We spent MLK weekend in Round Rock with my folks, but with the secondary mission of hitting particular bbq places. We had been to the famous Kreuz Market twice before, but this time, we were on a mission to hit all of the famous bbq places in Lockhart to scarf and compare.
Friday evening, before we went to mom's, we went to Dripping Springs to the Salt Lick. We'd never been. We ordered the family special (unlimited pork ribs, brisket, sausage, potato salad, and cole slaw) for 3 of us, and a half a chicken for Younger Son, who still has issues eating beef sometimes.
Excellent stuff. The waiter graciously brought me burnt ends and holy moly, were they good. All the meat was first-rate, as were the regular and habanero bbq sauces they offered. The sides weren't really disappointing, they just weren't what we expected. "Potato salad" was cooked, diced potatoes seasoned with some orange-ish stuff and served at room temperature. The cole slaw was shredded cabbage seasoned with a little dry seasoning that included caraway seeds. Not bad stuff, either of them, just not what we expected. Different. And the blackberry cobbler, whooooo boy.
The weekend rolled along, with a side trip to Flip Happy Crepes (yum, by the way) on Sunday morning. Then Monday morning came and we hit the road to Lockhart.
Black's was our first stop. When you walk in, you get to the buffet of sides first- much more than just potato salad and beans. We skipped the sides in an effort to concentrate on what was important. We ordered small portions of pork ribs, sausage (regular and jalapeno), brisket, and a chopped beef sandwich. You know how turkey gets so damn dry if you bbq it wrong? Black's not only does it right, but it's the best damn bbq turkey I've ever eaten. Everything was cooked perfectly and just goooood. Black's has regular and hot bbq sauce, and they're both really tasty, although that hot sauce has a bit of an afterburn.
For those of you who don't know, the current location of Smitty's is the former location of Kreuz Market. In fact, a sister owns Smitty's and her brother owns Kreuz Market; they had a dispute after their father, the former owner of Kreuz Market, died. Kreuz built its new location and the sister opened up Smitty's.
Next stop: Smitty's. Smitty's keeps it simple- no chicken, no turkey, just pork and beef. We were offered shoulder but ordered brisket, ribs, sausage, and since they advertised a bowl of beans for a dollar, what the heck. The meat at Smitty's was delicious, but we couldn't eat half of the brisket because it was really, really fatty. The ribs were good, glazed with something slightly sweet, but very tasty. The sausage melted in your mouth- because of all the grease in it. I cut into a link and literally two Tablespoons of grease puddled out. It was very rich as a result. The beans were seasoned simply and were quite tasty. If I worked in Lockhart, I would readily stop into Smitty's for a bowl of beans, a glass of lemonade, and crackers for a nice lunch that would barely cost me $2.50.
Over to Kreuz Market for our last Lockhart stop. Brisket, ribs, regular and jalapeno sausage. Even though the other places offer good stuff, we clearly saw why Kreuz is still our favorite of the three: juicy but not overly greasy meat, simple but perfect seasoning, good smoke on the meat. Best ribs we've ever had, best brisket of the day. These were the leftovers we later devoured first, followed closely by the turkey from Black's.
On the way home, we detoured off I-35 onto SH 6, driving a little west of Waco to Speegleville to find Rusty Star, which Ted Nugent proclaims has the best brisket in/near Waco. I haven't had other brisket in/near Waco, but based on what I ate, Uncle Ted's probably right. We ordered brisket, sausage, turkey, and something called a Gutbuster: beans, chopped brisket (without sauce), Fritos, cheese, and onions layered in a bowl. Sheer meatycrunchy bliss, I tell you. It was our second favorite place of the day; the turkey was again cooked well, and the rest of the food was just plain good. They even offer Dr Pepper made with sugar rather than corn syrup in the fountain, but they were regrettably out. My boys made do with a root beer we'd never heard of, which they apparently found acceptable because they each refilled a few times.
While the adventure was fun, and certainly worth it, I will add that nobody in the house has had a desire to eat bbq since that day, and we probably won't for a while. We OD'ed in melty, meaty bbq deliciousness. Pardon me, waiter, but I think I'll have a salad.
We do realize that there are plenty of other Central Texas bbq places to try, and we will, but as our OD plainly demonstrated, we can't hit 'em all at once.
