The Texas MeatUp Origins…..And All The Places We Done Did Eat At

[Panhead John]

After the Lafayette MeatUp Uncle Bob posted something about the number of MeatUps we’ve had, along with their locations. He and a few others have attended all 9 of them, 7 in Texas and the 2 we’ve had in Lafayette. It got me to thinking, how many top BBQ joints in Texas have we visited and which ones? After going through all of the TEXAS MeatUp posts, I thought I’d share the info. I found. If I missed any, please feel free to mention them! I’m only including BBQ joints from our regularly scheduled MeatUps in Texas……I’m not including any mini-Meatups or non-BBQ places. Most of them were/are winners of Texas Monthly’s Top 50 in Texas list and several are, or have been, in The Top 10. The list includes any place that was visited by at least 1 or more people during the MeatUp.

In addition to that, I thought I’d explain how these Texas MeatUps got started….for any of the newer members who might be interested. It all began with a former member here named wcpreston . He posted here, back in early 2021, that he was going to make a BBQ trip through Texas and asked for recommendations on “must visit” places. Several of us chimed in with our recommendations and the post went on for several days. After he had picked his first location and date, Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, Tx, he casually asked if anyone wanted to meet him there for lunch. The interest, especially with the Texas members, was sky high! After seeing all the excitement of doing a 1st Texas MeatUp, I talked to a few of the guys and we decided to look around for hotels in the area. No way anyone wanted to drive that far for one day! After consulting with my buddy Mr. Google, I ran across The Rainbow Motor Courts in Rockdale, only about 20 minutes from Snow’s. This place was awesome and the prices were very reasonable! We set the dates for a Friday through Sunday event. CaptainMike mentioned he was going to come in the Thursday before and I decided to go ahead and join him a day early. We cooked steaks Friday night and everyone sat around with adult beverages and had a blast! Right down the road, unbeknownst to us, was Brett’s Backyard BBQ. The owner of The Rainbow said the place was great and recommended we try it. It did not disappoint and everyone loved the place! We all became fast friends and by the time Sunday morning rolled around, it was decided by everyone there that we should do this more often. We decided on doing one every 6 months and then, after doing a couple of the MeatUps, we decided Friday thru Sunday wasn’t long enough. Now each one is a Thursday thru Sunday affair.

Another reason for this post is I’m curious as to everyone’s favorite BBQ joint they visited, or your list of favorites. This is going to be a tough call, as most of the places we visited ranged from good to exceptional! For me it was almost a no brainer, The Burnt Bean in Seguin…. They were my favorite because not only were the meats excellent, but their sides were as well. I’ve been there twice now and both times the food was excellent! I’m also curious as to who you thought had the best brisket? Ribs? Sausage? or whatever. The best BBQ sauce I’ve ever had in my life was at 1775 Texas Pit BBQ in the Bryan/College Station area. Their food was very good and didn’t need any sauce, but man, I used it anyway! I even bought a container to bring home with me. 😎 For everyone who’s attended one of the MeatUps, please chime in and give us your thoughts about the food and places we visited, even the ones that might have disappointed you. Anywho, here’s the list of BBQ joints we’ve visited so far in Texas…….

1. Brett’s Backyard BBQ - Rockdale

2. Louie Muellers - Taylor

3. Snows BBQ - Lexington

4. 1775 Texas Pit BBQ - Bryan/College Station

5. Kreuz’s Market - Lockhart

6. Black’s BBQ - Lockhart

7. Millers Smokehouse - Belton

8. Old 300 BBQ - Blanco

9. Burnt Bean - Seguin

10. Black’s Barbecue - San Marcos

11. Hays Co. Bar B Que - San Marcos

12. San Marcos BBQ - San Marcos

13. Valentina’s - Buda…..Closed

14. Interstellar BBQ - Austin

15. KG BBQ - Austin

16. Leroy and Louis - Austin

17. Terry Blacks - Lockhart

18. Barb’s B Que - Lockhart

19. Smitty’s - Lockhart

20. Corkscrew BBQ - Spring

21. Bar A BBQ - Montgomery

22. Tejas BBQ - Tomball

OUR VERY FIRST MEATUP IN ROCKDALE, TX.

While we’re here, the next MeatUp will be in Texas again, early April 26’. What do y’all think about San Marcos again? There’s at least 4 places in Austin I haven’t been yet….and there’s probably more places others may want to visit. Let me know!

[Donw]

Great write up. I’m hoping to vicariously enjoy many, many more Meat Ups for years to come.

[Panhead John]

Thanks Don! Love your “Location” comment! 😂

[Purc]

Don't forget Dayne's Craft BBQ in Aledo during our mini MeatUp, it's #7 on Texas Monthly Top 50.

LA Pork Butt Soonerpop and I went to Catteack BBQ in Farmer's Branch.

LA Pork Butt and I went to Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth.

My #1 place is of course The Burnt Bean.

I have been to 5 regular MeatUps and they are a blast. I encourage any and all to attend one if you can.

[Panhead John]

Thanks Bill! You might have missed it but…I left off the Mini-MeatUp places because most of those, including ones I’ve had over the years, were not part of a “regular” scheduled MeatUp.

[RonB]

Did you mean to leave out the Meatup in NC. WayneT might take offence.

And my first thought when you said favorite was also Burnt Bean.

[Panhead John]

The North Carolina MeatUp was absolutely one of my favorites. I had some of the best BBQ I’ve tried while I was there. I intentionally only wanted to include Texas places because that’s where we have our Meatups. 🤷♂️ …..outside of a few in La.

[58limited]

Good idea making one list of all of the places we've been to. Maybe we should do this for Lafayette too - I assume we are going there again as well, lots of places we haven't been to yet.

It is hard to rank all of the places we've been but for me Burnt Bean is No. 1. Their Sunday brunch is a must if you are in the area. I would place KG BBQ high on my list not only for the great Egyptian fusion BBQ but for the friendliness and enthusiasm of Kareem the owner.

Even though we didn't actually go to the place, I brought a whole brisket from 1701 BBQ (Beaumont, Tx) to the first Meat Up and we tried it side by side with a Snow's brisket. Snow's brisket edged out the 1701 brisket in the taste test If I recall; the only difference between the two came down to the amount of black pepper - 1701 had more and some thought it was a little too much.

[Panhead John]

David, if I have any say so, Lafayette will always be on the rotation! This last visit we did, the places we visited were much better than the first time…IMO.

[Panhead John]

David, if we do San Marcos again, KG BBQ and Interstellar are both on my list to try. There was too much enthusiasm from you guys for me to pass them up again.

[58limited]

Panhead John If you want to do both, I'd try to do them the same day due to road construction and distance. Maybe get a plate to share with one or two others rather than eat an entire meal that way you don't fill up at one place. Troutman, TripleB, and I went together although we ate full meals. By the time we got to the third place I was stuffed and couldn't eat much.

[Uncle Bob]

Absolutely Burnt Bean for favorite, behind that would be a multi place tie, each for different reasons. Terry Black for quality and one of the smoothest operations in the business. Tejas for good food and a gracious host in the owner who gave us a huge amount of his time. Bar A for good grunts and a laid back environment, among others.

[Panhead John]

+1 to Terry Black’s in Lockhart! While their food was great, the atmosphere, friendliness of the Pitmasters and overall smooth operation made it my favorite place, for the reasons you mentioned. Still, the nod goes to Burnt Bean for best food.

[CaptainMike]

I have only been to 2 of the actual Texas Meat Ups so my restaurant experiences aren't as numerous. But my favorite place was Louis Mueller's. Not so much for the food, which was exceptional (especially the beef rib), but for the vibe and feel of the place. It's an old brick building with smoke-stained walls and old time deli counter. It just smacks of nostalgia. Plus, there's a really cool picture on a wall of Stevie Ray Vaughn performing at that very spot.

I will attend more Texas Meat Ups, and others, and encourage anyone interested to do so as well. It's a wonderful experience.

[58limited]

If we go to Lockhart at a meat up that you attend I need to take you to Smitty's. Not as good as they once were but talk about a smoke stained building! And they let us into the business office area which used to be an old grocery store - all of the coolers and fixtures from the 30s and 40s are still there.

[Michael_in_TX]

This reminds me of a spreadsheet that I keep for all of the cities and hotels and venues I've been at with my nearly 30-years with my academic conference group.

The spreadsheet is affectionally titled: "Where the hell have we been?"

[Mosca]

Regarding San Marcos: Not only are there places in Austin that have been passed by, but we’ve never even talked about going anywhere in San Antonio, which has 2M and Reese Brothers in the top 50, plus Garcia, Pinkerton, Smoke Shack, and more. Plus Davila’s and Schultze’s Pit Room in Seguin.

My favorite in Texas is a tie between Burnt Bean and Interstellar. Barb’s BQ food is equally good, but it gets points taken off for being so small that I felt rushed while eating and looking at the line.

Most of the others are probably just as good, but sometimes they are the second (or third) bbq meal of the day: Terry Black’s, San Marcos, Kreuz, KG, and Smitty’s. It’s hard to give those proper due.

Tejas, Corkscrew, and Bar A were all excellent.

I could do a couple weeks in Texas, just to eat both BBQ and Tex Mex. I’d love to do Sunday brunch at Burnt Bean! But the extra time would give me the opportunity to travel around a bit more, rather than just plant in one place.

[Panhead John]

Tom, good point about the San Antonio places. Just like Houston, there’s no shortage of killer Tex-Mex joints in the area.

[Mosca]

I forgot to mention that Black’s Original (San Marcos) was worse than Pennsylvania BBQ.

[Purc]

+1 on Burnt Bean and Interstellar rankings with Mosca.

[Panhead John]

One of the reasons I wouldn’t mind doing San Marcos again is because of the horrible experience we had at Valentina’s. I’ll explain. Miguel Vidal was the owner of the highly acclaimed BBQ spot Valentina’s. It was on its last legs when we visited, I vowed never to return if it was somehow able to stay in business. He might have been a terrible business owner, but the guy knows how to do Tex-Mex BBQ….from what I e heard. He’s now the pitmaster and NOT the owner of a new place in Austin. I’d like to give the guy another chance and try his food, which was supposedly excellent before the sh!t hit the fan.

https://www.mysanantonio.com/food/article/valentinas-bbq-churchrow-tejas-barbecue-austin-21094190.php

[58limited]

I know it is out of the way for most people but we should look into a South Texas Meat Up - lots of good places in the Valley.

[Purc]

I've not seen this place mentioned much and I have been there several times. It is excellent, 407 BBQ in Argyle, Texas.

[TripleB]

I didn’t know there had been that many meat-ups. Thank you for the history recap. I think you can do Texas every year since there are so many great BBQ restaurants in the state. I look forward to going back in April ‘26.

I keep a BBQ journal of what I cook and also recorded the restaurants visited during the Meat-ups. Sometimes I pick up something, a BBQ trick, technique or ingredient that will help with my BBQ. That happened at Barb’s. She, if requested, added lime zest sprinkled over the pork ribs. It was Fantastic. I did it at home when I smoked some pork ribs and now my kids ask for it every time I make ribs. From my journal notes, here are the restaurants I visited and their ranking based on my criteria (sides are not included):

1. Barb’s
2. KG
3. Terry Blacks
4. Leroy & Lewis
5. Smitty’s
6. Interstellar

[Panhead John]

Thanks Dean! Just curious, what did you have at Interstellar, anything you didn’t care for?

[TripleB]

Panhead John Interstellar’s Que was average to good. Nothing great or spectacular. The other establishments just did a better job. Smitty’s could be #6 since I only ate sausage from there. But their sausage was a bit better than Interstellars. I had pork ribs, brisket, 3 sausages, pork belly and smoked duck at Interstellars.

[Purc]

TripleB I wish that I gone to KG and Leroy & Lewis with you 3. I had lamb and the beef rib at Interstellar, and they were both good.

[Mosca]

I guess I should start budgeting for April.

[Mosca]

Bringin’ an extra suitcase….

[Panhead John]

** Limit 2 per customer. 😂

[Alan Brice]

I hear ya. Kim is really excited!
Next trip we will prolly rent wheels.

[ecowper]

In spite of only being at one TX Meatup, Stacy and I believe our vote for Miller’s Mokehouse should absolutely carry the most weight :-)

[Panhead John]

What’s a Mokehouse? 🧐 Millers was good! But…..y’all need to come down for another visit and verify that…..🥸

[ecowper]

Damnit, I hate typing on my phone

[58limited]

Dude, ya gotta try Burnt Bean