I very much agree. Think Kreuz is awful.

Finally tried The Pit Room today. Brisket, ribs, jalapeno cheese sausage, and pulled pork were all good. It's nice to have a good BBQ place ITL.

So many people talk badly about Kreuz...I had some pretty good ribs and brisket both times I stopped there.

To each their own I guess.

Fargos is moving. 1701 S Texas Ave Bryan, TX 77802

Moving on August 1st so don't forget it you out of towners coming back for it on a football weekend.

jja79 said:

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Tejas Chocolate Factory is 6? BBQ must be dead. I work in Tomball and have given it a few tries. It's no better than Spring Creek. If you want to try it though you won't have to wait in line because there isn't one.

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Their moist brisket, pork ribs, and jalapeno cheese sausage were all good to very good yesterday, but the burnt ends and carrot souffle were tops. They even handed out numbers to folks who showed up early during breakfast so we didn't have to stand around in line outside the whole time. Early birds get them worms, as it should be. I look forward to returning soon and trying more of their menu.

aggiebq03+ said:

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Yes. I mean the place with the historical name that insists on serving dry, underseasoned beef with no sauce. Where the only thing worth eating is sausage. Also make sure to get charged extra at their cash machine if you forgot to stop by a bank on the way.

Rudys has better BBQ execution than that place.

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Blacks is my favorite in Lockhart, but Kreuz is definitely in my top 50 too. I've never been disappointed with their execution at that location.

I'm going to have to do a Lockhart tour again one of these days, funny how they've gone from "the BBQ capital of Texas" to an afterthought by a lot of people.

I've been to Smitty's two or three times over the last year for work and it has never impressed me, our customers in the area all say its quality has gone down in recent years and now we will probably meet at Blacks. As for Blacks, the one time I was there, they were pretty much tied with franklins, LM, Snows, for the best brisket I've ever had. Never been to Kruez in Lockhart, only the Bryan location and never been to city market in Luling.

Had a buddy do the Lockhart crawl yesterday and he said both Blacks and Kruez were very unimpressive, and Smitty's was hands down the best of the day. Go figure......

CDub06 said:

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cc10106 said:

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They even handed out numbers to folks who showed up early during breakfast so we didn't have to stand around in line outside the whole time. Early birds get them worms, as it should be. I look forward to returning soon and trying more of their menu.

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Oh man, you've got to get their early to try those worms. They're just "melt in your mouth." Smoked worms are like "meat candy."

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Pro Tip: Adding a bunch of Verde Que sauce really brings out the earthiness of the worms.

eating off a red plastic tray lovely

Far too few of you have been to Truth BBQ in Brenham. If you had, I promise there would be much more mention of it on this thread. Place is outstanding.

Ha. I was thinking the same thing earlier but wanted someone else to be the dick.

Their ribs are awesome. Their brisket is meh. Stanley's has always been known for ribs and insane sandwiches. The brisket can hit from time to time but is real inconsistent.

curious if anyone has enough experience to post wait times (or at least what time you should get in line) at the top 10 places?

I'll post what I know about the top 3 tomorrow but there are a lot of variables at play in that one.

Definitely. May not be a bad idea to share our recent experiences.

For me, I went to Truth BBQ on Sunday of a holiday weekend on a nice day out. Got there at 10:40 and was 20 people back in line. Had my food by 11:40

By 11 the line was to the road.

They have free beer and water while you wait too. Thought that was an awesome move. Any other joints do that?

La BBQ used to for sure.

I had Truth a few weeks ago when someone picked it up before get together at their ranch outside Brenham. Had never heard of it and it shocked me how good it was.

lazuras_dc said:

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curious if anyone has enough experience to post wait times (or at least what time you should get in line) at the top 10 places?

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I haven't been to all but here's my experience with top 10. Sorry for the novel.

1. Snows - hit or miss. I've never been when the line is longer than 20 people (30 min wait) but I always try to go when the weather isn't perfect, and also not right after the new rankings come out and they've overtaken Franklin! We've been 4-5 times and always try to get there around 9. Have never waiting longer than 30 minutes. I'm sure 9 AM would be way too late now, but that's worked for us previously. If I were going now I'd get there around 7. I would imagine lines will be better in Fall when no home CFB games nearby and it's hot out, or weather isn't great. Well worth the wait! Only place I've been that has brisket as good as Franklin. EDIT: Two of the times I've been, Tootsie has seen me looking at her smokers and told me to come back for a tour. Incredibly nice lady. There's one smoker that's small and does only sausage now, and it was the one that supplied the whole restaurant until they were ranked #1 8 or 9 years ago and had to build the others. I bet they have to build some more after this one!

2. Franklin - Only been once and it blew me away. Went on their "slow" day (Tuesday) and got their at 8:45-9 and we were about 60-75 deep. We at at 12:45PM. We did it all wrong however. We didn't brings drinks/chairs anything. It's actually a very cool tailgating type atmosphere with everyone playing games, drinking beer, and socializing. Full disclosure: haven't been since 2013 so this is dated information.

3. Cattleack - We tried this 3-4 weeks ago on a Thursday morning. I got there at 10:30 (would've been 20th in line) but my buddy didn't get there until 10:50. We ended up being about 50 in line. I saw a lot of people pass me up in that short amount of time. Keep in mind, this was before the rankings came out. I'm sure it's a **** show right now. I moved up to DFW from Austin four years ago and have been missing Central Texas BBQ ever since. Have tried all the Lockharts, Pecan Lodges, Meat U Anywhere's up here and they are not in the same class as the top 2. This place is.

5. Louie Mueller - I've never waited longer than 15 minutes and I think that's because IMO it's not that good. I bet on a Saturday if you get there at 11, you're probably top 10 in line unless these rankings change something. I think more people that would go here will be heading 30 miles SE to Snows though so you're probably good. You're paying for atmosphere here. I've been dozens of times (in-laws live in Taylor) and every time I'm thinking, "maybe this time I'll get something that's as good as everyone says", yet it's overrated above-average BBQ. I like the rub on the brisket and the decor of the place...that's about it. I know a lot of folks will disagree with me on this but I've never liked this place compared to all the other badass places within 45 miles of here.

8. Micklethwait - Went on a Saturday morning at about 11 and we were about 25 deep. This was a couple years ago so I'm sure that the line is much longer now, especially after TM rankings. The food was incredible (especially the brisket and "knockwurst"), but the line was incredibly SLOW. Took about 75-90 minutes to get food. Second slowest line I've ever been in behind Heim in Fort Worth.

lazuras_dc said:

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curious if anyone has enough experience to post wait times (or at least what time you should get in line) at the top 10 places?

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In my experiences:

1) Snows - have been twice but not within the last 2 years. When we went you needed to be in line before 10:00 and around 9:00 was better. With it becoming the new #1 again, I would avoid it like the plague for a few months. Sucks that I had a buddy who almost wanted to go a couple of weeks before the new list came out, oh well.

2) Franklins - been once on a weekday. Similar to Snows you really need to be there before 10 if you want them to have everything still available and not be eating lunch past 2:00. We got into line around 9:15 and ate about 12:30. However, I would get there much earlier Friday-Sunday.

5) Louie Muellers - have been 5-10 times now all on weekdays. This is one of my favorite places on the list because it has one of the shortest waits in the top 10 (except maybe on weekends, have never been on a Saturday). The wait has never been more than 20-30 minutes no matter when I've been, and it really dies off after about 1 so if you can take a late lunch you usually wont have much of a line at all.

10) Truth - went on a Saturday just a couple of weeks before the new top 50. Got there about 10:45 and waited 50 minutes or so. With the new list out and them making top 10 I would imagine that is different now, you probably need to get there earlier, especially on a weekend.

Good post. Had the same experience of Micklethwait being excruciatingly slow. It also took about 20-30 min to get my food after I ordered. This was 2015, so hopefully they've sped up since then.

Google has Snow's hours listed as 8am opening Thurs-Sun... is this correct? What time do they start serving?

agcrock2005 said:

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5. Louie Mueller - I've never waited longer than 15 minutes and I think that's because IMO it's not that good. I bet on a Saturday if you get there at 11, you're probably top 10 in line unless these rankings change something. I think more people that would go here will be heading 30 miles SE to Snows though so you're probably good. You're paying for atmosphere here. I've been dozens of times (in-laws live in Taylor) and every time I'm thinking, "maybe this time I'll get something that's as good as everyone says", yet it's overrated above-average BBQ. I like the rub on the brisket and the decor of the place...that's about it. I know a lot of folks will disagree with me on this but I've never liked this place compared to all the other badass places within 45 miles of here.

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way about Louie Mueller. I thought the food was ok, but not great. IMO, it would be better if you could actually taste the meat over the black pepper. 9:1 makes for cool stickers but average bbq.

lazuras_dc said:

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Google has Snow's hours listed as 8am opening Thurs-Sun... is this correct? What time do they start serving?

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No, unless they changed this week. Only open Saturdays. Not sure of hours but I wouldn't get there after 9.

Looks like their website says they open 8am saturdays only.

Funny everyone hating on Louie Mueller's... the genesis of all those "great" Central Texas BBQ joints. Ate there for lunch again today... Brisket was spot on. Ribs were very good. And the sausage had snap, and great flavor.

Oh, and they've been doing it for 68 years... Yeah, they must be doing it wrong.

Also, I personally love Louie Mueller. I've only given out 5 A+ grades and LM earned one of them. I'm a big fan of the brisket and I still think the Beef Ribs are tops in the state.

The very first time I went with a buddy to LM it was bad day for them, the brisket was very dry and needed every bit of their "bbq sauce" or whatever you want to call it. I left disappointed, but luckily I gave them another chance and they have been fantastic every time since.

I can see some people not liking their bark as much because its obvious they do use a lot of pepper in the rub, but I really like it. Every time since has been really tender, moist, and has a ton of great smoke flavor, the one time I had a beef rib it was really good as well. Plus the peach cobbler is awesome and I have to get it every time I go...

I do love a good course black pepper on the bark of my brisket - and LM certainly uses their share. That may be something that turns some people off.

CDub06 said:

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Also, I personally love Louie Mueller. I've only given out 5 A+ grades and LM earned one of them. I'm a big fan of the brisket and I still think the Beef Ribs are tops in the state.

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Love it every time.