When you walk in it’s not your typical BBQ place. There aren’t pits anywhere to be found. Before you lose total interest, know that they actually smoke the meat in Taylor, TX. So there is some cred there, just not the full allotment. It looks like a restaurant that’s in an office complex. Walls are clean and untarnished by smoke, there are windows and they let a lot of light in, and their are pictures of BBQ pits, pitmasters, and meat on the walls. Very atypical of the every other BBQ place you’ve seen.

Even with the decor not what I was used to, I bellied up to the counter and placed my order. 2 meat plate with sausage and brisket, sweet corn, and potato salad. The rest of crew ordered and I think we got every kind of meat they had available. So there was a sampling of everything. One of the bright spots of day was the serving size. It was very large. In the downtown area you just get accustomed to paying a lot or small serving sizes. So nice surprise.

Photos by Ray Pierce

Turkey and Chopped Brisket

Brisket and Ribs

Brisket and Sausage

The brisket was well smoked and had a good flavor. It wasn’t as tender as I would have liked, but not bad none the less. It seemed to be a pretty lean cut of meat, and I suppose that is what lead to it. The sausage was a medium ground packed sausage. It was well above average. Not as good as Meyer’s sausage, but good. They serve it with a sweet BBQ sauce. Not as sweet as the Salt Lick though. From trying the other guys plates, we also found out that they do a mean smoked turkey. Next time that I go I will probably order it.

As for the sides, they had large serving sizes as well. The corn that I had was very good and seemed pretty fresh. The potato salad wasn’t as good as I was hoping for. It was like Rudy’s Potato salad, just not as good.

I was very pleased with the results of the lunch. Especially since it wasn’t overly expensive either. I spent under $15 for all of that and was more than I should have eaten. It’s not got the history of some of the out lying BBQ joints, but it puts up a decent fight. So in my opinion this was a very good value and would recommend it for anyone in the downtown area.

Rudy’s is a bit of a trek for us in Austin. It’s about an hour and half South of Austin on the outskirts of San Antonio just off of IH-10 in Leon Springs, TX. To date this is the furthest we have traveled for a BBQ outing. That being the case I was a bit worried about the participation. In the end though we had a great turnout. In fact it was our largest to date with 16 people showing up. There were even several first time participants that came with us.

The building is an old convenience store that has an attached BBQ pit. There’s a fair amount of banquet tables and folding chairs available to sit inside the store, or larger dining area just behind the store. There is also wooden picnic tables around the outside of the building for seating. This particular Rudy’s is situated in front of a creek, and over the years has experience several floods. There is a large mural in the larger dining area that is depicts the floods and what was done in those situations. As a reminder there are also water mark to show how high the flood waters came and into the building.

When you enter the pit area it’s lined with standard ice cover sodas and beers in troughs. These help to form the path to work your way up to the counter to place your order. Unlike the other Rudy’s we’ve become accustom to the counter area is not air conditioned. The employees are working in a pit area and it’s quite warm on a Summer day. The area itself isn’t as large as I would have expected to output that much food. We started in line around 1:30pm, and it wasn’t nearly as crowded as I had expected. The line barely reached the outside of the pit area. I’ve heard that it snakes around the building a long way on Sunday afternoon’s though.

So on to the real reason we made the trip. BBQ!

Rudy’s has a pretty standard selection of sides and meats to choose from. They had Lean and moist brisket, chopped brisket, sausage, turkey, chicken, St. Louis and baby back ribs. For sides they have potato salad, cole slaw, and cream corn.

I ordered moist brisket, turkey, 2 baby back ribs, potato salad, and a fountain drink. Pretty much the standard fare for comparison to the other places that we’ve been. The guy taking my order got confused and had to ask me again what I ordered. It’s obviously not the well oiled machine that the franchises area.

After I got to the table, I figured out that I ended up with lean brisket instead of moist. I’m not big on their lean brisket just because it dries out so much. And just like I had anticipated the brisket was dry. It had a good smoke ring, was tender, and tasted fine. It was just dry. From there I moved on to the turkey. It was just as flavorful as all the other Rudy’s, and just like those places it’s hit or miss on the juiciness of it. This one ended up moderately moist to dry. At first glance at the ribs, I know for a fact they are going to be dry as well. It’s almost like they’ve been under a heat lamp for hours. They tasted good, but baby backs that are dried out aren’t all that appealing to me. They had a great flavor, but I didn’t finish them off.

So the theme of the day for my meat selections were Dry Dry Dry. Not a good way to make a positive impression.

I tried some of the crews sausage, and it was pretty moist. But it’s not a homemade sausage like several of the other places that we’ve been to recently. I also got to try some of the moist brisket, and it was much better than the lean selection I had. I just wish they hadn’t screwed that up.

The potato salad was just as good as the reference point of the Austin franchises. It’s a mustard based potato salad with large chunks of potato in it. It was probably the only thing that I had that I was fully satisfied with.

It was great to get everyone out to one of our events, but I really wish we could have delivered a better experience to the participants. I think I’ll be sticking to the franchises for Rudy’s from now on.

I lived outside of Manor, TX for about 7 years, so I was quite familiar with Meyer’s. I’ve eaten there a half dozen times for more. I’ve got a preference to it over the other establishment in Elgin that we’ll review later.

The restaurant is just off of HWY 290 on the South side of the road in the middle of town. Once you get inside, they have a collection of taxidermied wild game. Elk, Deer, Fish, etc. They also have some old equipment used to make sausage on display in the entry area. You also have sausage/meat counter that you can buy sausage by the pound to take home. The ceiling of the meat counter room is lined with all of the competition and awards that Meyer’s has won over the years. Quite an impressive amount.

It’s really hard to compare different places unless you order similar things at each place. So I ordered Brisket and Garlic Pork Sausage this trip with Potato Salad and Pinto Beans. Pretty standard fare so that I can compare apples to apples. Just wish I had a bigger stomach to try every thing everywhere we go. The Brisket was tender and had a good smoke ring on it. It was dry though, but it still maintained a good flavor. All I had to do was use some of the vinegary Hot Sauce they had on the tables to add some moisture back. They also had two other kinds of BBQ that were a more traditional thickness and flavor.

The sausage was served as two links together. This was by far the best sausage that we’ve had on our tour. It had a really good consistency and texture. It was nice and juicy just like it’s supposed to be. You didn’t get an overwhelming garlic flavor like I was afraid we might. It was really good on it’s own, but a combo of the thick BBQ sauce and the vinegary sauce we quite nice on it.

I tried some of Carrie’s pork ribs and they were quite tasty as well. They had great flavor and weren’t tough. Then again it’s hard to make a prok rib tough.

The potato salad and pinto beans were just so so. Not bad, but nothing to write home about. They are pretty much what you would expect at a Texas BBQ joint.

All in all I think the Brisket and sides missed the mark today, but the sausage and the vinegary hot sauce were right on.

So Snows is a rather small establishment, building wise anyway.  About six tables that seat six a piece inside, which we made use of since it was raining that morning and some more tables outside near the smokers.  Inside, the line was short, compared to what I’ve heard, but the proximity around the counter/food servage area still felt rather crowded.

I went with a two meat plate.  Brisket and sausage with two sides, both potato salad because they were out of everything else.  And lastly all the beans you can eat!

Since this is Texas BBQ, it’s only proper to start with the brisket.  At first, the brisket was so moist and delicious.  I was even privileged to get an end piece of the cut and it rocked my world.  The sausage on the other hand was a gamble.  I’ve yet to find good sausage on this meat tour.  Unfortunately the house won this one, being dry as a bone.  So I went back to the brisket; unfortunately it was dry.  It was nothing I’ve ever seen before.  How did something so delicious and moist, dry up in a matter of minutes?  Was it the weather?

So I turned to the sauce.  While not my cup of tea, a pretty sweat sauce and runny, but it got me through my meal.  The potato salad was average, but the beans were a nice touch.

Afterwords, we headed outside to take some photos.  Saw the meat smokers and got the meet the owners.  Very nice folk!  And then we headed for pie, but that’s another story.

Looking back I must say, I was a little disappointed.  The brisket was delicious until it got dry, the sausage was dry from the beginning and the sides were OK.  The experience was great, the people were nice and the south Texas animals were plump.  I still say that horse looked like a cow, or perhaps bound for France.

Lambert’s is one of those places that serves cornbread before the meal. They are served as little mini-muffin size with real butter. They are a jalapeno based cornbread with pieces of real corn in them. They are quite tasty. The only problem is that they are served cold. The butter doesn’t melt, and a lot the goodness is lost in my opinion.

On the main attraction though. I’ve been to Lambert’s several times before, but this is the first time that I’ve actually ordered something other than the traditional brisket and pulled pork plate I always lean towards. The plate was called the BBQ Beef Chopped Brisket Sandwich. Sounds like a tasty mouthful. The bun was I believe your standard fare sesame seed bun, but they went to the effort of toasting it, which was a nice surprise. There was a pretty sizable quantity of meat on the sandwich as well. It was an $8 sandwich, the cheapest thing on the menu if I recall correctly. But that’s what I wanted. The meats wasn’t overly saucy, and it was a fairly large cut chopped brisket. Not the fine ground stuff a lot of places server. This was real sliced brisket that had been chopped. It was topped off with a bit of finely chopped relish.

The sandwich had a great flavor and great consistency. There was one piece in the sandwich that wasn’t cut enough to get in one bite and ended up on the plate. Lambert’s has a hot sauce on every table that is quite tasty, it’s a little more vinegar based than the regular sauce but is still a thick sauce. If you want add a bit of spice to your meat I would highly recommend it, it’s not going to “burn” you, but it just adds a little something extra. So I put a generous helping of it on the meat and applied the top half of the bun. I do like to add some regular sauce to pretty much each bite. Lambert’s sauce is well done. Not too sweet, not vinegary, and not to peppery.

If you like Mac and Cheese order it, it’s for you. There is plenty of melted cheese in the dish, and a nice crusted American cheese layer on top. I almost felt that it was too cheesy if there can be such a thing. I think a bit of gratin would have been nice, but it stands up well on it’s own.

The only draw back to coming here at lunch is the price. Today’s adventure was reasonably affordable for downtown, but if I order what I normally do it would have been well over $20. As it was with tip and everything it was about $14. I thought it was a pretty good value based quality and quantity of food that I got. I definitely recommend it to people, but beware that you will be paying downtown prices for BBQ. It’s well executed, and quite tasty.

So, the story goes they are a small place with a big reputation. They are open 1 day a week. They open at 8am and sell out by noon at the very latest (sometimes much earlier). Pulling up to the sleepy establishment you can see signs of the Texas Monthly celebrity status: Jaguars, BMWs, Porsches. These are the patrons traveling for Texas’ Best BBQ. The owners are as humble and sweet as I suspect they have always been. But you don’t read this blog to hear about the peripheral stuff. So, on to the BBQ!

Snow's - Sausage and Brisket

Jumping in line at 9:45 we benefitted by a morning of rain to keep the crowds away. We had no problem getting brisket, sausage, pork loin and pork ribs. I sat down with the brisket and sausage. The brisket was moist and tender. I mean plastic fork, pot roast tender. Good smoke ring, nice flavor though I felt the rub was a bit salty. Not overly so, but noticeable. The sausage was obviously home made, looked and tasted to be primarily beef. The seasonings were good in it but I have learned I am not a fan of the coarse ground homemade beef only sausage. I like a little fat in my sausage. I like a finer ground. After a few bites I remembered I was supposed to get my wife (who could not join us) some BBQ to go.

I decide it’s better for me to get in line at that point than to chance them running out, so I got up from my tray and did so. 15 minutes later I was back to my seat with a pound of brisket to go. This is germane for 1 key reason. Someone switched my brisket! Or it sure seemed that way. What was this succulent mass of meat became a pile of brisket jerky. Still very tasty but dry and tough. This was consistent across all the brisket we ordered. What was consumed while still steaming was worth bragging about. What didn’t get devoured in that narrow window, however, lost a lot of its luster.

I only tried a few bites of the pork. They were consistent with the brisket but somewhat less remarkable. Tasty when fresh, dry very quickly. The BBQ sauce was unlike any I have had before. It seemed more fitting for eggrolls than BBQ. But, somehow, it worked. It grew on you. I was dipping everything in it shortly after my initial reaction. The free beans were solid and the potato salad was decent if not spartan.

So here I sit, wondering how to rate this BBQ. I think I’ve got to go with my gut and say very solid BBQ made by some very nice people who still do things the way it should be done. My hat’s off.

Snow's BBQ

Snow’s BBQ
516 Main Street
Lexington, TX 78947

After hearing about Snow’s BBQ and subsequently reading about it in Texas Monthly the EatsBBQ crew decided we were going to put Texas Monthly’s claim of Best BBQ in Texas 2009 to the test. That is a pretty lofty claim given the level of BBQ in Texas, much less Central Texas. So we loaded up, gathered a few friends to join us and start on our romp.

Snow’s is in Lexington, TX. It’s not exactly on your way anywhere and isn’t on a major road. It’s only open on Saturday’s, and it starts selling BBQ at 8am. The stay open until they sell out. From what I’ve read on several blogs and articles was that you needed to be there before 10am to make sure you got what you drove for. So this little gem has eluded a lot of people for a long time because of the location, quantity, and time. Texas Monthly really put the bright spot light on this little joint. The demand for Snow’s BBQ has skyrocketed since the article I’ve read, but I’ve also read that they increased their output as well.

Snow's - EatsBBQ and Snow's Owner and Pitmaster

Today we got to Lexington around 9:45am. It took us a little over an hour to get there from 183/290 E area (outskirts of Austin). It was a very rainy and cold day, so that works for us and against us. The rain and cold keeps the crowds away, but there’s not much seating inside of Snow’s. It’s only got 6 picnic style tables indoors with the other seating outside. Luckily we got two tables next to one another inside by pure chance.

As we usually do we try to get a sampling of all the fare that is offered. I ordered the Pork and Pork Ribs, Mike ordered the brisket and sausage plate, and Nathan ordered the same as Mike. They had already sold out of the creamed corn by time we got there, but they still had potato salad. They have the typical condiments, BBQ sauce, onions, pickles, and bread available for everyone. They also have free pinto beans. For drinks they had Sweet and Unsweet Tea, Water, and canned soft drinks.

So on to the tasting!

I started with the pork ribs. They were very moist and had a very smokey flavor. They were very tender, but not to the point where you could just pluck the bone out. In hindsight, this was probably my favorite of the meal. Only got 3 ribs and gave the smallest one to Mike of course.

Then I tried the pork butt. It was quite good. It had a great flavor and a good smoke ring. It was however a bit dry. Not to the point of overcooked by any means. Nothing that a little BBQ sauce couldn’t cure. I shared a little with friends, but I devoured most of it myself.

Snow's - Brisket, Sausage, Pork Butt, Pork Ribs, and sides

I tried some of Mike’s brisket, and the same solid flavor and smoke ring was there. But it was a bit dry as well, although Mike claims that it wasn’t dry when he started on his plate. Read his review about it. The meat itself was still extremely tender. Later in the meal Nathan let me have some of his since his had a bit more fat on it. It was better, but still drier than I would have wanted. When our friends Andy and Colette showed up the brisket they got looked much more moist than what I had sampled, but unfortunately I was reaching my food intake limit by then. So this may have just been the piece of brisket we were sampling from. It happens and you can’t predict it.

The sausage was a homemade sausage. It didn’t have a huge amount of fat in it which worked pretty well for it. Because of that the sausage wasn’t very greasy. On the other hand it felt like the meats wasn’t bound together and solid. I liked it’s flavor, but I was a bit annoyed trying to cut it

The BBQ sauce was a sweet and tangy blend. One of the guys commented that it was like a sweet and sour sauce for egg rolls. It definitely had some of those characteristics, but not in a bad way. I found that it grew on me the longer I sat there and ate. You have to have a good BBQ sauce to go with your smoked meat in my opinion. I really think that it complemented the flavor of the meats and allowed the smoke flavor to come through and didn’t over power it.

The free pinto beans were quite tasty. Not as peppery as some, but enough you could taste. It was a good contrast to the meats.

Snow's - Smoker

All in all I think Snow’s is a great BBQ place. All smoked BBQ has fallen to off days in the smoker, and I think that have happened to us today. It’s just the nature of the beast for dryness to set in the longer something sits. I think if we came back another day, it would have different moisture in the meats and maybe a totally different opinion. Personally, I don’t think it lived up to the Best BBQ in Texas title, but it’s definitely in the conversation. I’m willing to give it another shot on another day.

I would recommend any BBQ lovers to come and try Snow’s and take in the experience. Just be prepared to get up early, drive, and stand in a line to get it. You will be rewarded with some top notch BBQ.

Cooper's Pit

Cooper’s is one of my all time favorite BBQ  joints.  It’s a bit of a drive from Austin (1 1/2 hours or so), but well worth the trip. This has been my tried and true BBQ favorite and the standard as to what I measure BBQ against.  So it seems fitting that this is the place that I chose to do my first post on.  I’ve been talking a big game on how good Cooper’s was to Mike (one of the EatsBBQ crew).  He hadn’t had the privilege of eating there until today.

On typical a typical weekend the line wraps around the front of the build.  People drive from all over to come here, but there is a heavy dose of Austinites here.  It’s in the Hill Country and it’s a pretty and scenic drive up.  In the Spring time the area surrounding Llano has a lot of Bluebonnet’s blooming.

Once you get to the head of the line, you notice the 10 pits that they smoke all their meats in.  The front pit holds the selection of meats for the day and they are laid out in front of you as the picture shows.  Brisket, “BIG” Chop, Beef Ribs, Pork Ribs, Goat Ribs (when available), Pork Loin, Chicken, Jalapeno Sausage, Pork Sausage, Ribeye, etc.  It’s an amazing sight, that almost makes you want to get down and pray.  The pit cutter will then ask you what you want, he’ll cut it, then immediately ask you if you want it dipped.  That translates to do you want your meat dipped in a big pot of BBQ sauce.  The answer is always “yes”.  At that point, you take your food inside, the cutter inside will then take your meat cut it up,  wrap it, and weigh it for you.  Pick up your sides and pay, then start in on the most glorious eating of the day.

Cooper’s is known for it’s “BIG” chop.  That’s a 2-3″ cut of individually smoked pork chop.  I’ve had this many times and I can say that it’s outstanding.  Unfortunately, I had just had a great pork chop at Perry’s Steakhouse in Austin the day before, so that’s wasn’t the first thing I that came to mind.  I’ve had it on several other trips to Llano and would highly recommend it.

Brisket, Goat Ribs, Blackberry Cobbler, Beans, BBQ Sauce

For today selection I chose Brisket and Goat Ribs (since I can’t say that I’ve ever had them before).  I followed that with a cup of beans and blackberry cobbler.  The brisket was outstanding today.  It was super moist, and fell apart on my fork, which made sharing it a bit challenging.  The only thing that I might could nit pick about it today was that it might have been a bit too salty on the rub crust.  I would have to say though that it was probably the best selection of the day hands down.

The Goat Ribs were an offering that I hadn’t ever seen at Cooper’s. Having tried everything else on the menu on different trips, I had to try them.  They had the same rub on them that all of the other smoked meats had on them.  They were tender and you are able to pluck the bones out of the meat.  The meat itself was thin, but if I’m not mistaken goat is typically from kid, not adults.  The meat was tender, but still required a knife to cut.  The meat had a nice flavor.  All in all they were good, but forgettable.

I tried the some of Mike’s Pork Loin, and it was quite delicious.  Extremely juicy and very tender as well.  There was a good smoke ring around it and maintained a great flavor. This was a close second to the Brisket.  Made me wish that I hadn’t strayed for the goat ribs.

Pork Ribs, Jalapeno Sausage, Pork loin, Potato Salad

I got a taste of Mike’s Jalapeno sausage.  I’m not sure what it, but I just don’t like Jalapeno sausage.  I think it overpowers the flavor of the sausage and in my book that’s bad.  It was moist, but not squirting juice.  I don’t think they make their own sausage on site, and just smoked what they bought.  I’m basing that off of the texture of the meat in the sausage, as it looked like something that I could pick up at a grocery store.  It wasn’t bad, it’s just not my thing.

I finished off my meal with Blackberry Cobbler.  They do a good job executing on it.  I typically only get a softer bread crust, but occasionally when I come through town I catch it on a day when they have good sugar coating on the crust.  That’s the way it should be.  It’s hard not to like a cobbler of any kind though.  They also have peach and apple varieties which are just as good.  Blackberry cobbler just has a great flavor to me and not it’s not available everywhere.  The only downside is that you will have blackberry seeds in your mouth for what feels like an eternity.

Price wise, Cooper’s is a little expensive.  I would expect to pay a little over $20 per person with food, drink, and a side.  Don’t let your eyes get too big for your stomach at the pit.  Otherwise you will need to make sure you take your leftovers home.

A Few other things to keep in mind. The beans are free, so don’t plan on them as one of your sides you are paying for. The BBQ sauce is thin with a sweet, vinegary flavor. I like it, but it does get a bit boring towards the end of the meal. There is also free bread and pickled jalapeno’s on the table. They offer Sweet and Unsweet Tea, as well as the standard fare soft drinks. I can’t recall if they serve beer (I know it’s a shame, but I’m usually driving out there anyway).

Today’s adventure allowed me to share one of my favorite places with some friends and introduce them to my standard of BBQ.  I think that would all agree with me that it was a wonderful experience and they would recommend it.  I myself, would recommend going here to anyone that has any desire for BBQ.  It may be a bit out of the, but you are rewarded in the end.