Have not been since John Lewis turned over his out master duties. Usually their Brisket and Sausage are outstanding. They make a true German Texas Hot Gut Sausage. I was at Louie Mueller on Thursday and the Brisket, Beef Rib and Hot Guts were rocking.

Wonder if not having John Lewis they took a step back? LeAnn Mueller is still the owner and she is BBQ royalty.

I do not know as this was my first time there. But I probably wouldn't order the sausage again, just load up on the brisket. It was really good.

Tickets for the TM BBQ Fest should be on sale right now. Looks like they are having technical difficulties at the moment.

http://tmbbq.com/events/tmbbq-fest-2015/

VIP sold out quickly.

Southern Smoke at Underbelly was pretty bad ass last night. Aaron Franklin, Rodney Scott, and Sean Brock were smoking meat along with Chris Shepard and the chefs from Oxheart, Pass & Provisions, and Coltivare. Bun B even stopped by to throw down a few songs. They raised $186,000 to donate to MS Society. Solid night.

roegeles is damn good

I have two extra VIP tickets available to the TM BBQ festival on Sunday. If anyone has an interest before i throw them to the rest of the internet, please let me know.

http://www.tmbbq.com/events/tmbbq-fest-2015/

Had Terry Black's BBQ in Austin last week. Maybe not exactly Franklin's - grade brisket, but definitely some of the best I've ever had. Spare ribs were so-so, though. I just saw where it was listed in Texas Monthly as one of the top new 25 BBQ joints in the state. Works for me.

Any of y'all go to Texas Monthly BBQ Fest last weekend?

I did. Good times. Franklin and La Barbecue were great. Louie Muellers was great too. I was disappointed in Pecan Lodge (tasted like an ash tray) and Killens (not inspiring) which is odd becuase I normally love those two joints. The chocoalte chip/brisket cookie from Freedman's was awesome as well as Teo Gelato's pecan bourbon offering.

I was there as well along with hundreds of other Ags. Seemed like half of the people there had an aggie ring... Freedman's was the star for me as well as Louie Mueller which has to be one of the more under appreciated places in Texas. I know it has its share of accolades, but to me it's better than anything in Lockhart and a hair above Snows and right behind Franklin (which is of course very inaccessible).

Last year I remember being super impressed with stiles switch and subsequent trips to the resturant were not at the same level...looking forward to checking out Freedman's again.

Great event again, the music was great, I ate so much I got sick and there was dessert which made my wife happy.

Buddy of mine went and he said Miller's Smokehouse and Pecan Lodge had the best brisket.

Maybe it was a different brisket from what I had. I love Pecan Lodge. It has always been one of my top 3 in Texas. I get a whole brisket, ribs, and sausage every Christmas when I go see my family up there. I even had it beating Franklin two years ago at this very event. But as my buddy and I discussed in depth at the festival, there is a lot of variability in cooking away from home and Sunday wasn't their day. I was bummed.

I have to get back down there to Texas for that festival sometime. Hopefully before it gets too ridiculously crazy. Seems like it's the BBQ equivalent of GABF

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I have to get back down there to Texas for that festival sometime. Hopefully before it gets too ridiculously crazy. Seems like it's the BBQ equivalent of GABF

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Too late. I turned down free tickets because they weren't VIP. I'd never choose to attend without VIP tickets. It's a complete madhouse after that first hour.

VIP is the only way to go.

Oh, and it's really not like a beer festival. You can always piss out the excess beer. It's much harder to clear room in the stomach! I just go hard for as long as I can and then coma-out for a bit as the festival ends.

Anyone else go out to the Houston BBQ Throwdown last week?

I thought it was an excellent event. Well paced, good food, perfect ratio of people. Greatly preferred the setup to the typical bbq festival.

No, sounds cool.

Anyone go to MeatFight up here in Dallas?

I wrote a bit about it if anyone is interested.

The idea was to create a unique bite to pay homage to the cultures of Houston. That manifested in very different ways. 14 joints were in attendance, including a couple that I'm not wild about, and there were no duds on the menu. Bites included oxtail, tamales, tacos, Lebanese meatballs, pig ear & pork belly flatbread tacos, and so on.

It wasn't just brisket, brisket, brisket and that was appreciated. The samples were enough to fill me up, but not make me question my life as a carnivore. It was all you can eat and since it was at St Arnold, it was also all you can drink.

Probably about 500 people in attendance. Lines moved briskly and there was a lot of time to socialize.

Really excited about John Avila's new project, The Pit Room. He was my winner (each attendee had a vote, along with a judge's vote). Brooks' Place took the Judge's Award for their oxtail and Corkscrew's brisket tacos won the People's Choice. Northside represent.

Did any of y'all try Podys at the fest? I have to work the fest every year since my wife is the contact person for the restaurants at TM and I've been impressed with them the last 2 years there. They don't get the lines and recognition the other places get but they're up there with them on quality.

I've talked to a few people over the last couple of weeks about TM BBQ and they all mentioned Pody's as one of their favorites. Glad those guys are getting recognition.

This TMBBQ bus tour should be epic:

Speaking of...


Hit up Franklin today... Got in line around 7:30 and ate at 12:30. Just delightful as always. Moist is always great, but I love their pork ribs.

Jealous. I need to get back there in 2016.

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Got to John Mueller Meat Co just after 12 yesterday. The line was about 6 deep, and everything was still on the menu, so I was feeling good. Unfortunately, brisket and beef sausage both sold out just before it was my chance to order. I went with 1/2 pound each of pork shoulder and pork ribs. The pork should had great flavor, but I got some dry pieces. Pretty good overall. Ribs were fine - not that good, but certainly not bad. The sauce was good, but very odd. It was basically tomato soup - I wish I had a grilled cheese to dip in in. Did not go with bbq IMO (I don't usually put sauce on meat, but I always like to try it out).

Micklethwait Was awesome, and I felt like I should have gone there first. They had everything but beef ribs, but bc I ate too much at John Mueller, I only got 1/2 pound of brisket, jalapeo cheese grits, and a moon pie. Brisket had great flavor, a nice crust, with the fat melting just right. Jalapeo cheese grits were great, and they had homemade bread rather than the regular stale white bread, which was a nice touch. Sauce was good for dipping the bread. The only down side is that it took forever. The line was about 15 deep when I got there, and it took about 20+ min to get order. They don't slice and serve, but instead you sit down and wait for them to call your name. I probably had to wait 30 min, so I'm not sure what they were doing in the truck, especially since there were three people serving.

Anyways, good day of bbq (and we had dinner at Salty Sow, which is great in its own right). Probably an off day for John Mueller, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but I highly recommend Micklewait.

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Micklethwait was awesome. I was about 20th in line after they opened and got the last Beef Rib.... if you haven't had one it's a $20-$30 rib and the experience is worth every penny

HEADS UP! this goes on sale at 10:00am today.

http://www.tmbbq.com/events/tmbbq-road-trip-central-texas-edition-2/

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February 6, 2016
You Eat, We'll Drive.
Join Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn for a pilgrimage to four of the best barbecue joints in the Central Texas. Climb aboard for the day-long tour: meet the pitmasters, learn trade secrets, hear Vaughn's barbecue tales, and of course, enjoy amazing barbecue and ice-cold beverages at each restaurant.
Tour stops include:

• Snow's BBQ | Lexington
• Louie Mueller Barbecue | Taylor
• Stiles Switch BBQ | Austin
• Franklin Barbecue | Austin

Pick-up: 9:00 a.m. Bus will depart at 9:30 a.m.
Address: Franklin Barbecue, 900 E 11th Street, Austin, TX 78702

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Growing up in Tyler, I am ALWAYS partial to Stanleys.

Brisket and Ribs are always good, but my favorite is the smoked turkey. Best smoked turkey I have ever had.

I even got a Greenberg to admit it was better than anything they make. And if you know anything about Tyler and Turkey then you KNOW that is saying something.

Interesting discussion about the "BBQ Ratings Game." As we have seen in this thread, it's hard to agree when comparing BBQ joints to each other. It's much, much harder to compare BBQ joints to finer dining establishments :
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/bbq/article/Understanding-the-barbecue-ratings-game-6746253.php?t=66896c8a85

Gotta bump this. Had a wild hair to brave the rain and go to Snow's Saturday. Brisket was out of this world tender with a huge smoke ring and incredible flavor. Smoked turkey breast just melts in your mouth. Should have gotten going earlier because the pork ribs,pork steak, and jalapeno sausage were gone by the time I got inside. Oh well, gives me an excuse to do this again soon.

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Gotta bump this. Had a wild hair to brave the rain and go to Snow's Saturday. Brisket was out of this world tender with a huge smoke ring and incredible flavor. Smoked turkey breast just melts in your mouth. Should have gotten going earlier because the pork ribs,pork steak, and jalapeno sausage were gone by the time I got inside. Oh well, gives me an excuse to do this again soon.

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What time did you arrive?

Arrived around 11-11:15. Got inside about 11:45.

How far is Snow's from CS?

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How far is Snow's from CS?

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52 miles

Tried out Mickelthwait this week. I had the brisket and jalapeno cheddar sausage with the jalapeno cheese grits and lemon poppyseed coleslaw. The brisket was good, but a little too greasy for my tastes. The sausage was better. The portions for the sides are pretty small, and the coleslaw was a little too funky for me. I'd go back, but wouldn't make a special trip just for it.