Been shuttling some in-laws back and forth between here in Houston and up to Austin. It's only about a 2 hour drive so on the way back I've been making a pilgrimage to some of the bbq hot spots in the Hill Country. This time we went through Lockhart on TX 183 headed back down to I10 and stopped at Black's. I hadn't been there in quite a few years; however the place has not changed one bit.
Same old funky place. I like the cafeteria line style of this place, get your sides and desserts then have your meat cut. Opted for what we here in Texas call moist brisket (cut from the point/flat section) and noticed some big beefy ribs. Said I didn't want a huge one so he had a smaller one on the side so I said to just give me that one.....
.....brisket was typical central Texas awesomeness. Brisket is something it seems a lot of places across the State are doing really well, it's good to see the Old Gurad keeping up the good work!! But as far as the rib was concerned, well it was just plain awful. I took one bite and almost spit it out. It was like they took a whole shaker of salt and just dumped in on there for bark with the meat being dry and chewy as well. In my worst batch ever at home, I never came even close to screwing up a beef rib this badly. I brought it back and had the pitmaster taste a piece which he immediately spit out with apologies following. Was going to give me another but I opted for some sausage instead.
Now Black's has been around forever, and yes even the best get it wrong sometimes. The amount of meat they cook and the number of folks they serve is staggering so I just got a bad batch. I did like the sausage so I bought about $40 worth to bring home for the freezer.
"Take Me Back to Black's" is their theme and I'll re-visit them on another occasion, I still love the old Texas feel and the superb brisket and sausage. I don't want to discourage anyone from giving all the Lockhart bbq joints a try if you ever get the chance. I just had kind of a disappointing visit on this occasion.
Next will be the journey to Snow's and see this year's Pitmaster of the Year Tootsie Tomanetz. Never been there and they only serve on weekends so it's probably worse than a visit to Franklin's !!!
Same old funky place. I like the cafeteria line style of this place, get your sides and desserts then have your meat cut. Opted for what we here in Texas call moist brisket (cut from the point/flat section) and noticed some big beefy ribs. Said I didn't want a huge one so he had a smaller one on the side so I said to just give me that one.....
.....brisket was typical central Texas awesomeness. Brisket is something it seems a lot of places across the State are doing really well, it's good to see the Old Gurad keeping up the good work!! But as far as the rib was concerned, well it was just plain awful. I took one bite and almost spit it out. It was like they took a whole shaker of salt and just dumped in on there for bark with the meat being dry and chewy as well. In my worst batch ever at home, I never came even close to screwing up a beef rib this badly. I brought it back and had the pitmaster taste a piece which he immediately spit out with apologies following. Was going to give me another but I opted for some sausage instead.
Now Black's has been around forever, and yes even the best get it wrong sometimes. The amount of meat they cook and the number of folks they serve is staggering so I just got a bad batch. I did like the sausage so I bought about $40 worth to bring home for the freezer.
"Take Me Back to Black's" is their theme and I'll re-visit them on another occasion, I still love the old Texas feel and the superb brisket and sausage. I don't want to discourage anyone from giving all the Lockhart bbq joints a try if you ever get the chance. I just had kind of a disappointing visit on this occasion.
Next will be the journey to Snow's and see this year's Pitmaster of the Year Tootsie Tomanetz. Never been there and they only serve on weekends so it's probably worse than a visit to Franklin's !!!
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