#20 - MICKLETHWAIT CRAFT MEATS, A Tale of Two Trailers, Pt 1.

Last November, I was in Austin for several days of meetings with some folks from out-of-town.  Where do you take people who aren't from Texas?  To BBQ joints of course, especially in Austin where there seems to be a top 50 bbq joint on almost every corner.

Where did we go?  Lambert's BBQ in downtown Austin, a barbecue restaurant with a menu and an executive chef (I'm still trying to recover from that one) and Ironworks BBQ (nice, old school BBQ for the guv-mint types). I wasn't in charge.

Fortunately, I was in Austin long enough to squeeze in a few extracurricular visits to some real BBQ joints.  By the time I left the city, I had eaten barbecue four times in three days (and even threw in a bone-in ribeye for good measure).  I would have gone for five but by Friday afternoon, I had reached maximum beef saturation.  I also had a BMI equivalent to every Bevo, past and present.  I didn't even consider how much beef I ate until I started writing this, and I'm a little ashamed of myself.  Just kidding.

With a couple hours of free time before my return flight, I chose to visit two restaurants connected by a common thread of beef and trailers --  Micklethwait Craft Meats and Valentina's Tex-Mex BBQ. The day I visited them was the best of times, times two.  Unless you count calories, which would make it the best of times, times 10,000.

Micklethwait (pronounced Mickle-wait, you BBQ heathen) is in East Austin, just down the road from Franklin Barbecue.  You might think their success is based on those who want to skip the line at Franklin.  You would be wrong.

Micklethwait is its own scene, thank you very much, and the entire experience is as curated as the craft meats. Dining at Micklethwait's is like eating inside an Instagram feed. When you pull into the unpaved parking lot, your eyes will be drawn to the large, white tent covering picnic tables on a worn patch of dirt.  To the right is a screened-in building, which houses the smokers.  Stationed at the back of the lot is the best li'l smokehouse in Texas, the cutest li'l barbecue joint you'll ever lay your eyes on. A small, hand-painted trailer with a menu and two windows...one for orders, one for pickup.

On its surface, Micklethwait is the definition of twee.  But don't let its twee-ness scare you off.  Micklethwait serves up a pretty fine brisket, and the sides are fantastic.

The line wasn't long, but it was steady. With the sound of death metal thrashing from the radio, I pondered my choices. The brisket and hot links were obvious, but the sides weren't, so I went with the jalapeno cheese grits (very manly) and the lemon poppy cole slaw (very twee).

I sat down at a picnic table, banging my head, swatting flies and flicking at my iPhone. A large twee tree shaded my back while the tarp flapped lightly in the breeze overhead. Looking up at the sky, I began to make sunset heart-hands, but thought better of it. Plus, my food was ready.

The reality of the awesomeness on my plate snapped me out of my iPhone fog.  The perfectly smoked brisket was delicious, but the hot link was a thing of beauty.  Not too snappy, loosely ground with a real bite.  The jalapeno cheese grits were about as good as I've ever had...not too runny, not too thick, and full of flavor.
And the lemon poppy cole slaw?  I'm not a fan of overly named food items. Cherry-glazed pork in a reduction of red wine and vinegar on a toasted ciabata roll with a hint of hoof is just a pork sandwich after all. But the lemon poppy cole slaw was easily one of the best things on the plate, adjectives and all.

I still have to go to Franklin's to get my Texas Monthly BBQ Passport sticker.  It's going to be tough though, knowing that Micklethwait is down the street.