Texas Barbecue Chapter 1
We headed into the Texas Hill Country after several weeks along the coast, building up our craving for barbecue. Our first stop was at Texas Pride Barbecue, just east of San Antonio.
( Our food rating scale is 1 = poor, something we would not finish. 2 is acceptable, an item we would finish, but most likely because we’re cheap. 3 = good. 4 is very good. 5 = excellent. When applying these ratings to barbecue joints, we have become conscious of the fact that if were we able to make dishes at home that would rate a 2 in Texas, we would most likely be quite pleased. But we apparently expect more here in the land of great smoked meats. We admit to being untrained food evaluators. In general, we score according to our own tastes and standards and not against any accepted standards for the items we report on. )
Texas Pride Barbecue near Atkins, Texas. 2/26/09
We were alerted to this place when it appeared on DDD.
The building has been in the Talanco family since 1924, beginning as a filling station. It was closed for many years and re-opened as a barbecue joint in 1996, and has been highly tricked out to look like a 1940s gas station. Inside it’s festooned with all sorts of old dry land farming equipment and old farm signs.
We ate in the screened-in side room on the right. I suspect it would be blistering hot there when summer rolls in. Ten foot long picnic tables filled the room. Six dusty farm workers, who obviously come here often, sat behind us telling fishing stories that they all seemed to have heard many times.
It was not particularly busy at 2 PM on a Thursday, so the counter man had the time to recognize that we were first-timers at this shop and give us samples of brisket and ribs and a line of rapid patter. We had our standard order split between the two of us: ribs, sausage and brisket. They were all served without any sauce. They had had a mild rub before smoking. The brisket was bordering excellent and fell apart when picked up with fingers. The ribs were also very good, but didn’t quite fall off the bone. We both rated the brisket and ribs as 4.5. The sausage was soft, a little too spicy, but had a good taste and the right fat content. I rated the sausage 4 while KT gave it a 3. We agreed the sides, beans, green beans, cole slaw and german potato salad were all disappointing, and rated 2 or below. The pecan cobbler, had a slight molasses flavor, not much filler, was very sweet and near perfection.
We were alerted to this place when it appeared on DDD.
The building has been in the Talanco family since 1924, beginning as a filling station. It was closed for many years and re-opened as a barbecue joint in 1996, and has been highly tricked out to look like a 1940s gas station. Inside it’s festooned with all sorts of old dry land farming equipment and old farm signs.
We ate in the screened-in side room on the right. I suspect it would be blistering hot there when summer rolls in. Ten foot long picnic tables filled the room. Six dusty farm workers, who obviously come here often, sat behind us telling fishing stories that they all seemed to have heard many times.
It was not particularly busy at 2 PM on a Thursday, so the counter man had the time to recognize that we were first-timers at this shop and give us samples of brisket and ribs and a line of rapid patter. We had our standard order split between the two of us: ribs, sausage and brisket. They were all served without any sauce. They had had a mild rub before smoking. The brisket was bordering excellent and fell apart when picked up with fingers. The ribs were also very good, but didn’t quite fall off the bone. We both rated the brisket and ribs as 4.5. The sausage was soft, a little too spicy, but had a good taste and the right fat content. I rated the sausage 4 while KT gave it a 3. We agreed the sides, beans, green beans, cole slaw and german potato salad were all disappointing, and rated 2 or below. The pecan cobbler, had a slight molasses flavor, not much filler, was very sweet and near perfection.
( Our food rating scale is 1 = poor, something we would not finish. 2 is acceptable, an item we would finish, but most likely because we’re cheap. 3 = good. 4 is very good. 5 = excellent. When applying these ratings to barbecue joints, we have become conscious of the fact that if were we able to make dishes at home that would rate a 2 in Texas, we would most likely be quite pleased. But we apparently expect more here in the land of great smoked meats. We admit to being untrained food evaluators. In general, we score according to our own tastes and standards and not against any accepted standards for the items we report on. )
Salt Lick near Driftwood, Texas. 2/27/09
We’re not sure how we first learned of Salt Lick, but we have eaten there many times over the last 8 years. We have read that some people think of Salt Lick as a barbecue cliché, because it is so popular. Sort of like the Yogi Berra quote... "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded". We just think of it as a place with great food.
We’re not sure how we first learned of Salt Lick, but we have eaten there many times over the last 8 years. We have read that some people think of Salt Lick as a barbecue cliché, because it is so popular. Sort of like the Yogi Berra quote... "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded". We just think of it as a place with great food.
Salt Lick is a large place, with a huge overflow building. They can and do feed lots of people. It’s an establishment that seems to be remote from everything and so it’s hard to explain the popularity. Driftwood has no stores, or identifiable center. The nearest real town, Dripping Springs, is ten miles away with a population of about 2000. But the restaurant is within 25 miles of Austin, and Texans don’t seem to mind traveling for good food. On a previous visit we witnessed a helicopter land in the parking lot and the occupants come in for lunch.
You seat yourself at one of many ten foot tables. Unusual for a Texas joint, there is a wait staff that takes your order. Another anomaly in Texas, beer is not available. However, you can bring your own beer in, and in fact, they will supply you with a big stainless bucket of ice in case you come in with warm beer. We have seen many groups lug in large coolers of beer.
On this visit, we ordered our usual trio; ribs, brisket and sausage. All three come with a small amount of sauce on them. The sauce is mild, with a tomato base, and a fine balance of vinegar, sweetness and spice. The brisket and ribs had had a mild rub, perfect for us. These two meats did not fall apart, but were certainly done enough, with deep smoke penetration. Both had a great taste. The sausage was a classic example of Texas German, with the right spices, fat content, dense smoke flavor and snap of the skin. The beans were ordinary, but I really liked the sesame flavored cole slaw, and the German potato salad. K did not care for the slaw. Ribs 4.5, brisket and sausage 4. The pecan pie seemed to have a real lard crust and rated 4.
On this visit, we ordered our usual trio; ribs, brisket and sausage. All three come with a small amount of sauce on them. The sauce is mild, with a tomato base, and a fine balance of vinegar, sweetness and spice. The brisket and ribs had had a mild rub, perfect for us. These two meats did not fall apart, but were certainly done enough, with deep smoke penetration. Both had a great taste. The sausage was a classic example of Texas German, with the right spices, fat content, dense smoke flavor and snap of the skin. The beans were ordinary, but I really liked the sesame flavored cole slaw, and the German potato salad. K did not care for the slaw. Ribs 4.5, brisket and sausage 4. The pecan pie seemed to have a real lard crust and rated 4.
Stay tuned for chapter 2 (Cooper's in Llano, plus more)
Comments
Anyone else notice that Texas Pride seems spelling challenged? Either they want to hold meetings there or they don't know how to spell "meat" in the deep south. See the large red sign on the right of pic.