The Lockhart BBQ Experience
The Lockhart BBQ Experience
Texas BBQ is known around the world for its BBQ, and BBQ lovers around the world have many opinions as there are BBQ establishments. One common thing I heard over and over while living in Austin was that you could find some of the best BBQ in Texas in a little town just 30 minutes south of Austin on the 183/130 – Lockhart. After having tried many of the BBQ places in DFW, Austin, and a few cities in between (Round Rock, Taylor, Waco, etc.) I decided to take a drive and check out the Barbecue Capital of Texas. Yes, Lockhart is officially known as and has been proclaimed that title by the Texas State Legislature and Senate…Texans take their BBQ seriously!
Black’s BBQ
As you drive into Lockart off the 183, Black’s Barbecue is probably the first you come across. They are known to be the oldest barbecue restaurant continuously owned and operated by the same family. After several trips, I found Blacks to be my overall favorite of the four BBQ restaurants – at least for what I look for in good BBQ. Other than the tried and true smoked brisket, ribs, and sausage, if you come during the right season, Blacks offers a holiday sausage that is to die for. Imagine Thanksgiving dinner in a sausage! Yummmm.
My favorite item: Brisket
Black’s is my go-to place for guaranteed mouth-watering, smokey, moist brisket that’s packed with flavor and melts in your mouth. They say you don’t need BBQ sauce for good BBQ, but I never knew the true meaning of that saying until I had Black’s brisket. It is as flavorful as it is tender that makes you want to eat your weight in brisket.
Smitty’s Market
Smitty’s Market and Kreuz Market are so similar that I couldn’t find any real difference in the taste or quality of their BBQ items. I’ve heard that one or the other have better sides, but who really goes to a BBQ place for sides? I don’t ever order sides other than the requisite pickles, onions, and bread to make brisket sandwiches for dessert.
That being said, Smitty’s character as a restaurant set it a notch above Kreuz in my opinion. The very first time I walked in the back door near the pits, I wondered why there was such a huge gap in the line in front of me. Was the person in front of me just distracted? Why wasn’t he moving up? Well, it turned out, the open window to the left pulled the hot, smoky air in a jet stream of hot air from the BBQ fire pit three feet to our right. So, if you stand in between the fire pit and the window, you are blasted with about 500 degrees of continuous smoky hot air….
The overall atmosphere felt very friendly, with fun casual conversations with folks in front of me and behind me – it felt somewhat different than the other BBQ places. The gentleman behind me even made a comment how he only comes to Smitty’s because it still feels like family.
Kreuz Market
Kreuz Market to me is a carbon copy of Smitty’s or vice versa depending on who you talk to in Lockhart. Aside from the ‘family feud,’ the two share as much of the common recipes and techniques as they do their bloodline. They both make great BBQ and are both home to shoulder clod – the hidden treasure of BBQ cuts.
As with Smitty’s, Kreuz has character, albeit a bit more ‘entertainer’ than family, but character, still. Again, many claim they have sides that beat the other, but that’s of no use to me. However, Kreuz does seem to have a slightly different recipe for their pork spare ribs, which I did like more than the others.
My favorite item: Shoulder Clod
Shoulder Clod is a cut that I’ve never seen at other Texas BBQ joints (except Smitty’s of course), but it should be! I love brisket, but the texture and flavor of shoulder clod, being a leaner cut, stands out about brisket when it’s eaten side-by-side. I don’t know why shoulder clod isn’t on every other BBQ menu (probably because it would knock brisket out from the top spot as the king of cuts.)
Chisholm Trail Barbecue
Chisholm Trail feels more like the local favorite, with less showmanship and tourista than the others but serves up some decent good BBQ. I wasn’t hopping crazy about any particular cut of meat, but I wasn’t disappointed. The main draw to Chisolm Trail is the value – price per pound was significantly lower than the others – by about 25% according to my calculations.
