Texas Barbecue Chapter 2
Cooper’s Pit Bar-B-Cue Llano, Texas 2/28/09
This was our second visit to Coopers in Llano. We had learned of it in the first book from Jane and Michael Stern. Llano is a ranching town of 3300 souls, about 80 miles west of Austin. The surrounding country is attractive rolling hills that are dry, dry, dry, and scrub covered. It’s hard to imagine that cattle ranching can be profitable, as little grass as there is. We approached Llano coming 40 miles up from the south, on a state highway. We crossed many cattle guards in the pavement, followed by signs that would announce “Loose Cattle”. The Texans are not intimidated, in that everyone passed us even though we drove about 55 MPH. I didn’t like the idea of impacting a steer at high speed.
We thought the rub for the ribs and brisket was just a bit too peppery for our taste, but not excessively so. Both meats had a great smoked taste, and were cooked to fall apart doneness. The sausage was another fine example of Texas German. The free beans were bordering on excellent. Ribs and brisket 3K / 4B. Sausage 3.5. Beans 4.5. Blackberry cobbler 2.
The place was very busy, at 2 PM on Saturday. The fact that it was busy, in a town of 3300 that is 30 miles from the next town of any size, says a lot about Texans love of good food. We sat at one of the long picnic tables next a father and his two young daughters who had flown in their own plane from Austin, just to eat at Coopers. Mom had not wanted to come, but had placed her meat order with them. On our other side were two 40-something men who leased hunting land 30 miles north of Llano, but who lived in Houston, and wouldn’t dream of being this close without a visit to Coopers.
Opies Barbecue Spicewood, Texas 3/1/09
We learned of Opies from two sources. In February 2008, while getting a haircut in Marble Falls Texas, the topic of good barbecue came up. The barber recommended Opies, which is about 20 miles from his shop. He also refused to give me a flat-top. He said he and the other barber in town, wouldn’t do them any more, they were too difficult. He would however, give me a nice close all-over haircut. I settled for that. We were also indirectly informed about Opies by Harry Turner. Harry had alerted us to the New Yorker article by Calvin Trillen about the best barbecue place in Texas, as rated by Texas Monthly. That best place in Texas is Snow’s Barbecue in Lexington. Reading, thanks to Harry, about the Texas Monthly article, we learned they had a “Best 50” list. I found the list on the internet. Opies had made the list. We were in the right county.
This was our second visit to Coopers in Llano. We had learned of it in the first book from Jane and Michael Stern. Llano is a ranching town of 3300 souls, about 80 miles west of Austin. The surrounding country is attractive rolling hills that are dry, dry, dry, and scrub covered. It’s hard to imagine that cattle ranching can be profitable, as little grass as there is. We approached Llano coming 40 miles up from the south, on a state highway. We crossed many cattle guards in the pavement, followed by signs that would announce “Loose Cattle”. The Texans are not intimidated, in that everyone passed us even though we drove about 55 MPH. I didn’t like the idea of impacting a steer at high speed.
Cooper’s is a classic Texas joint where you order from the pit man outside. There are eight or ten large brick and steel pits, with the pit man at the one nearest the restaurant door. As he slices off your selections from his large collection, he asks if you want your meat dipped in his vat of sauce – we opted out. He loads your meat order on butcher paper and you carry it inside, where it is weighed. You also select the sides you want, and make your way to the cashier. The beans are free at Coopers and you serve yourself from large pots at either end of the dining area.
We thought the rub for the ribs and brisket was just a bit too peppery for our taste, but not excessively so. Both meats had a great smoked taste, and were cooked to fall apart doneness. The sausage was another fine example of Texas German. The free beans were bordering on excellent. Ribs and brisket 3K / 4B. Sausage 3.5. Beans 4.5. Blackberry cobbler 2.
The place was very busy, at 2 PM on Saturday. The fact that it was busy, in a town of 3300 that is 30 miles from the next town of any size, says a lot about Texans love of good food. We sat at one of the long picnic tables next a father and his two young daughters who had flown in their own plane from Austin, just to eat at Coopers. Mom had not wanted to come, but had placed her meat order with them. On our other side were two 40-something men who leased hunting land 30 miles north of Llano, but who lived in Houston, and wouldn’t dream of being this close without a visit to Coopers.
Opies Barbecue Spicewood, Texas 3/1/09
We learned of Opies from two sources. In February 2008, while getting a haircut in Marble Falls Texas, the topic of good barbecue came up. The barber recommended Opies, which is about 20 miles from his shop. He also refused to give me a flat-top. He said he and the other barber in town, wouldn’t do them any more, they were too difficult. He would however, give me a nice close all-over haircut. I settled for that. We were also indirectly informed about Opies by Harry Turner. Harry had alerted us to the New Yorker article by Calvin Trillen about the best barbecue place in Texas, as rated by Texas Monthly. That best place in Texas is Snow’s Barbecue in Lexington. Reading, thanks to Harry, about the Texas Monthly article, we learned they had a “Best 50” list. I found the list on the internet. Opies had made the list. We were in the right county.
Opies is a newish looking grey metal place on Route 71. The old Opies is 200 yards north on a side road, and it has more character. It old place looks like it may have had a first life as a motel. The smoking is done in a new stainless rotary smoker under a steel roof next to the new building. Huge piles of mesquite are out in back. The meat man is just inside the front door, with a long metal warmer full of a large assortment of meats. This happened to be a young Hispanic fellow who did a good job of explaining what he had to offer. We chose our usual trio of ribs, brisket and sausage, plus some pork shoulder. We noticed a large chunk of brisket bark lying to the side of his warmer, and inquired about it. He “said that’s no good, it’s too tough – you don’t want it do you ?” We tried not to sound as excited as we were, when he gave it to us for free.
First, the side dishes. Beans were free, both the pintos and the every Sunday special of a big pot of butter beans. The pintos were ho-hum, but the butter beans rated a 3. We were told we must try the tater tot casserole. We should have ignored that advice. However, the sweet cole slaw with craisins and almonds was quite superb. The brisket was cooked until it seemed low on taste, and our piece was cut wrong so that we got long strings of meat. We rated it at 2. The chunk of pure bark was excellent. Both the ribs and the pork shoulder were slightly too salty and fatty for us, but they had a good taste beneath those issues. We rated them 3K/4B. It’s obvious that B likes salt and fat a little more than K. The sausage had a good texture but the taste was a little milder than the standard. We gave it a 3. We would return to Opies, if for nothing else but the slaw.
First, the side dishes. Beans were free, both the pintos and the every Sunday special of a big pot of butter beans. The pintos were ho-hum, but the butter beans rated a 3. We were told we must try the tater tot casserole. We should have ignored that advice. However, the sweet cole slaw with craisins and almonds was quite superb. The brisket was cooked until it seemed low on taste, and our piece was cut wrong so that we got long strings of meat. We rated it at 2. The chunk of pure bark was excellent. Both the ribs and the pork shoulder were slightly too salty and fatty for us, but they had a good taste beneath those issues. We rated them 3K/4B. It’s obvious that B likes salt and fat a little more than K. The sausage had a good texture but the taste was a little milder than the standard. We gave it a 3. We would return to Opies, if for nothing else but the slaw.
Stay tuned for the City Market, in Luling and more.
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