THE (BURNT) END OF THE ROAD

Wood.  Fire.  Meat.  Salt and Pepper.  Smoke.

Added together, these simple ingredients can make the most amazing meal in the world…Texas brisket.  It sounds simple, but the art of smoking meat is not for the faint of heart.  It’s a challenge that requires patience, time and experience. 

In the hands of an experienced pit master, these elements can produce the perfect brisket.  In the hands of an untrained weekend warrior, they can be a recipe for disaster…or shoe leather.

What makes brisket the meal Texans want to master?  Maybe it’s the overwhelming size of a slab of brisket.  Or the fire, the smoke, the time it requires to make it perfect.  Perhaps it’s the silent majesty of a 4 am fire and another cold beer, or the pride of serving the perfect brisket to family and friends.

In 2017, I began my quest to visit all of Texas Monthly’s Top 50 BBQ Joints.  From the time I started until I finished in November 2020, I logged almost 15,500 miles and consumed close to 100 lbs of brisket, sausage, turkey, bacon burnt ends and a smoked chicken so big that it should have been a turkey.  Oh, and about a tablespoon of barbecue sauce.

Was it worth it?  You bet.  Every mile took me to areas familiar and unknown.  Without the challenge of the Top 50 BBQ list, I would have never visited Brownsville, Jefferson or Pecos.  I experienced my first trip to Lockhart because of the challenge.  I ventured beyond the Texas Triangle cities to discover the authenticity of rural BBQ and to experience the living history of Texas BBQ.  Most of all, I’ve come to appreciate waking up early and standing in line for hours at a time with my BBQ brothers and sisters.

It was a challenge coming up with my top ten list, especially since the quality, consistency and personnel at a restaurant can change from day to day.  Will this list change going forward?  Definitely, I can already tell you I have some new favorites and which ones have lost a step.  

From 2017-2020, these were my favorite BBQ joints:   

10. Hutchins BBQ (McKinney) – Hutchins perfected the Texas Twinkie, and it's a meal in itself. 

9.  Franklin (Austin) – Always the Texas BBQ trendsetter with knowledgeable BBQ fans in the line, picture perfect brisket and sausage. 

8.  Lockhart BBQ (Plano) – The best BBQ and bar combo in the state.

7.  Terry Black’s (Austin) – Come for the BBQ, stay for the beef rib…oh, the beef rib

6.  Cattleack (Dallas) – Consistently great BBQ and the Wagyu bologna(!)

5.  Bodacious on Mobberly (Longview) – The sausage and brisket were easily among the best in Texas.

4.  Pecan Lodge (Dallas) – Dallas' craft BBQ OG dishing up perfect proteins in Deep Ellum.

3.  Tejas Chocolate + BBQ (Tomball) – The chile relleno sausage was life-changing and the chocolates were incomparable.

2.  Truth BBQ (Brenham) – Most complete BBQ meal, from proteins to sides to dessert.

1.  Snow’s (Lexington) – Most authentic Texas BBQ experience, greatest line in the state and most outstanding brisket, sausage and pork steak.  Worth the trek.

Most memorable non-brisket bites:  The pork belly burnt ends at Heim BBQ, the Texas Twinkies from Hutchins and the chile relleno sausage from Tejas Chocolate+Barbecue were stand outs. The triple chocolate cake from Truth BBQ in Brenham should have its own restaurant.  It's that good. 

Most impressive building:  Smitty’s in Lockhart has the most impressive pit area, hands down.  But since they’re not in the Top 50, I’ll go with Louie Mueller followed by the vastness of Kreuz Market.  The smoke permeating the walls of Louie Mueller is its own tourist trap.

My favorite Top 50 BBQ Road Trip:  There is excellent brisket throughout the state, but where can you get the best of everything?  Hands down it was East Texas.  The trio of Bodacious BBQ on Mobberly, Stanley’s and Riverport Barbecue is my favorite BBQ road trip.  I vividly recall the first bite of pulled pork from Stanley’s, the tender turkey from Riverport and the brisket and sausage from Bodacious. 

And finally, some random thoughts from three years’ worth of obsessing over Texas BBQ joints:

When you do the Texas Monthly Passport, slow is the way to go:  It took me three years to complete the Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ challenge because I wanted to savor the experience.  I heard several stories while passing the time in BBQ lines about people who finished the challenge in two weeks.  Some didn’t even eat at the BBQ joints, they just went in for stickers!  What a waste of an opportunity to support the local BBQ joints and enjoy some great BBQ. 

Running a BBQ Joint is tough work, but it’s a booming business:  By the end of my quest, six of the Top 50 had closed permanently (Blue Moon BBQ, Flores, Freedmen’s, Granary ‘Cue & Brew, Rio Grande Grill BBQ & Tex Mex and Stillwater BBQ).  At the same time, several of the BBQ joints (Black’s, Terry Black’s, Cooper’s, Heim and Truth for example) expanded beyond their original outposts, opening up a second and in some cases a third location.  You can even find great BBQ on a Sunday, which is a big deal!

Lockhart is our living connection to Texas’ BBQ past.  The heart of Texas BBQ still beats in Lockhart, Texas.  Only Lockhart can claim three BBQ joints that look like they’ve jumped from the pages of a black and white history book.  From the historic pits at Smitty’s to the family affair at Black’s and the cavernous ‘cue house known as Kreuz Market, you can connect with the history of BBQ.  Once you’ve been to Lockhart, you gain a greater appreciation for Central Texas BBQ…and crackers.

BBQ may be a Man’s World, but it’s dominated by a Woman:  Of the top 50 BBQ joints, there’s only one with a female pitmaster as well-known as Tootsie Tomanetz.  She humbly commands respect through consistency, persistence and heart.  What a pleasure it was to see a line of BBQ dudes stand in reverent silence, snapping pics as she shoveled hot coals in the early hours of the morning.  An international BBQ treasure.

> THE (BURNT) END (for now) <