Gleam -
I can barely believe your pictures from Smitty's - so much different than what I experienced two days after you were there. The brisket I ate was moist, smoky, and very tender - and cut against the grain. Some pieces were fatty in a good way; I ate those, while my wife stuck to the more lean slices. As for the sausage, the texture and smoke level was good, though the spice profile was not to my taste; the stuff was kinda bland actually (I compare every sausage to those served at Johnnie's Beef).

rober wrote:Gleam -
I can barely believe your pictures from Smitty's - so much different than what I experienced two days after you were there. The brisket I ate was moist, smoky, and very tender - and cut against the grain. Some pieces were fatty in a good way; I ate those, while my wife stuck to the more lean slices. As for the sausage, the texture and smoke level was good, though the spice profile was not to my taste; the stuff was kinda bland actually (I compare every sausage to those served at Johnnie's Beef).

Well, hopefully my experience was an anomaly. I have to assume the way it was sliced is not the norm, because I don't think they could stay in business slicing with the grain. I think that it could have been much better if it were sliced right.

rober wrote:Gleam -
I can barely believe your pictures from Smitty's - so much different than what I experienced two days after you were there. The brisket I ate was moist, smoky, and very tender - and cut against the grain. Some pieces were fatty in a good way; I ate those, while my wife stuck to the more lean slices. As for the sausage, the texture and smoke level was good, though the spice profile was not to my taste; the stuff was kinda bland actually (I compare every sausage to those served at Johnnie's Beef).

The problem with BBQ, despite what a lot of people say, is that it is variable depending on the time of the day you get to the restaurant. Coopers in Llanos was the worst I had in Texas but I got there after 6 pm on a Sunday. I was at the Luling and Lockhart places from 11 am -12:30 pm during the lunch rush and they were very good.

IOW, you may have a divine experience while I have a hellish experience.

jlawrence01 wrote:The problem with BBQ, despite what a lot of people say, is that it is variable depending on the time of the day you get to the restaurant. Coopers in Llanos was the worst I had in Texas but I got there after 6 pm on a Sunday. I was at the Luling and Lockhart places from 11 am -12:30 pm during the lunch rush and they were very good.

IOW, you may have a divine experience while I have a hellish experience.

Very true. Of course, I was at Cooper's after 6pm (8 or so) on a Sunday, and it was great. So even at the same time of day on the same day of the week, it can depend on a ton of factors.

I'm off to Austin in a few days, especially to make an annual bbq run on Sunday. Last year I went to Cooper's. This year I am pretty sure it will be Crosstown or Meyer's in Elgin. Any recent experiences with either one? My travel schedule only allows for Central TX BBQ on Sunday afternoon, so it limits a bit my choices. For instance, Louie Mueller's is not open on Sunday. Any other good BBQ word, open on Sunday's edition?

Any experiences with the Frisco Shop?

For future reference:

I can't believe no one has mentioned Kerbey Lane Cafe. It's an Austin breakfast (all day/all night) and comfort food institution. I like the original Kerbey Lane location and the one on South Lamar.

Most of my favorite places to eat in Austin are more based fondness from my college years rather than food quality. That said, Shady Grove is a fine place to eat a chicken fried steak on the patio on a warm day, Trudy's has great top-shelf margaritas and decent Tex-Mex, and Mother's is a good place to get a vegetarian meal that sticks to your ribs.

And please do get out to the Hill Country if you can. It's beautiful and lots of good food to be found...

redhanded wrote:And please do get out to the Hill Country if you can. It's beautiful and lots of good food to be found...

Sounds like you know your way around the area, how about listing some of your Hill Country favorites and their highlights.

G Wiv wrote:Sounds like you know your way around the area, how about listing some of your Hill Country favorites and their highlights.

Haha...I wish I could remember the names of all the restaurants I've been to! I could tell you about "that pie place in Wimberley" or "that farm that sells fresh chevre out of a shed by Pedernales Falls" or "that kolache place in Dripping Springs" but that's not very helpful. My parents actually travel through Hill County quite often, so I'll ask them to list a few of their favorites and post them here. They love to find places that are off the beaten path.

Some stand-by's have already been listed here like Salt Lick for barbecue. Fredericksburg for German food after a hike to the top of Enchanted Rock. There's also The Gristmill in Greune, which is steak-house fare if I remember, and solid food, overlooking the river.

Just back from my 2nd trip to Austin, and never will I return without a stop at Torchy's Damn Good Tacos. After 3 different sets of locals all recommended this vendor we decided to swing by one of the three trucks/trailers. The Green Chili Pork taco w/ Shredded Carnitas, Queso Fresco, Cilantro, Onions, and a Lime is so savory and loaded w/ meat I wanted 3 more, but alas they are to big for that many. The Democrat taco w/ Shredded Barbacoa, Queso Fresco, Avocado, Cilantro, Green Sauce, and a Lime is the richest prep I've had of beef. The whole secene embodies Austin's "weirdness". The location we checked out had several other trucks in the same area which we didn't check out, although one was a chocolate stop and there was a music stage that gets going twoards the evening hours. Great area to eat, hang under a tree, and people watch.


Trailer 1311 1st st


2801 Guadalupe 5-b


2809 S. 1st and El Paso

I just spent a week in Austin with my wife and daughter. We had a great time and ate a lot of really good food, although we didn't get in much BBQ. Here's a rundown of the places we really enjoyed, in no particular order.

Gourdoughs
Fresh, made to order doughnuts from a trailer. These were insanely good: tender middles, crisp outsides, great toppings. They are quite large though. One is plenty for one person.
Gourdoughs is in the same parking lot as Odd Duck, a "farm to trailer" place, which looks really interesting. Unfortunately, we went to Gourdough's on a Monday, when Odd Duck was closed.

Tacodeli
We really loved this taco stand. Between the 3 of us we tried 7 tacos and their queso/guacamole/salsa dip. Everything we tried was great, but our hands down favorite was the mojo fish taco.

The Mighty Cone
Another trailer. This one serves fried shrimp, chicken, avocado (or a combo) in a tortilla with slaw. Their breading is a mix of sesame seeds, almonds, chili flakes and corn flakes, which is really interesting in a good. They also have "sliders" (that are really just mini burgers as opposed to a true slider) and fries.

Peche
Great cocktails. We had just one each, so it's hard to say definitely, but based on that one, I'd put it on par with Bar Deville in terms of quality. Their food was also excellent. Their charcuterie plate included the best chicken liver mousse I've ever had. My entree was pieces of braised lamb, lightly breaded and fried, then tossed with a spicy tomato sauce over spaghetti - excellent. My wife had the coq a vin, which was also great - although the best part of that dish was the wild mushroom bread pudding that came with it.

Enoteca Vespaio
The more casual sister of Vespaio mentioned upthread. We stuck to the Italian thin crust style pizza and antipasti, but they also had quite a list of house-made pastas. Great food, nice atmosphere and kid friendly. This is the kind of place we'd come back to all the time if it was in Chicago.

Blue Dahlia Bistro
We were here for lunch on our last day and it was really nice to have some lighter salads and sandwiches to balance out the meat-heavy week.

Frank
We hit Frank for brunch, which I think was a mistake. Their brunch was good, if pretty standard brunch fare. But the real appeal of Frank is Hot Dougs-style sausages in a bit nicer atmosphere (very casual, but with table service vs counter service) and with beer. I didn't do enough homework and assumed the brunch would include at least a few of the sausages as options - it didn't.

In the non-food arena, I really suggest the Zilker Botanical Gardens, Nature & Science Center (in Zilker Park), Umlauf Sculpture Garden, Barton Springs pool and canoeing on Town Lake. The Austin Children's Museum was great too, if you have kids.

Edited to add: A big thanks to germuska for recommending several of these to me.

As many of you know, every Fall Sonoma Howie and I pick some N. American city and go eat our way through it. Last year, we followed Pigmon & Trixie Pea's lead, and gobbled up Queens.

This year, on the basis of this thread (and the several others cited within it), we've decided to go to Austin and just eat, eat, eat. We're going to rent a car so we'll be able to small-town bbq it.

Soooo, I thought it might be useful to bump this thread, just to jostle anyone who has some new thoughts about Austin. (And, even if you don't, it's nice to be able to jostle you anyway, since it'll most likely stir up some delicious memories, right? )

TIA--

Geo

I'll just second the Kerbey Lane breakfast (24 hours a day) suggestion - they do great and varied pancakes and are usually my first stop when I go to visit my son who has lived in Austin for about 13 years ...

Geo,

The legendary Texas food writer and BBQ aficionado, Robb Walsh, wrote a highly informative piece in the Aug/Sept 2010 issue of Garden & Gun magazine claiming that some of the finest BBQ being produced today is from roadside trailers throughout Texas. Walsh highly touts a trailer operation called Franklin Barbecue in East Austin for their brisket. And if you’re willing to drive 75 miles from Austin, you might want to try Gil’s Bar-B-Que Shack (owner Gil Vrazel) in Ellinger for their supposedly amazing Czech sausage as well as brisket and pork butts (weekends only). According to Walsh, it’s a good idea to get to both of these places on the early side. Due to their apparent legions of fans, they’ll commonly run out of product early. If I were going to the Austin area today, I’d definitely be checking out these two places.

Of course, an absolute must would be a pilgrimage to what in my mind is BBQ ground zero, the aorta, and Mecca of the most amazing concentration of great BBQ in the entire country— Lockhart and Luling. Fatty brisket at Black’s (Lockhart), sausages at Smitty’s (Lockhart), and sausage/brisket at City Market (Luling) make for a BBQ adventure you’ll never forget.


Smitty’s Market (Lockhart)



City Market (Luling)


Black’s Barbecue (Lockhart)


Kreuz Market (Lockhart)

Franklin Barbecue
900 E. 11th Street
Austin, TX 78702
(512) 653-1187

Gil’s Bar-B-Que Shack
HWY 71
Ellinger, TX 78940
(979) 378-2366

Smitty’s Market
208 South Commerce Street
Lockhart, TX 78644
(512) 398-9344

City Market
633 East Davis Street
Luling, TX 78648
(830) 875-9019

Black’s Barbecue
215 North Main Street
Lockhart, TX 78644
(512) 398-2712

Kreuz Market
619 North Colorado Street
Lockhart, TX 78644
(512) 398-2361

Gleam and PIGMON nice photos and write ups on them BBQ joints.

Franklin is no longer a trailer but has a brick-and-mortar location; however, the lines haven't died down and if you're not there before 11am, you'll probably miss out like I did (they were running out of food around 12:30pm last time I checked). Closed Mondays.

I've not done City Market but Smitty's and Black's are both excellent for brisket and sausage. I'd also throw in Coopers Old Time Pit Bar B Que in Llano and Opie's in Spicewood. All of these are better than Salt Lick. Go for lunch as the more interesting items tend to sell out earlier.

If food truck culture is not strong where you are, definitely visit at least one trailer park. Odd Duck makes for an excellent dinner. Bring a bottle of wine, go early. The menu is not long, but order everything that looks good. Most items are shareable small plates--I recommend the grits, pork belly slider, and venison sausage. Save room to split one Gourdough's doughnut after (they're huge).

Another food food trailer park is East Side Drive In (East 6th and San Marcos), with Pig Vicious (many bacon items, deep fried pickles), Ugly Banjos (deep fried oreos), and a bunch of other trucks. If you keep going east on 6th you'll find East Side Show Room (good cocktails), as well as more food trucks in the backyards of bars (like Cheer Up Charlie's). I was partial to Lucky J's which serves a chicken tender in a soft waffle with hot sauce and maple syrup. There's also East Side King (Momofuku-esque). I also really loved Peached Tortilla which moves around (the Korean taco thing is all over Austin, I tried the competitors and liked Peached Tortilla best, try the banh mi sliders) as does Along Came a Slider.

Go to Uchi. You can make a reservation on OpenTable. Don't order the regular sushi, but ask your server for help with the specials. Get the foie gras nigiri if they have it.

Best cocktails overall were at Haddington's and Bar Congress but Peche and East Side Show Room were pretty good as well.

Also: breakfast tacos. Torchy's were good, I haven't done enough eating down there to make a real comparison of just breakfast tacos.

I might make a quick trip to Austin next weekend. Does anyone know if any/all of the hill country places are open on Sunday?

stevez wrote:I might make a quick trip to Austin next weekend. Does anyone know if any/all of the hill country places are open on Sunday?

Welcome to my world! I'm always in Texas on Sundays, not Saturdays. BBQ options for Sunday are not nearly as good on that day. For instance, Kreutz and City Market are not open on Sunday. Where ever you go, double check on the Sunday hours. On the other hand, there are still plenty of good options.

Especially if you're coming straight from the airport, Black's makes sense. I've never had better brisket.

You can also head east or west from Austin. The drive to Coopers, that direction (West), is much more interesting than the drive East to, say Elgin (Southside and a few other Elgin places are also open on Sundays), and the BBQ there is amongst the best--and the "menu", a whole ton of meats arrayed on the grill is as good as it gets.

Smitty's is THE place open on Sunday that I've been dying to get to.

Vital Information wrote:

stevez wrote:I might make a quick trip to Austin next weekend. Does anyone know if any/all of the hill country places are open on Sunday?

Welcome to my world! I'm always in Texas on Sundays, not Saturdays. BBQ options for Sunday are not nearly as good on that day. For instance, Kreutz and City Market are not open on Sunday. Where ever you go, double check on the Sunday hours. On the other hand, there are still plenty of good options.

Especially if you're coming straight from the airport, Black's makes sense. I've never had better brisket.

You can also head east or west from Austin. The drive to Coopers, that direction (West), is much more interesting than the drive East to, say Elgin (Southside and a few other Elgin places are also open on Sundays), and the BBQ there is amongst the best--and the "menu", a whole ton of meats arrayed on the grill is as good as it gets.

Smitty's is THE place open on Sunday that I've been dying to get to.

Luckily, I'll be there on Saturday, too. I'm just trying to plan which places I need to hit on Saturday as opposed to which ones can wait until Sunday.

While Franklin Barbecue (open on Sundays) doesn't have the history or the ambiance of the Hill Country places, it does have fantastic meat. The ribs were the surprise hit of my last visit and the brisket was very good as well.

I also completely second tatterdemalion's recommendations up-thread. It's pretty much the exact list of places I miss from my three years in Austin. Mulberry, Habanero's (for the ranchera fajitas and machaca and egg tacos), Parkside, Alamo etc are all worth a stop.

I would steer visitors away from the Chuy's, Kerbey Lane and Shady Grove recommendations.

stevez wrote:I might make a quick trip to Austin next weekend. Does anyone know if any/all of the hill country places are open on Sunday?

Smitty's, Black's, Cooper's, and Opie's are all open Sundays.

Geographically, though, it makes more sense to hit up the three Lockhart places together on a Saturday. Smitty's, Black's, and Kreuz are only a few blocks away from each other.

Smitty's
http://www.smittysmarket.com/contact.htm
Mon. - Fri. 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Sat. 7 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Sunday 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Black's
http://www.blacksbbq.com/
Monday: 10 AM - 8 PM
Tuesday: 10 AM - 8 PM
Wednesday: 10 AM - 8 PM
Thursday: 10 AM - 8 PM
Friday: 10 AM - 8:30 PM
Saturday: 10 AM - 8:30 PM
Sunday: 10 AM - 8 PM

Cooper's in Llano
http://www.coopersbbqllano.com/contact.html
Sunday through Thursday: 11:00am – 8:00pm
Friday & Saturday: 11:00am – 9:00pm
We're closed on Thanksgiving Day & Christmas Day.

Opie's
http://www.opiesbarbecue.com/index.php?page=location
Mon and Tues 11-4
Weds thru Sun 11-7
(or when we run out of meat)

Kreuz Market
http://www.kreuzmarket.com/contact.shtml
10:30am-8pm (Mon-Sat), Closed Sunday

Not a whole lot on Austin here, but wanting to revive this old thread. I am heading to Austin with some friends, which happens to occur during the NCAA tournament. I'm looking for some input on a nice but not stuffy environment for dinner. Sticking with "American Modern" for whatever that is worth as my companions lean towards the "steak house" environment.....which I prefer to avoid when traveling. Lamberts and the Roaring Fork were mentioned on this thread which are both intriguing. Any other suggestions are welcome or further input on the aforementioned..... I also welcome suggestions on a good place/area to day drink and watch basketball.

thanks,

rmtraut

Both of those are downtown, do you want to/need to stay downtown? If so, Parkside should also be a contender.

Both of those are downtown, do you want to/need to stay downtown? If so, Parkside should also be a contender.

Yea - no car - so we'll be walking most everywhere or cabs.

Juan Pelota Café for their strong brew (coffee on steroids?) would be timely.

Any recent recs for downtown Austin near the convention center? Thanks!

annak wrote:Any recent recs for downtown Austin near the convention center? Thanks!

This thread contains some more recent information.

=R=