We set out for Austin on Thursday morning and made it to town just in time for lunch. We started our BBQ-a-thon at John Mueller Meat Company. We once tried Mueller’s BBQ when he was set up on Manor Rd. While the BBQ at that visit was not memorable, what was was that he was slicing off tastes for those waiting in line. We strolled right into his new trailer at 6th and Perdenales and landed ourselves promptly in BBQ heaven. Kev decreed it the best looking brisket he’s ever laid eyes on. We all agreed the bark was possibly the best we’ve ever tasted. Both the bark on the brisket and ribs was out of this world… sticky, seasoned and meaty-sweet (if that is even an adjective). We will definitely be back.
That night we made the obligatory pilgrimage to Salt Lick in Dripping Springs. This particular weekend was the first round of March Madness (which Austin was hosting) and the Salt Lick was overrun with Minnesota fans. After a reasonable wait we were seated in their banquet hall (a first for us) and began the meat-a-thon. For $20 you can go all-you-can-eat and have unlimited brisket, sausage, ribs, bread, beans, potato salad and coleslaw. Kev and my pops went all in and the first round was a bit dry and lackluster though the brisket in round two was much, much better. Blackberry and peach cobbler finished us out and we proclaimed the day a success. We’ve never really had a bad meal at Salt Lick, but food-wise this was definitely not the best meal we’ve had there. Either way it’s a fun experience… BYOB, live music, picnic tables and incredible Q.
The real reason we were trekking to Austin was to give Franklin Barbecue another shot. We’ve tried twice to eat there when they were in a trailer off of I-35, and I think we’ve made two attempts to go to their new location off of 11th but have always been scared off by the lines (even getting there early). We read online that you are able to preorder via email a min. of 5 lbs. if you pick it up between 10:15-10:30am, but we checked on Monday for that Friday and the preorders were sold out. Kev had no choice but to take one for the team and we dropped him off into the line at 8:59am for an 11am opening. Even at 9am the line was 25 or so deep, but not wrapped around the corner of the entire lot like we had seen before. He was in line behind a couple from Wisconsin in town for a wedding and in front of an intern sent to get lunch for the office and a couple from Alabama in town on their Spring Break. My dad was sitting across the street with a guy that rents folding chairs to sit in while in line for $5. By the time my mom and I joined the guys in line closer to 11, the boys were sharing in some PBRs courtesy of the dude from Wisconsin. The line slowly, slowly moves and we finally made it into the building and to a table. Kev drops 3 lbs. of brisket, 1.5 lbs. of ribs, 0.5 lbs. of pulled pork and two links of sausage onto the table and while I had my momentary doubts, there was nothing left by the time we finished. Easily, hands down, the best brisket any of us at the table had ever tasted. Ever. And if you can’t tell already, we are well researched. To boot, Aaron Franklin was in the house and chatting up his guests – making a list for some tourists of fun stuff to do in Austin, answering another guy’s BBQ question by bringing him back into the kitchen or hanging with a pair of BBQ aficionados like Kev and my pops. He was extremely personable, as was the rest of his staff. Truly amazing BBQ.
That night with the last ounce of room left in our bellies we went to Hoover’s Cooking, close to our hearts as this is where we spend every Thanksgiving. Mom and I chowed down on their amazing smoked jerk chicken while the boys just wished they had ordered it.
On Saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn (truly, as we had to wake Adam up to get the day rolling) to head out to Lexington, TX, home of Snow’s BBQ (crowned best BBQ in TX by Texas Monthly in 2008) We’ve made this trip many times... they are only open Saturdays from 8am until they sell out. Every time we’ve gone and successfully ordered brisket, you have to be in the line early. So sad to see the parking lot and picnic tables relatively empty when we rolled in around 9:30am. Had we only been to Snow’s, it would have easily been the best brisket ever, but after a trip like this you can clearly see it will lose its title when Texas Monthly updates their list later this year, though we have high hopes it will stay in the top 3 or 5. Their brisket is still incredible. Their ribs and sausage are good, too, but the brisket really shines. Huge, thick slices, too. Kev heard the gal running the register say that they might not sell out until after noon. We've been before when it's gone by 10:30am. If you're going to try them out, do it before the new Texas Monthly list comes out and interest sparks up all over again! On the way back into the car we noticed an RV had pulled up and six guys tumbled out. One was taking a photo and I offered to take a group photo for them. After chatting him up we learned that they were on a BBQ pilgrimage weekend, heading next to Kreuz's.
A BBQ tour of central TX is a ton of fun if you are up to the challenge of eating brisket three times a day for several days, though the Luling and Lockhart joints just aren't making Q that stacks up with the best in the Austin area. Texas Monthly has a Top 50 list if you're looking for a place to start though I think what's online is still their 2008 list. I'm sadly missing The Pit in Magnolia, which received an Honorable Mention in 2008 and then closed a few years later.After returning to Houston we took Sun. and Mon. off and ventured out to Corkscrew BBQ today for lunch. This is their first day open after an unofficial “best brisket” decree at the first annual Houston BBQ Festival this past weekend. They open at 11 and at 11:30 the line was 15 or so deep but moved swiftly with their new trailer. This was my third time to Corkscrew and while their brisket wasn’t up to par compared to previous visits (just a tad dried out), the ribs continue to be stellar. $10 for half a rack gets you 4 dino-style pork ribs, super meaty, tender and delicious. Sausage was great, mac-n-chz was creamy, potato salad was yummy and their peach cobbler was scrumptious.
Part of this trip was for Pitmaster Stooks to see how his best briskets (‘cause they all can’t be perfect, though most are) stack up against the best of the best. Pitmaster Jeff (my dad) sent us an Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker for Christmas. Kev's been following the advice from the Virtual Weber Bullet fansite and with some guidance from Aaron Franklin's instructional YouTube videos he's been turning out some awesome smoked meats. He's also just discovered that Academy Sports & Outdoors has a huge selection of cheap wood chunks and has stocked up our garage, so I know this is not a passing hobby.
Here are our brisket rankings:
- Franklin Barbecue
- John Mueller Meat Co.
- Snow’s BBQ
- Corkscrew BBQ
- Salt Lick (based on our last visit - their brisket would usually rank higher)
Pitmaster Stooks' best briskets rank somewhere above Corkscrew and Salt Lick based on our last visits. So basically Kev makes some of the best brisket in Texas (though we won’t be attempting two briskets in a day again for some time!)! Now he just needs to work on giving his bark that special touch of BBQ candy! He also makes delicious ribs and we are happy to take your reservations. I absolutely love that his cooking creates leftovers that last for days. I also love that BBQ brings folks together and we've really enjoyed having friends over to share in Kev's new hobby. We have brisket scheduled for April 6th, the weekend of the 20th, the weekend of the 27th and May 5th. If you are hungry you are always welcome at Casa Stooks.
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