion. Some dishes at …

    • Texas History 101

      Texas History 101

      By

      The state’s first enclosed penitentiary, a 225-cell facility in Huntsville, has weathered some hard times—and expanded to include seven prison units.

    • Web Exclusive

      Amarillo Slim’s Top Ten Keys to Poker Success

      By

      Read an excerpt from Amarillo Slim’s Top Ten Keys to Poker Success.

    • Web Exclusive

      Prep Work

      By

      Dan Winters, who shot this month’s photo essay, “Cuts Above,” discusses finding the right piece of meat.

    • Happy Trails

      Happy Trails

      By

      Alpine, Marfa, and Fort Davis seemed like a different world—until I got there. I felt right at home in these West Texas cultural hot spots.

    • Web Exclusive

      Flying High

      By

      There’s nothing quite like being airborne in the cockpit of a plane—a warplane—to get your adrenaline going.

    • Web Exclusive

      Feeding Frenzy

      By

      Senior editor Patricia Sharpe, assistant editor Katy Vine, and others talk about this month’s cover story, “Pit Stops.”

    • Web Exclusive

      Blue Notes

      By

      Goree prison unit inmate Hattie Ellis had a short-lived recording career, but her music made a lasting impression.

    • Web Exclusive

      Girl Talk

      By

      Executive editor Skip Hollandsworth discusses this month’s feature “O Sister, Where Art Thou?”

  • Miscellany