BBQ Road Trip Day 7

We got back on the road again. (click the link, people) Thursday we headed to Pappy's in Monahan's, Texas. We drove about 4 hours from El Paso, Texas to eat at his place in a tiny Texas town. It was included in Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ places in Texas that inspired our trip. Pappy's should not have been included. I suppose something could be said for the three of us being spoiled on great BBQ over the past week, but Pappy's simply did not measure up. Besides the utter confusion by the geniuses behind the counter when we tried to order anything other than their BBQ plates, the experience was anything but funny. The brisket was not very tender, the ribs were only ok and the sausage was Eckridge Farm. The potato salad came from Sam's, as did the other sides. The (self-proclaimed) world famous apple dumplings were, in a word, crapola. Everything tasted store bought. It doesn't even get its own customized review. Wes gave this place a 4 and described it as "generic." Mountain man Leighton gave it a 3.5 and described it as "store-bought" while I gave it a 2.5 and described it as "disappointing."

The best part of the day was the long drive to San Antonio. At one point, we went nearly 90 miles without turning and saw only 3 other vehicles. San Antonio, when we got there, was a lot of fun and we ate some more good Mexican food, including puffy tacos.

We were all somewhat disappointed that the road trip was nearly over and had gone by so fast. It was truly a great escape from reality and a much needed diversion before the grind of finals and the bar exam.

BBQ Road Trip Day 6

After a long day of driving on Tuesday, it was good to relax with Trey in El Paso, Texas on Wednesday. We had a good Mexican lunch with some medium-sized margaritas. Technically, we did not have BBQ this day, but we did have some fajitas and tacos al carbon. I think it counts. Just being able to hang out was great and we were able to break up the two long days of driving.

BBQ Road Trip Day 5

Today, we broke away from our Austin nest and headed to West Texas to eat at TC's Ponderosa in Dickens, Texas. Suffice to say, Dickens, Texas is truly in the middle of nowhere. There was the gas station in which the BBQ joint was located, an out of business feed store and a restaurant open only on Friday and Saturday in Dickens, Texas. The population was around 340 people. Not exactly a bustling metropolis. Nonetheless, the BBQ was good. The scenery was also quite nice.

Leighton: This place is the quintessential Texas BBQ joint. Its truly in the middle of nowhere. Dickens, Texas consists of one road, a few structures, and a big hill in the background. Classic small town Texas. The BBQ was quite good as well. This place has been run by 2 very cool women for the past 10 years. And they cook some great sausage and brisket. The jalapeno and cheese sausage was the best, followed by the hot link and traditional German sausage. The sauce was good, nice and thick, with a little kick to it. The place definitely got a boost when one of the owners came out and gave us a free link of sausage. Very nice of her. And the free sausage was very good. Overall, I rank this place a 7.5.

Wes: The brisket was good, but lacked the smokey flavor I have come to expect. As was said above, all of the sausages were very good. The atmosphere defined small town Texas, but limited our total enjoyment. They skimped us on pickles (Vik ate all of them) and the truck stop set-up rushed our meal. Vik was busted for trying to sneak in a beer. 7

Vik: The sausages were all very good, especially the jalepeno and cheese version. The sauce was very good. The brisket was pretty good. It was very tender but did not have much of a smoke flavor. Wes does not recall exactly what happened in the same manner that I do, but it's ok. The sides other than the potato salad were useless. TC's was noted for having exceptional pineapple pudding but they did not have any when we arrived. It should be noted we drove over 13 hours today.

We are in El Paso now. Before we leave, I'll leave you with some funny quotes.

Leighton -- Is that all whiskey? Vik -- No. Some of the ice melted.

Leighton, who has not shaved in 4 days, declared himself to be a mountain man.

Finally, I nearly ran over a dog today that was trotting down the highway in the middle of nowhere, Texas. I was able to avoid it, but it was sad.

BBQ Road Trip Day 4: The Top of the Mountain?

This afternoon, a truly glorious Texas spring day (makes you glad to be alive and a Texan) Wes, Leighton and I headed out to Lockhart, Texas to eat at Kreuz's Market. Just look at the sky. Beautiful. This place had been in operation since 1900. Without giving too much away from each of the reviews, we may have reached the top of the mountain. Simply amazing. Kreuz's does not have sauce or forks (they say it is at the end of your arm). They do have 2 kinds of sausage, brisket and ribs (although beef ribs are only available on the weekends). The beans were good. An interesting addition was the saltines. Finally, before we get to the reviews, it should be noted that the building is enormous. I mean enormous.

Leighton: Kruez's can be summed up in a single word: bold. They do not offer any BBQ sauce or forks for that matter. Now, I think BBQ sauce is an integral part of the experience, so to not offer any is quite a brazen move. However, this place met, and surpassed, all of my expectations. The jalapeno and cheese sausage was probably the best single item of BBQ I have had this whole trip. The brisket, both the lean and fatty, were excellent. Being Texan born and bred, I prefer the fatty, or full flavor, brisket, but I must say the lean was great here. The pork ribs and jalapeno beans were very tasty as well. As Vik eluded to, we might have found the pinnacle of BBQ places today. While other places may beat Kruez's on a single meat dish, Kruez's was strong on every single BBQ item. An all around incredible experience. Overall, I rank it a strong 9.5.

Wes: Everything was fantastic. The jalapeno and cheese sausage was phenomenal and was by far one of the best portions on the entire trip. Both briskets were exceptionally tasty and proved to serve the "snacker" well. I was not expecting this quality from such a large operation, but Kreuz's proved to be the best yet. Nothing is finer than an ice cold Shiner. 9.5

Vik: These fine gents spoke to a lot of what I was going to say, so I'll (try to at least) keep this short. Incredible. Both briskets were great. The sausages were great, the ribs were great, the beans were great, everything was great. It was the best BBQ I've ever eaten. 9.5 out of 10. I don't know what could have made it perfect, but this was as close as anything could have come.

I'd also like to add a short bit about the taco truck around the corner from Jon's place. Breakfast tacos are a dollar and are freshly made. Really good, and a nice bonus on the trip.

BBQ Road Trip Day 3

Before we get to the BBQ analysis, there are a few more comments I'd like to bring to your attention. This morning, I noticed I had a new blog follower (Hi Katy). I now have 11. I told Wes and Leighton, jokingly, that if I can only get one more I could call myself the blog Jesus. Wes pointed out it was Sunday. I was undeterred.

On the way to Salt Lick, we noticed a Hindu temple. Leighton said that they have all sorts of weird "stuff" out here. I raised my hands in indignation.

So, on a beautiful Austin day, we drove to Driftwood to eat at Salt Lick. It's not in the top 50 but it is one of the places people talk about in the Austin tradition, along with Stubb's, Rudy's, Green Mesquite, etc. Anyway, on to the reviews.

Leighton: Let me start off by saying I have been to Salt Lick before, but it is an Austin BBQ staple so we had to add it to the list. Salt Lick had an uphill battle because it is a whole different category of BBQ joint. The others we have been to have all been small town places and Salt Lick is more along the mass produced BBQ line. That being said, the ribs and sausage were quite good. However, the brisket was not near as good as the other places. Salt Lick's BBQ sauce is fantastic. It has a strong honey mustard flavor to it, which I love. And unlike everyone else, I liked the habanero version of the sauce better. There were several negatives though. The service was not good, and I am big on service. The sides (potatoes, beans, and cole slaw) were not very good either. Also, the cobbler was just decent, but still cost like 7 bucks. One good note is that Salt Lick is BYOB, which added a bit. Overall I rank it a 6.5. Salt Lick is decent, but it could not compare with the bastions of BBQ that we have experienced thus far.

Jon: I've also had Salt Lick before, though I hadn't been to the actual restaurant. We get catered barbecue at my job every now and then, and Salt Lick has been head and shoulders above the others. After visiting Salt Lick proper I may want to stick to getting it closer to home. The food was good, but while I don't usually care about "the atmosphere and the attitude" when I go out to eat, Salt Lick suffers in comparison to yesterday's trip to Snow's. I won't go into great detail, but there's something to be said for eating barbecue off of butcher paper rather than a plastic three-compartment plate. The ribs were very good, and while the brisket was also good it wasn't nearly as tender as Snow's. I liked the sausage a little more than yesterday's, though there were a few pieces where the casing was tough. There also, unfortunately, wasn't any pork (at least not as part of the meal we had). The potatoes and cole slaw we had were, in a word, bland. The real standout at Salt Lick is the sauce. It's a little thicker than the sauce at Snow's and has a good balance of tangy and sweet. In the end, when I compare the meat at the two places I've had the privilege to visit on this strip, Salt Lick is a level below Snow's. Rating: 7

Wes: Great for the massive quantities of food they produce, but not in the same league as the other joints on this tour. 6

Vik: I also had not been to Salt Lick before, but had heard good things and had seen it on TV before. The ribs were very tender and fell off the bone. Sausage was very good, as was the sauce and bread. The brisket was pretty good but not anywhere near as tender as the other places. Don't get me wrong, it was good but just not fall apart tender. 7 out of 10.

See the photo above. Wes came up with a great idea for Super Bowl and other such viewing parties. A piece of brisket, along with sauce, a pickle and onion on top of one piece of bread. Not the whole sandwich, but open faced. Keep in mind this "snacker" is to be eaten in one bite. Don't try and eat a bigger piece in one bite, never mind if somebody says no way you can eat that and you say sounds like a wager to me and you eat it all and when you try to chew it you nearly vomit. Don't do that. Make smaller pieces. Trust me.

In other news, we played mini golf in the Barton Springs area. All I'm saying is, when we played a dollar per hole, I ended up winning $16. I'm just saying.

Finally, we went to eat dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant named Dong Nai. Jon begged me to act like an adult. I did pretty good until the food came out. I remarked "here comes a boat load of food." I did not mean to (hello Thai), but will admit that I did, nonetheless, make a joke about boat people. For that, I'm sorry. On a final note, that was one of the most PC things I said all day. None of those can be published here; this is a family blog.

BBQ Road Trip Day 2: After Snow's

As we were leaving Snow's, an old man remarked that based on the amount of food we had eaten, we must work for the railroad. I'm not sure what that means, but I found it quite funny. Either we ate a lot of food, or the rail road pays well. Either way, we are taking it as a compliment.

Anyway, Saturday night we went to the Austin Rodeo. We saw Extreme Bull Riding and the Randy Roger's Band. The band was awesome. They played for 90 minutes or so, including all their hits. Heckuva show. There was also a girl who was incredibly drunk who fell down the stairs. One of us, and I won't say who (it wasn't me) was ready to perform CPR.

The bull riding was equally impressive. One guy was thrown off the front of the bull after their heads collided. He was knocked out. The replay showed him limp as a rag doll when he hit the ground. In addition, we also ate corn dogs. One of the greatest inventions of all time. Jon (posts as Frink) may be allergic to corn dogs as he sneezed for a solid 3 minutes after his first bite of corn dog. Gross.

In other news, there was a young child who participated in the Mutton Bustin' competition who looked exactly like a young Leighton, only with his hair (not one out of place!!) parted (straight as a razor part) on the other side of his head. He was even wearing cuff links (that may not be true).

Photo caption: Wes poses with one of the Austin Rodeo mascots.

Salt Lick in Driftwood for BBQ today. Should be great. Enjoy your Sunday.

BBQ Road Trip Day 2

7:40: Vik -- I'm gonna show you a trick. Leighton -- Is it re-using yesterday's undershorts? Vik -- (pulls up pants)

After chilling on a rainy and cold Friday night, we headed off at 8:05am for Lexington, Texas, home of Snow's BBQ. Snow's is only open Saturdays from 8am until they run out of food, which is usually around 11am. We arrived after nearly killing a buzzard and flying down some country.

Leighton: Seeing as how Snow's was ranked #1 in Texas Monthly, we all had high expectations for this place. I am happy to say that it did not disappoint! We had brisket, ribs, sausage, and pork which were all very good. The brisket was very tender with just the right amount of fat and the pork was incredible. I must say that the pork ribs were not as good as Louie Mueller's. However, the side dishes at Snow's were top notch. We had a mayonnaise based potato salad (I usually prefer a mustard based but was still great) and they also had free beans which were fantastic. Finally, the BBQ sauce was just perfect. It was a fine mix of sweet, spicy, and tangy and added a great finishing touch for the main course. All in all, I give Snow's an 8.5.

Wes: The shack on Main Street met all my expectations. The brisket and sauce combination was fantastic. Only negative, no alcohol. 9

Jon: I'm the requisite northerner for this leg of the group (I'm from Virginia), so I didn't grow up eating great barbecue like these people. I've had good barbecue, and I've had very good barbecue since I moved to Austin, but I wouldn't really call myself a connoisseur at this point in my life. Snow's is one of those places you have to be looking for to find. While Leighton was ordering the meat and chatting up the staff Vik decided he wanted more brisket. As it turns out, we ordered way too much barbecue, which to be honest is better than the alternative. The best thing about Snow's is how tender the meat is. The meat fell off Vik's rib when he shook it a little (though who knows why he was shaking his rib), and the pork and brisket were both cooked really well. The brisket got the most praise from the group, but I'm gonna go to bat for the pork for a minute. It was so tender and had this great smoky flavor that didn't overwhelm the meat. I wasn't as big of a fan of the sausage as some of the others, but it was very good. The sides of potato salad and beans were both also very good, but let's be honest; this a barbecue road trip (or so I was told), so the barbecue should be the main consideration. Luckily, Snow's set a very high bar. Rating: 8.5

Vik: Rating -- 8.5. This was an incredible BBQ place. The brisket was the perfect blend fat and lean meat. The sausage was pretty good. The ribs were also good, but not as good as Louie Mueller's. There was a pork loin that was great as well. The sauce was much better than Louie Mueller's. I only wish there was more pepper and spice on the rub. From what I could tell, the rub they used was red chili pepper, salt and black pepper (just not enough of it). Even though we arrived at 9:05 am, there was a line and people gathered outside. Great BBQ.

I'm also hoping the weather improves soon. Not being able to go outside in Austin is somewhat disappointed, although I'm sure tonight's rodeo with the Randy Rogers Band and extreme bull riding (how that could be more extreme, I don't know). More to come later.