Texas MeatUp April 10-13, 2025! Book Your Rooms Here…

[Panhead John]

It’s an absolutely beautiful day today, sunny and 65*, so I thought I’d take a little drive and check out our hotel in advance of the MeatUp. The meeting with my parole officer isn’t till 4:00, so I had some time to kill. I went there unannounced and I was very impressed with the place! It’s located right near the service road of I-45, next to an upscale neighborhood. The hotel is only 10 years old and it was spotless, well maintained, clean, nice landscaping too. The Sales manager Westin, gave me a brief tour of our rooms. Couldn’t be more pleased! Employees were nice and friendly, and spoke great English! Anyway, took a few pics while I was there…








Outdoor seating area is large and covered…


The cooking grates were pretty darn clean! I was expecting globs of crap everywhere…

[realdocBBQ]

The outdoor area has ashtrays it looks like? I like a good smoke with my whiskey... I'm bad, I know.

[Panhead John]

The main reason for my little trip today was to check out the Mexican Restaurant I posted about earlier, La Cocina de Roberto. It was only 7 minutes from the hotel! Folks, this place should definitely be our Thursday night dinner… I got there about 11:15 this morning and they already had a decent crowd.





I ordered the Quesabirrias…


I also ordered some chips and queso…$9.00 It was enough for 2 or 3 people really


They had a mild red and green salsa, but I wanted a hot…waitress brought me some hot on the side…










Chips and queso with the hot salsa…


Their lunch prices were pretty reasonable too…


After a few margaritas, we can go right next door and throw some axes around…


Well, let me tell ya folks, those were maybe the best tacos I’ve ever had in my life. And the dipping sauce it came with was OMG! ….awesome! I actually drank some of it after finishing my tacos, I ain’t kidding! The queso and chips were very good also, and the hot red salsa she gave me on the side, some of the best I’ve tasted. This place is a definite must visit….breakfast, lunch or dinner.

[Panhead John]

Bob, if the waitress had told me the onions and cilantro were just dug out of their garden, I would have believed her. They were that fresh looking and tasting. This place is the real deal Mexican.

[Sid P]

Few things go together like margaritas and axe throwing…

[Huskee]

Wow, enticing shots.

[Jfrosty27]

Looking good John! Looking good. April can’t come soon enough.

[Panhead John]

Only 69 more days, not that I’m counting.

[Panhead John]

One of the places we should visit in April. Do not watch hungry!

[Mosca]

So how many BBQ meals do you think we’ll be able to cram into this trip? It should prove interesting.

[Panhead John]

Since you’re coming in Wednesday and not leaving till late Sunday, you should be able to hit 4 places maybe, doing one a day. The BBQ places in the area I’m suggesting don’t do dinner.

[tamidw]

I have been to Tejas Chocolate & bbq on recommendation from PJ and it was absolutely awesome. The brisket and sausage were both great. We also had the green bean side and they were yummy.

[Beefchop]

Let me check my calendar. Houston is a scant 3.5-hour drive from Lafayette.

[Panhead John]

Just a hop, skip and a jump Zach!

[realdocBBQ]

If I were that close, I'd definitely drive. I'm thinking about flying, though. I dunno. I really want to have a car there, and rental is a whole 'nuther cost associated.

[realdocBBQ]

What would you guys think about pitching in to rent a van? I can get a Ford Transit van that will haul like 12 people for $150/day on Turo. Has transportation been an issue for anyone? Of course with people flying in and out, I don't know that I want to spend the whole trip running back and forth to the airport, lol, not to mention gas for something like that.

But I was just curious what transportation has been like in the past? Does everyone rent their own cars at the airport? Obviously those who drive in have their own, I'm sure and a few people can probably pile in with them. But has it generally worked out ok or has there been some problems trying to get everyone crammed in?

[Panhead John]

No need to rent a van DFPS. We’ve never had a transportation issue at any of the Meatups, including North Carolina. Between the Texas folks and Mosca mentioning he was going to rent a car for himself, I count 7 people [so far] who will have their own vehicle there. Each vehicle should easily handle 2-3 additional people in each car. For the people flying in, some will rent a car and some will take an Uber to the hotel…[much cheaper].

[Mosca]

I like the independence of having a car more than I like the money in my pocket. Anyone is welcome to ride with me. I plan on hitting some breakfasts, but that could easily change with how I feel after day 1.

[realdocBBQ]

I had my finger hovering over the left mouse button to click and book my plane ticket. However, now I'm having second thoughts and going to give it a day or two to sit and consider. I'm not always the most 'people person' and I'm just not 100% sure I'm up for it. We'll see.

[MBMorgan]

Well, the Winds of Life have Broken (yes, it's a fart joke) and it looks like SWMBO (Robin) and I will be there after all. Room reserved ... airline ticketed.

Arrive: IAH Thursday ~ 3:15 PM
Depart: IAH Sunday ~12:45 PM

We'll have a car.

[Panhead John]

Glad to see you can make it!

[Mosca]

FANTASTIC!

[Huskee]

If I’m not eating, this is where you’ll usually find me….🙄

Watching??

[58limited]

Huskee He does this:

[Panhead John]

Pretty accurate….🥸

[Mosca]

4 weeks!

[Panhead John]

Can’t wait! 😎

[Panhead John]

Just wanted to mention something, if you’re arriving before the normal check in time of 3:00, don’t worry about waiting until then to check in. At every hotel that we’ve held a MeatUp, they’ve allowed us to check in earlier, as long as the room is cleaned and ready to go…90% of the time I’ve been able to check in well before 3:00. If you’d like to check in early, call the hotel directly at 832-823-7500 the MORNING OF YOUR ARRIVAL and ask if it’s ok. It’s also possible your room wasn’t rented out the night before which would also allow for an early check in.

We’ve got a couple of stragglers round these parts who mentioned possibly attending but haven’t committed yet. It’s gettin’ close to nut cuttin’ time….🤓 LFG!

[SheilaAnn]

Whose is flying in and arriving, say between 1:00 and 2pm?

[acorgihouse]

I am currently sched to land at IAH at 1:42pm. Term A, Delta. I am middle aged woman with light brown/blonde hair, and screaming Kelly green luggage

[SheilaAnn]

I am scheduled to land at 1:13pm at IAH on United.
5’9” “blonde” with a dark purple piece of carry-on. Most likely wearing a cubs hat.

Watch for a PM.

[58limited]

SheilaAnn acorgihouse Do y'all need rides? I can time it to arrive in town and pick you up at the airport.

[Panhead John]

BREAKING LIQUOR NEWS!

If anyone happens to bring some Tequila, I’ll have a bottle of this mix for margaritas at the MeatUp. A neighbor of mine gave it to me and said it’s the best margarita mix he’s tried. He buys it by the case, seriously. One day he was gone and asked me to pick up a package for him that was left at his garage door. It was a case of this stuff….any of y’all ever tried it?

[realdocBBQ]

Never have, but I'm open to it. We usually make up our own fresh lime & lemon juice, but it is a lot of work. I'll keep an eye out for it.

[Michael_in_TX]

I am still endeavouring to come to this. I may have to scale back my nights a bit, though. (Life as a public sector employee is uh.....financially interesting....at the current time, to put it mildly.)

At the very least I want to be there Thursday afternoon/evening, hopefully into Friday so I can meet yall.

[58limited]

This is the first Meat-Up in a major city so plans might change but previously we would all go together for Tex Mex Thursday night. After that we generally do lunch at BBQ joints, sometimes as one group but lately we've split up and go to different places. Some of us hit two or three. Evenings are generally a free for all, we sit in the hotel lobby visiting. Last Meat Up in San Marcos some of us went to a Thai restaurant while others stayed at the hotel and ordered pizza or ate BBQ leftovers

[58limited]

When those of us who went out to eat come back we join the group in the seating area. Sometimes a few of us bring snacks to munch on plus beer and stronger libations. Its a rather relaxed affair. Even though we mostly visited all of the nearby BBQ joints I miss sitting under the trees at Rainbow Courts in Rockdale in the evenings

[Mosca]

I have an old high school friend who lives in Houston, I’m going to be checking in with him while there. I haven’t seen Jim in 50 years, it should be interesting. What’s the general plan for Thursday? I know it’s all arrivals.mI have the brisket trimming class at Bar A BQ from 1-3.

What’s the general plan for group dinner? I know traditional is Tex/Mex, but Houston has bbq places open late; San Marcos and nearby didn’t, really.

[Mosca]

I get that. I just want to get everything in. I invited them (Jim and Vanna, whom I’ve never met) along to the meetup (as a tagalong), it’s the same as having a non-poster win the sweepstakes, but the chance of that is pretty low I think. Still, I don’t want to be in a position where I’m either rushed to see them, or rushed to get back to the meetup. My plane lands around 5:30 Wednesday, but that means I’ll be checking in around 7, and they live about an hour from there, in Missouri City.

[Panhead John]

Tom, are you going to visit them in Missouri City or are they coming to Spring? We usually all meet in the hotel lobby Thursday for HH 4:30 ish to 6:15 or 6:30, then head out to dinner around 6:30 or so.

[Mosca]

I don’t know yet. Either way, I’m good. I could get up early Thursday and meet them for breakfast, or meet up with them Sunday because my plane doesn’t leave until after 6. Anything works, as long as I know what’s going on. I’m not going to miss any bbq, that’s for certain, but a prime motivator for me is seeing everyone. That is more important than the food.