Louie Mueller has the slowest line I've ever been in. Goood thing they have our game on.

Beef rib ftw

Already had Snow's and Truth today. I can't handle a beef rib, haha.

I commend you. Ftr... beef rib is what I go to lm for

Ended up slitting a 2.2lb beef rib with the guy in front of me in line. Also tried the jalapeo sausage. Both were excellent!

Good choice!

Had Stanley's BBQ* from Tyler today. Brisket was just ok, turkey was fantastic, sausage was good.


* was at a catered event, not in house, so I have to grade them on a bit of a scale. And I also didn't get my stamp....

I love their turkey and ribs.

Micklethwait. I was pretty underwhelmed. Not as good as the first time I went. This was my third stop Friday so I may have been fatigued.

Friday night stop at Terry Blacks. One of my favorites so far. Everything was sooo good. Easy to get in and out, open late and not much separating these guys from top tier.

I love Terry Black's. It's like Rudy's in terms of convenience, but you get elite level BBQ.

Not surprised Micklethwait underwhelmed. I've been beating the overrated drum for them for a while now.

Picked up carry out at Snow's. Everyone we spoke with was awesome and extremely polite. Had a great conversation with one of the guys about KC vs Texas barbecue. Overall It was excellent. Great brisket that doesn't follow the exact Central Texas formula. Perfect amount of fat. Pork ribs were cooked perfectly. Pork steak was awesome. I can see why it's so highly recommended. I wish I had just waited in line because eating in the car was a pita. I think I would have enjoyed the meal more at a table.

Great description. I've got no problem with saying they're elite after this visit.

Wow, hell of a trip Aggie1946. When you first posted your anticipated itinerary awhile back I was a little skeptical that you'd make it to all of your stops but it looks like you are hitting them all.

Definitely give us a full recap/rundown after it's over on your final thoughts. You're in a unique position that you're trying all these places back, to back, to back and thus will probably be able to compare and contrast them better than most of us. It's hard to directly compare Snow's and truth because most of us won't have them within a couple of weeks of each other.....but you had both on the same day!

Amazing trip, that's all I can say.

What is the "central Texas formula" for brisket that Snow's is not following?

At each stop i see very little bbq and a crap ton of sides and desserts

Lots of wasted calories and not one beer

To each his own

Everybody knows you have Big Red with bbq. Beer is for dessert.

Obviously I can't speak from an insider perspective on any of these joints, but Franklin, la Barbecue, Truth etc all have a thick black bark, super heavy on the pepper. Snow's didn't have the same type of bark or taste to me as a these other places. It was great brisket and refreshing because it's honestly hard to tell a huge difference in a lot of the high end brisket I've had. Maybe it's their cooking process or rub or maybe it was just my taste that morning. Just seemed different than most.

I eat very little of the sides or desserts. Just enough to try them out unless they blow me away. My wife is also with me and was sick of eating Barbeque after the first day so she liked having a side or dessert as well.

I'd have to calculate everything but I'm sure I ate over 2lbs of cue a day. And I don't even want to think about the money I spent.

Late night Freedmen's. Pork rib was pretty good but that Brisket was just alright. May be a good idea to visit earlier in the day.

Maybe I was just burnt out on straight barbecue but Valentina's was easily one of, if not the best meals I ate this weekend. The first bite of moist brisket was one of my all time favorites. I love what they're doing. All the ingredients worked well together in their tacos. If there was one place I could eat at regularly Valentina's would get strong consideration.

Where is valintenias at these days. Loved that place when it was behind star bar. It was legit. Your pics of it make me crave it

Off 11500 MANCHACA RD.

Love me some Valentina's. There are still some gems out there that aren't completely overrun with visitors.

Houston BBQ Throwdown went off yesterday. Great, great event as always. There were no duds once again. The idea of the event is to come up with a creative barbecue dish unique to Houston.

Here's a quick & dirty overview:
In attendance - Feges, Harlem Road, My Yard Reaction, El Burro & The Bull, Pit Room, Pappa Charlies, Tejas, Pinkertons, Blood Bros, Gatlin's, Brisket House, Tin Roof, Beaver's, Roegel's.

Of these, I'd never tried Beaver's barbecue and I'd never even heard of My Yard Reaction.

Tin Roof won people's choice. They had a very good beef rib. But honestly, they were the least creative - it was just a beef rib to be honest. They had a fire the night before and still showed up to compete. That was impressive.

El Burro & The Bull tied with Beaver's for the Judge's Choice.
El Burro served posole. I loved the concept - it was the best idea at the entire event. Not the best posole I've ever had, but it was good and fit the theme perfectly.
Beaver's served one of three tacos and they were easily the best. They had homemade tortillas with brisket fat. The meat was shortrib & brisket and it was topped with pico, queso fresco, crema and pickled onions. It was an outstanding taco. Apparently these guys are improving every day and may become a contender in Houston bbq.

A few other Standouts:
Feges had some tremendous Pork Belly Pastrami (it got my vote).
Pit room had a Whataburger parody "A1 Bacon Smokehouse" with a great smoked cheeseburger sausage and bacon. Sausage is a gamble at this event, but they nailed it.
Tejas put together some porkbelly with Poblano and Oaxaca Mac & Cheese. It was a complete dish and very good.
Blood Bros is always one of my favorites. They just do such interesting stuff. On this day it was Brisket Fried Rice with Pork Jowl Char Siu. The rice was solid, the jowl was smoky. Great food, unique concept, perfect for this event. They're working on a permanent location, so I'm pumped about that.

It's been years since I've been to beavers but one of the last times I was there I got brisket and thought it tasted roughly like my mom making a brisket with liquid smoke in a Dutch oven.

I hear you, but Beaver's Westheimer has an actual pitmaster on staff now. It's been about a year since they made a commitment to actually producing quality barbecue. I was pleasantly surprised by their showing yesterday. Others were not surprised and think they're onto something.

So after Daniel Vaughn's tweet about Smoke Sessions BBQ trailer in Royse City, I decided to check it out yesterday. I had already eaten lunch so just had a sampling and I will say I was very impressed. He let me try a burnt end while waiting, then had a slice of brisket, rib and turkey (only because he recommended it). The burnt end was awesome, brisket had a great bark on it, rib was seasoned well (not overpowering) and cooked to perfection, and the turkey was good I guess as far as turkey goes. Also I don't use sauce but I tried his. It was more of BBQ flavored hot sauce. Would probably be decent on pulled pork, not my fav, but again I don't really use it much. I really enjoyed it and will be back.

Did a double at Truths the last couple of Friday's but only tried the Brisket and Sausage. Sausage was good and the Brisket was tender and moist the way I prefer. Very good BBQ and the only thing I can knock is I thought the Brisket was a little over seasoned and a tad salty.

Franklin vs Snow's Brisket

This Should give you an idea of what I meant by Snow's not following the Central Texas formula. Almost all the brisket I had was similar to Franklin. Snow's is geared less toward black pepper. I should have said "Franklin Formula" instead of central Texas because obviously Snow's is as legit as it gets for Central Texas barbecue.

What the heck was going on at Snow's on that day? Slicing brisket with the grain??

For me, Franklin & Snow's are both great examples of traditional Central Texas BBQ. The crusts come out looking different, but what makes it "Central Texas Style"?

For me, it's all about the brisket: A simple salt/pepper rub (Check), slowly smoked over indirect heat (Check), typically with Post Oak (Check). Bonus points if finding sauce is at least somewhat of an inconvenience.

Agree with you on everything. I'll rescind my first statement. My only real point is that Snow's was one of the few that stood out as "different" compared to Franklin, Truth, Blacks etc.

La Barbecue. Rib was perfect. Big taste and perfect tug off the bone. Chipotle sausage was better than my first time and I now see why it gets raves about. Brisket was awesome but not quite as life
Changing as the first time I had it. Didn't want to get too crazy because Franklin was up next and I only had about an hour in between. La also wins in the longest line department. I got there at 10:30 and had 25 or so before me. By 11:30 the line was wrapped around the building.