Salt lick actually is good (Austin, Mesquite: cost, rated, pay)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Making a sauce is so much easier than cooking meet properly. It is no wonder that many places don't work too hard on the sauce.

I like a bit of sauce with my barbecue. But when I take Rudy's moist brisket home - it is so good I take a crusty black piece and eat it with my fingers. Doesn't need a thing.

I beg to differ about the sauce. Good sauces are time honored and secret recipes that take months, if not years to perfect.

I guess that's why we all have our favorites, because we all are seeking different things.

A plate of perfect brisket but with no sauce or sides just wouldn't cut it for me (no pun intended). I'd probably get sick or indigestion from eating all that meat with nothing to absorb all the fat (which potato salad does a wonderful job of doing).

But then again, when I go to Popeye's fried chicken I like the buttermilk biscuits as much as the chicken and the red beans and rice better than the chicken! Church's chicken actually has better chicken, but their sides are lacking, so Popeye's wins out every time.

It's the "tout ensemble" that makes a great meal for me, not specialization in one particular thing.

[G Grasshopper]

I enjoyed reading all the advice on BBQ. I have very little experience or expertise in this area, and what I am going to say probably sounds very un-Texan, but the sides do matter a lot to me. Of course, one would want great meat, too, but I have two favorite places that are not in Texas. Both have great, tender ribs, etc., but one has wonderful creamed corn, cornbread, and garlic mashed potatoes. The other has an abundance of possible sides, including boiled new potatoes, garlic mashed, sweet potato fries, garlic fries, grilled mixes vegetables, fried okra, etc. Now if you can get some great sides like that with your meat, that is a good meal. For my taste, if all you get is meat and sauce and a hunk of white bread, I would rather not go.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

I enjoyed reading all the advice on BBQ. I have very little experience or expertise in this area, and what I am going to say probably sounds very un-Texan, but the sides do matter a lot to me. Of course, one would want great meat, too, but I have two favorite places that are not in Texas. Both have great, tender ribs, etc., but one has wonderful creamed corn, cornbread, and garlic mashed potatoes. The other has an abundance of possible sides, including boiled new potatoes, garlic mashed, sweet potato fries, garlic fries, grilled mixes vegetables, fried okra, etc. Now if you can get some great sides like that with your meat, that is a good meal. For my taste, if all you get is meat and sauce and a hunk of white bread, I would rather not go.

The Salt Lick has wonderful German Potato salad, coleslaw made with vinegar and celery seed rather than mayo, and its beans are more like Barracho beans rather than baked beans. I love their sides and feel like the absence of mayo is actually a nice contrast to the rich/fatty meat.

[tfresca]

Cooper's has pretty decent sides but Rudy's has the best sides. I'm a Mueller guy but apparently I'm in the minority.

[love roses]

I like Mueller too and it's still a very busy place.

[TexasHorseLady]

I can't ever remember not being asked, in a true BBQ joint, for an individual (not family style) order: "Do you want it lean or do you want flavor?" If I wasn't asked, I'd certainly speak up! Rudy's didn't invent this, not by a long shot, because I've been eating BBQ a lot longer then they've been in existence. My take on Rudy's is, it's good consistent BBQ, if that's what you're looking for, and sometimes I am. But it doesn't belong up there with the greats.

Salt Lick used to be better - I agree that sometimes the magic doesn't pass down the generations like it should. The one in Round Rock doesn't even seem like Salt Lick to me.

Have tried Franklin's. My reaction (and my husband's) to their brisket (and we walked in with high hopes because of all the hype - guess that'll teach us!) was, "What the heck is all the fuss about? Have none of these people actually had good BBQ?" Nothing to write home about, in other words. This was when they were still in the wagon on I35 and you had to wait in line if you got there half an hour before they opened. The coffee-based sauce was good, though, and it was definitely needed.

My favorites (and, yes, it is a very personal thing) are City Market in Luling (when you get to Lockhart, just keep on driving if you want really outstanding brisket), Perez in Bartlett, Coopers in Llano, a new place in Jarrell called O.D.'s (but O.D. was cooking BBQ in Fort Worth for 35 years before he moved down here), House Park in Austin.

I still think with longing of Jerry Jacobs of sainted memory in Austin, located in the building where the original Green Mesquite is on Barton Springs Road. He'd get up early early early early, cook as much BBQ as he wanted to sell that day, and when it was all gone (no later than 1:00 p.m., usually much earlier), he'd close up and go fishing. Jerry's now smoking brisket for the angels, lo these many years, but his 'cue is still missed.

Most of the best BBQ is in little roadside places that most no one here has ever heard of, and that many wouldn't go in if they saw them.

[dave bacon]

have to give big props to rudys round rock - had perfect xtra moist brisket, sauce, pickles, onions, white bread, and service with big smiles today - damn i love this town!

[Cardiff Giant]

Had Rudy's tonight too -- so full. Time for some banana pudding!

[N. Olikee]

Originally Posted by cBach

I beg to differ about the sauce. Good sauces are time honored and secret recipes that take months, if not years to perfect.

I guess that's why we all have our favorites, because we all are seeking different things.

A plate of perfect brisket but with no sauce or sides just wouldn't cut it for me (no pun intended). I'd probably get sick or indigestion from eating all that meat with nothing to absorb all the fat (which potato salad does a wonderful job of doing).

But then again, when I go to Popeye's fried chicken I like the buttermilk biscuits as much as the chicken and the red beans and rice better than the chicken! Church's chicken actually has better chicken, but their sides are lacking, so Popeye's wins out every time.

It's the "tout ensemble" that makes a great meal for me, not specialization in one particular thing.

Singin' to the choir here. And regarding sauce.......mop sauce as we always called it......you are right......it varies, well-kept secrets, on a whim I will change / add / delete something from the family recipe!

I do hope everyone knows that the flavor is in the fat. However, I have a great recipe for flank steak...........low fat......family favorite!

[love roses]

I know. It's just a texture thing with me. I don't mind a bit of marbling, but just fat all around a piece of meat turns me off.