I recently drove by there at night, found it!...will have to check them out! Thanks After this weekend (HLSR Cook Off 2017) I am good on smoked meat for at least three days.
I was in Baytown for the day on biz a week ago, and so I stopped by. Brisket was good. Ribs better. Not the best in the state, but very good. Neighborhood was simple, not sketchy, IMO...T
On no waiting pre-orders Franklins has a 5lb minimum and La BBQ you get whatever you want. So if you had to feed a few people primarily brisket and secondarily sausage would you pre-order la BBQ or Franklins? Do people think Franklins is overrated?
And the Tex-Mex tacos are supposed to be awesome. Can we add to this thread and locals give some advice on must try Tex-mex around Austin?
I do. I preordered a chilled brisket, and then reheated at home. Franklin's is very good, don't get me wrong, but Snow's and Louie Mueller are better IMO...T
You can't go wrong either way. That said, if I had a need for 5lb, I'd preorder from Franklins. Beyond the Texas standard brisket and sausage, their ribs were surprisingly good as was the turkey. (I think many would say they are over-rated and/or simply dislike them for the hype and line...but the real question is - "do they have good q?" - they do, among the best anywhere...up there in the discussion with Louie muellers in my experience...someday I gotta try Snows)
Personally: Yes He was tutored by the Mueller family, now split between the original location and LA BBQ. But as I have posted, "standing in line" for anything (Killen's in Pearland is outrageous, like Franklins) just cuts against the grain, with so many alternatives. It was a long wait during Superbowl here, at Gaitlins. But I was having so much fun with the people in line, that the 30 - 35 minutes went by quickly. An hour? I can get to the NEXT TOWN, in an hour!!
Matts El Rancho on South Lamar (closed on Tuesdays) Original El Patio on Guadalupe El Gallo on South Congress El Mercado, on South 1st
Hey now! [emoji3] Our stock is rising in the latest Texas Monthly best bbq list. Will be interesting to see if DFW can maintain its strong growth in bbq when the next list comes out. Having been to nearly every place on the 2008 and 2013 lists, it seems clear that some places can't maintain the quality when their quantity goes up. Took the Cali to Hashknife in Peadenville, just a bit north of Mineral Wells on 281. Great joint. T
True, there are some good bbq places in the metroplexs around TX. The meat is number one when rating a place, but i also like the ambiance of a lot of the rural bbq joints. The Post Oak Smokehouse was in a strip mall, but they did make an effort to give it a bbq joint feel. The hard 8 bbq places in the dfw area do a good job on ambiance.
Agreed. The places out in the small towns have the ambience, some of them literally smoked into the walls. Plus, if you have fun cars, they can usually be reached by fun roads. I'll have to check out the Post Oak Smokehouse. Looks to be near Las Colinas. T
I went yesterday for the first time, it's pretty close to my office. The sausage was VERY good, but was a little disappointed in the brisket. I asked for a lot of bark and the burnt ends, he just cut me the standard 3 slices. One guy cutting meat pretty slowly, the line backed up fast.
Sounds like they might not be consistent. We had the opposite experience. My brother in law was with us (from the hill country and visits Lockhart frequently) did not like the sausage (as compared to Lockhart), but the brisket was good. The guy cutting the brisket even asked if we wanted the end. Of course, we did go on a slow evening.
^Among the places in the Metroplex that were written up in the last Tx Monthly, Meschak's - slow as heck, ditto for Pecan Lodge (to be fair, we went during lunch rush), but Lockhart Smokehouse, when we walked in, huge line, almost out the door, but they were picking 'em up and putting 'em down, line flew. They also have a great diversity of smoked meats to try. Their smoked prime rib was great. Longoria's in extreme south Fort Worth, love their sausage. Brisket was OK. We got a chance to hit up Kirby's in Mexia a few weeks ago. Service was great, meats were OK, brisket better than sausage. Bartley's in Grapevine was IMO nothing special. In the extended Metroplex, Hashknife in Peadenville is IMO among the best I have been to...T
I'm still in austin. Most places closed by 6pm And some lunch only. I raced at COTA this weekend and did not have as much free time as I thought. We tried brisket and sausage and pork ribs at cooper's downtown. It was lame. Too much salt! Salt is not a substitute for proper flavors. Sausage casing like 18 gauge steel. We got lucky at franklins. Sign on door said sold out. We went in just to see it. Just a couple people still in line. A lady asked if she could help us. We wanted to buy some sauces and then asked since they were still cutting if there was any left to buy. We got brisket and sausage. The sausage was tasty but again the same 18gauge steel casings. You can't cut that with a plastic knife. The brisket was melt in your mouth perfect flavor. It was the best I have had. It makes a difference the luck of the cut of meat and whether lean or fatty. The fatty is the best. It is so moist. Real good bbq really doesn't need sauce! We will try for la bar be que tomorrow. The line was too long today.
^ If you've not been to one of the small town que joints - Lockhart, Taylor or Elgin - I'd highly recommend those if you have the time and transportation. They're worth a visit for the ambiance and the barbecue is great too. I'd check, of course, to confirm that they're open on Mondays...T
Agree, with tomc, at least wrt muellers...if they are open I'd go there over the Lockhart trio. La BBQ allows small orders in advance, but I don't think for next day? If you don't want to leave town and if La BBQ line is to long for you, try kerlin or micklewait .(not spelled right - see my post #45 earlier in the thread)
Yeah, so for best Tex Mex in Austin you go south to Matt's El Rancho. Really good, been here since the 50s. Used to be where Four Seasons is now when I was in college but they bought him out and he got the South Lamar spread which is now worth millions. Fonda San Miguel is good interior Mexican and more expensive with less wait. As to BBQ, I don't go to Franklin's because I don't care to wait that long. Salt Lick in Driftwood is worth the wait but it's not as long as Franklins and they have a family style. There is also one up in Round Rock at Old Settlers Park next to the Dell Diamond. The joints in Lockhart have never done it for me, just a bunch of overcooked brisket IMO. Southside in Elgin has great sausage and meh brisket.
Since last I posted, been traveling within Texas a bit, and had a chance to hit up a few more q joints... Briskets & Beer Smokehouse - Laredo - very good brisket. As you'd expect that far south, great charro beans. Hays County BBQ - San Marcos - not bad brisket. Not great. Sausage was meh. Fargo's Pit BBQ - Bryan - brisket was dry. Pass. Some of the best pork ribs we've had in Texas though. Maybe second to Maillan's in Fannin? Zimmerhanzel's - Smithville - brisket very good. Sausage dang good. Charro beans - OK. Black's - Lockhart - brisket great. Beef rib - boat loads better than I've ever been able to do! They use pecan, per the young man who was cutting meat, in their smoking wood mix. T
