Went back to Taylor last week. Went back to Louie's and had lean brisket slices & jalapeno sausage. It was just as good as it always is. Potato salad is ******* awesome. As DallasHorn stated, you are really missing out if you don't try Taylor Cafe. That place is every bit as good as Louie's imo. The turkey sausage is unbelievable. I'm smoking a bunch for the Super Bowl.
Who goes to Blacks for the sauce? That's just crazy talk. As for the fearless critic rankings- anything that rates the Chisolm trail in Lockhart that low is a GD joke. Talk about not getting enough love, jeez.
Made my first trip to LM's Monday on my way to Texarkana and Shreveport. The first thing I can say is that the smell outside the building and going in is absolute nirvana. WOW. Love the interior too, atmosphere is great, though the actual meat area is less awesome than City Market and Cooper's, but still. I ordered 1/2 pound of moist brisket, 1/2 pound of ribs. I should have gotten sausage, but wasn't overly famished and hadn't read a review lately, so didn't realize that sausage may be their consensus best item. Got a side of beans and an iced tea. The brisket is very very good, 9/10. I still place it behind Cooper's, City Market and John Mueller's, but that is no disgrace. Would eat it 5x a week until I die with no complaint whatsoever. The pork ribs were good, 7/10. Good texture, and very meaty, but the black pepper really dominated the flavor a bit too much to put these ribs with those from CM or Country Tavern. The sauce was pretty good, nothing special, but with brisket that good, don't really need it anyway. Beans were good. Prices were reasonable. I will definitely go back multiple times, but for now, doesn't crack my top 3 in any category. That, of course, should be taken as a wonderful comment on the state of barbecue in Texas, not a jab at Louie's, which has some tremendous grub.
TXSooner, next time you go get a beef rib and skip the pork ribs. They are huge so if you get some brisket and sausage, one will definately be plenty.
OK, I went back to Louie's today. Was with my wife and 11 month old, we ordered: 1 beef rib, 1/2 lb pork ribs, 1/2 lb brisket, 1 chipotle sausage, potato salad, beans. LM has definitely risen in the ranks for me. The pork ribs were again very good, but not great. But OMFG the beef rib is just incredible. GREAT recommendation. The brisket was even better than last time, and I would put it on a par with CM and Cooper's this time. The chipotle sausage was also tremendous. I would now rank LM as my #3 behind LCM and Cooper's, and #2 in sausage, behind only LCM. I also would rank it T1 in brisket. would kill all of you for some leftovers right now.
I am heading to Luling in a couple of weeks for the Watermelon Thump. I believe City Market is closed that weekend but I am going to stop in Lockhart on the way there. I have been to Black's (not a fan considering the competition), Schmitty's 2 times, Kreutz ~10 times (including 2 times at their original location). Should I hit up Kreutz again and have their pork chop (which I like more than the Big Chop at Coopers) or hit up Schmitty's another time to give it another shot?
Remember when it didn't cost you half a hog to do the CenTex BBQ Tour? Lunch in Luling, Lockhart, Taylor, Elgin? Maybe we can get Will Wynn to build one of his commuter rail lines between these destinations...
Just browsing around and saw this post. I was born and raised in Taylor I think I might have to head down there for lunch!!!!! It will be a coin flip on Muellers or Taylor Cafe. Both great places!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Texas Monthly did their BBQ review. I flipped through, but didn't get a chance to read it. I did notice (I could be wrong) that they removed Cooper's from the list.
"Texas Monthly did their BBQ review. I flipped through, but didn't get a chance to read it. I did notice (I could be wrong) that they removed Cooper's from the list. " They took it out of the top five claiming it has degraded over the years. I have to admit it has been a while since I went, so I don't know if that is true or not. Its hard making the trip out there from Austin when you have LCM, LM and Kruetz's much closer.
The last time I was at Mueller's- was early on a Saturday afternoon and they were out of brisket and sausage- so I think I had ribs and chicken. Saw the Diners, Dives and Drive-In show-- and it looked like they were using nothing more than salt and pepper on the brisket and a wood fire. Doesn't get any better than that. Question I had from the show was- are they smoking at a temp higher than 225? As, I think the times they were throwing meat on the pit- indicated that they were smoking a brisket 6-7 hours? Did I miss something?
"Question I had from the show was- are they smoking at a temp higher than 225? As, I think the times they were throwing meat on the pit- indicated that they were smoking a brisket 6-7 hours? Did I miss something?" Yes, a lot of the top places actually cook their brisket on higher temps than what us average joes consider standard. I am assuming that they can do this because they are getting the first pass at the most tender briskets due to their purchase volume. I used to shop for briskets based on overall size and size of the fat cap. Now I shop based on tenderness (just hold the briskets in the middle with one hand and take the one that droops the most) and it makes a huge difference. They really seem to stay juicier if you don't have to cook them as long.
I asked John Mueller once what his process was like, i.e. time, temp & what kind of wood... his response was "hot 'n fast, Oak." He had that 'I'm not bullshitting' look on his face. I didn't inquire as to what kind of time & temp he was actually using & felt lucky I got Oak out of him.
I miss John Mueller's greatly and not just because it was close to my casita. I miss him and his wife, the staff and all of it. Oh well. I have yet to try the Luling places, I need to change that.
Texas Monthly just came out with their top 50 BBQ joints in Texas. And in honor of that, I felt I had to do a little taste test of my own. I figured that in one afternoon I could easily hit 3 of the top 5 joints and satisfy my bbq taste buds. Kreuz, Smittys and City Market were on my to-do list. I decided to make my run on a Monday afternoon because the places wouldn't be very busy and I was off work that day. I started my trek by going to Sonic and picking up a Route 44 Cherry Limeaid for my 100 mile journey through some of the best BBQ in the universe! After about 30 minutes I'm rolling into Lockhart and the local yokels had highway 183 closed just three blocks shy of my first stop, Kreuz Market. Well, I was able to take the back roads and successfully find my way to BBQ nirvana. It seems they are building an overpass over the train tracks in front of Kreuz's. Now at my first BBQ stop I pick up a pound of brisket and two links. The brisket was greatness, smokey and moist. The sausage is also great, a course ground and has a little kick. My trip has already been worth the price of gas. My next stop is about 15 miles down the road in Luling (the water tower is painted like a watermelon) at City Market. Many consider their brisket the best in Texas, and that means the best in the world. I got a pound of brisket and a half pound of pork ribs. The ribs were really good and the brisket didn't disappoint. Both were tender, moist, smokey and could be used as a gift to the gods. As I point my truck back North, It's about 98 degrees and I'm looking for an old guy selling watermelons from the back of his truck on the side of the road. Not my luck. I guess they only come out on weekends. I found some "Cheap Trick" on the satellite radio and wondered how my third stop, Smitty's in Lockhart , will hold up to the first two places. No, I really Didn't wonder. I've been there many times before and I knew it was gonna be great. Great it was. I got a pound of brisket, a link and a pork chop. Today, Smitty's brisket was spot on. I have to give it a slight edge over City Market and Kreuz. Of course the difference could simply be the timing or maybe the cut. I think the brisket from City Market and Kreuz would get about a 9.3 and Smitty's would get a 9.4. It's really that close. But I'm the winner! Hooray for me. When my BBQ run was finished , I met a couple of good friends at C-Hunts Ice House to share the wonderful delights that I had gathered. (They also thought Smitty's was just a hair better)
Correct my math if I am wrong, but you had three lbs of brisket, three links, a pork chop and two ribs in one afternoon? That is pretty impressive eating.
That's would be more than I can handle! What really happened is that I ate some on the road and brought the rest back to Austin and had my buddies sample the goods. They were happy.
TPCJ, have you been to all 3 before? if that was your first time to City Market, you need to get their sausage next time. also kreuz has some specials on friday and saturday that are pretty damn good like the prime rib Personally I prefer city market and Kreuz over smitty's but the main difference is that I don't care for smitty's links at all
Hey Roger, that was my first trip to City market, and I thought it was great. If you recommend the sausage, I will try that next time. I had no idea that Kreuz had specials. If a place has daily specials, then that's what ya gotta get. I grew up in Austin in the 60's and 70's (yes, I"m an old guy) and at that time my parents bought BBQ from 'The Pit' on Burnet Rd. The Saturday special was 5 chopped beef for a dollar. What a deal. In 1982 I was dating a girl from Lytton Springs and thats when I discovered Kreuz Market in Lockhart. I found out how great BBQ could be.
TPCJ, you used the "direct link" line... next time, use the one in PhotoBucket that is listed as "IMG Code" as it's designed for bulletin boards like this one. Essentially, it's the same link but with [ & ] wrapped around img in the front & /img in the back. BTW, your cardiologist just called... said the Porsche is going to be a red 911.
