East Texas BBQ lover not impressed w/ Central Texas BBQ can you recommend me some places? (Houston: buy, restaurant)

[verybadgnome]

Smittys in Lockhart is pretty renowned. Franklin's and J Mueller in Austin are the best in the capital city. I haven't been to Franklin's, because of the long lines, but the other two are not sauce heavy. They just started selling Franklin's sauce, including the famous espresso version, at HEBs in Austin and possibly other cities too.

If you like a mustard-based sauce the Salt Lick in Driftwood just south of Austin (BYOB and cash only) is pretty tasty.

I have no idea what the deal is in SA beside Bill Miller which is pretty basic BBQ.

[johnrex62]

Different strokes for different folks. I find cheese as a standard side in only a couple of central Tex BBQ shacks. Southside in Elgin is the only one that jumps to mind, though i am pretty sure the other was either in Taylor or Lockhardt.

I find myself liking all kinds of Q except for Carolina styles. Not much flavor in the meat and I don't care much for vinegar unless it is part of a sweet sauce. Adding a sprinkle of Cayanne pepper to make it spicy doesnt cut it for me.

I do love Memphis style, sweet, savory, hot, mild, smokey, and unsauced Q. My favorite is savory burnt ends or maybe sweet chopped beef on a bun, or maybe it is sweet pork ribs......probably it is all of them. One of my favorite dishes was in a place off campus near MIT. Yeah, thats right, Massachussetts (close to New-York-City or there abouts) It was their BBQ Hash plate. All the bits and pieces of the different meats mixed up in hash browns. YUMM!


As to which place has the best sauce, it all depends on what sauce you like. I love Rudy's sauce, but not on my ribs. I love Famous Daves sweet sauce, but not on my beef. I dont know what my favorite chopped beef sauce is...the shack closed 35+ years ago and I never found out, but I am still trying to find a sub.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by neddy

If ya get a chance go to peetes mesquite in marble falls, red shack across from the Wal-Mart. That is my fav and I grew up all over east texas...I love east texas bbq..

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Smittys in Lockhart is pretty renowned. Franklin's and J Mueller in Austin are the best in the capital city. I haven't been to Franklin's, because of the long lines, but the other two are not sauce heavy. They just started selling Franklin's sauce, including the famous espresso version, at HEBs in Austin and possibly other cities too.

If you like a mustard-based sauce the Salt Lick in Driftwood just south of Austin (BYOB and cash only) is pretty tasty.

I have no idea what the deal is in SA beside Bill Miller which is pretty basic BBQ.

Originally Posted by johnrex62

Different strokes for different folks. I find cheese as a standard side in only a couple of central Tex BBQ shacks. Southside in Elgin is the only one that jumps to mind, though i am pretty sure the other was either in Taylor or Lockhardt.

I find myself liking all kinds of Q except for Carolina styles. Not much flavor in the meat and I don't care much for vinegar unless it is part of a sweet sauce. Adding a sprinkle of Cayanne pepper to make it spicy doesnt cut it for me.

I do love Memphis style, sweet, savory, hot, mild, smokey, and unsauced Q. My favorite is savory burnt ends or maybe sweet chopped beef on a bun, or maybe it is sweet pork ribs......probably it is all of them. One of my favorite dishes was in a place off campus near MIT. Yeah, thats right, Massachussetts (close to New-York-City or there abouts) It was their BBQ Hash plate. All the bits and pieces of the different meats mixed up in hash browns. YUMM!


As to which place has the best sauce, it all depends on what sauce you like. I love Rudy's sauce, but not on my ribs. I love Famous Daves sweet sauce, but not on my beef. I dont know what my favorite chopped beef sauce is...the shack closed 35+ years ago and I never found out, but I am still trying to find a sub.

I'll be in Cen-tex in 2 weeks so I preciate these.

[bgrn198]

You might also check out Stiles Switch here in Austin on N. Lamar their pretty good.

STILES SWITCH BBQ & BREW | An Austin Original

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

All I can say is prepare to be ridiculed by several posters here. I've made the mistake of going against the machine and suggesting that, perhaps, East Texas BBQ is the best in the state. Because of it, I'm sure I've lost credibility in the eyes of a few.

It's the generally accepted rule that CT has the best BBQ, so any opposition to that simply won't be taken seriously.

Well, I'm with you and the OP - East Texas BBQ is hands down the BEST IN THE STATE.

And it's not "just about the meat" OR "just about the sauce." With BBQ, you can't have one without the other. That's like saying a BLT is just about the lettuce...or the tomato...or the bacon! East Texans understand that the sauce is absolutely just as important as the meat, and that's why ETX BBQ is so damn good.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

OK I've read Texas Monthly since I was in high school and i'm in my late 20's now. Anytime I've seen a issue about BBQ Central Texas is highly recommended as having the "best BBQ" in the State of Texas. I've tried some of the BBQ joints they've mentioned in Central Texas and i'm not impressed what's so ever. I've been to some of the popular BBQ spots in Austin and one thing I realized is a lack of FLAVOR!! Not a huge fan of the European influenced BBQ in that part of Texas. However everybody I know outside of East Texas praises Central Texas style BBQ. To me and some of my East Texas comrades I feel their being a bit biased since central texas BBQ is in a more populated area in Texas stretching from Austin to San Antonio and the great iconic BBQ joints are in between the 2. Even the BBQ from Luling didn't impress me. I'm a east texas boy and our BBQ rely heavily on sauce and chopped beefs. Sauce is very important and has a sweet and thick taste to it. Plus the type of wood that is used being a heavily wooded area. Most of my peers and family members from East Texas feel the same way I do. Alot of BBQ restaurants in Houston and Dallas mostly black BBQ joints or "urban" BBQ joints serve East Texas style BBQ. Black East Texans migrated to Houston and Dallas and just took their style of BBQ with them. I just feel that major media outlets like "Texas Monthly" puts East Texas to the side because it's a region that's full of small towns and small cities. Seen as like the Mississippi/Alabama of Texas.

What would be some good BBQ joints in Central Texas that could possibly win me over since I haven't been convinced yet.

Originally Posted by Nairobi

The fact of the matter is, sauce is important in most legit BBQ regions (Memphis, the Carolinas, etc.). Texans are really the only ones who are so adamantly anti-sauce.

In a way, I'm on both sides of that argument, since I've never eaten brisket with sauce and don't plan on it. Pickle, onion, and bread are all I require for that meat. But dry, "Texas-style" ribs without sauce is out of the question. Sauce is great with chopped pork/beef, and I also enjoy it with sausage.


Well, Texans are a hard-headed bunch, but, due to the size and diversity of this state, we're bound to butt those heads with each other. This ain't Georgia, and we don't even all root for the same college football team, so why do we all have to agree on the barbecue?

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

East Texans are pro-sauce. It's the only way I eat BBQ. I honestly didn't know it was a difference in BBQ in Texas till I went to school in Waco. In east texas it was perfectly normal to get a side of cheese and alot of BBQ sauce as a side dish. I went to a few bbq joints native to Waco and asked for some cheese and they looked at me like I was batsh*t crazy. And I had a friend from Bryan/College Station area who considered that weird and never heard of that combo. But I got so many weird looks for asking for that in Waco. Only place I see cheese was at Rudy's which was a chain.

Other things I noticed though was in etx its pretty common to serve a burger with fries and chilly beans. I haven't been able to get that combo outside of home.

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Well, I'm with you and the OP - East Texas BBQ is hands down the BEST IN THE STATE.

And it's not "just about the meat" OR "just about the sauce." With BBQ, you can't have one without the other. That's like saying a BLT is just about the lettuce...or the tomato...or the bacon! East Texans understand that the sauce is absolutely just as important as the meat, and that's why ETX BBQ is so damn good.

Yes, yes, yesssssssss.
OP I thought I was the only one.
Living in SA I got so much flack for even suggesting that east Texas bbq was good too. I think I should have been hanged for saying I liked east Texas bbq better.

I am with Nairobi on the sauce/ type of meat thing but sauce in addition to meat is important to me. You need to Cook that meat good and then impress me with the sauce. Having a so so sauce is lite baking a flavorful cake then covering it with cheap off brand frosting.

I am not saying that central Texas bbq is bad. I have had lots of excellent bbq in central Texas but I don't know, east Texas bbq is closer to what I grew up with in the Caribbean so it is so comfortingly delicious. I just copywrited that word so talk can't use it, lol.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

.....With BBQ, you can't have one without the other. That's like saying a BLT is just about the lettuce...or the tomato...or the bacon! ......

If one wants to put sauce on meat....cool. (personall....I like a real spicy vinegary liquid on pulled pork sandwiches & also when i wrap a pork sausage link in a slice of cheap (mrs. bairds type) white bread.....but that's pork.)

BUT....to declare that "you can't have one without the other" is flawed logic at best, & is blaspheme to those who love/worship parts of cow that has been indirectly smoked for 14+ hours by a master who's done it for decades.

One can't carve into a Filet Mignon without A-1? Can't enjoy a round of golf unless you're in a cart? Huh??

Top drawer bbq beef doesn't require much if any "sauce". There's no law that says you can't goop it on if you want to (& with inferior 'cue, it might be preferable). But tossing a bunch of sauce on a 1/2 lb of City Market brisket would be like putting several layers of make up & lots of winter clothes on Salma Hayek.....no law against it, but Why??

[lonestar2007]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

comfortingly delicious.

I'll have to borrow that phrase sometime.

[HtownLove]

Hound adding sauce to your bbq when its already on your plate isnt the same as having sause on the meat while its cooking.

The heat smooths the flavor of the sauce by burning off the vinegar and caramelizing the sugar. Its also a whole different world when the flavor of the sauce cooks into the meat.

The sauce can be added the last few minutes before the meat is done, but adding the sauce after the meat is taken off the pit is icky


Lone Star there is a one time user fee of $599 and a per use fee of $175 everytime you use it

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by hound 109

If one wants to put sauce on meat....cool. (personall....I like a real spicy vinegary liquid on pulled pork sandwiches & also when i wrap a pork sausage link in a slice of cheap (mrs. bairds type) white bread.....but that's pork.)

BUT....to declare that "you can't have one without the other" is flawed logic at best, & is blaspheme to those who love/worship parts of cow that has been indirectly smoked for 14+ hours by a master who's done it for decades.

One can't carve into a Filet Mignon without A-1? Can't enjoy a round of golf unless you're in a cart? Huh??

Top drawer bbq beef doesn't require much if any "sauce". There's no law that says you can't goop it on if you want to (& with inferior 'cue, it might be preferable). But tossing a bunch of sauce on a 1/2 lb of City Market brisket would be like putting several layers of make up & lots of winter clothes on Salma Hayek.....no law against it, but Why??

See I think that's a matter of cultural differences. Me personally I refuse to eat bbq without sauce. It just doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't feel like bbq without the sauce its just a piece of meat.