Barbecue vagabonding in Texas (and other states)

One of the culinary joys of living in the Lone Star State is the plethora of barbecue restaurants that range from franchises to joints. As I travel around the state (and nearby states) I make a point of hunting down the best BBQ. Best means several things: ambience of the place, sauces, side orders and, most importantly, the meat itself.

Being a Texas Longhorn fan who loves to eat his mascot Bevo (and the rival hog mascot of the University of Arkansas), me and my football buddy Philip have scoured the best of barbeque restaurant lists to begin our search for the best in Texas. I am the beef guy and Philip is the pork guy, but we are versatile eaters.

Here is the best we have found so far:

Louie Mueller's in Taylor TX has been our destination on three occasions and wins our best brisket award so far. The meat is pulled right out of the charcoal blackened oven, and plopped down on blood-colored butcher paper to be weighed and paid. It is succulent, smoky and peppery. As with all brisket, it certainly depends on which end of the brisket you get and/or prefer. The ambience is original Texas. The lunch is served with the usual side orders and what is the only downfall for the place, a thin watery red liquid they call sauce. But the meat is so good, the sauce is irrelevant. They serve other BBQ favorites such as ribs and spicy sausage, but for me the brisket is the star. Note: two other establishments in Taylor, Mikeska's right across the street, is a fine regular BBQ place, but the Taylor Cafe has made our list as the worst place we've visited to date.

In the big city of Dallas, there are dozens of BBQ restaurants with Sonny Bryan's being the most famous place around. It is very close to my office, so I make a regular lunch run to this down and dirty place that definitely has the feel of an original joint. Once you belly up to the counter (don't be shy) and give them your order, you survey the less than ample seating arrangements in old school desks. I mean true lovers of the cue have a hard time slipping their ample girth into slender desks that their dear old grandparents used in the past century. The food here is generous and all of it is smoky and succulent (try the rib sandwich) as long as you get there before it runs out. However, the most notable thing I remember about this place is the giant onion rings. They are the big enough to wear as bracelets if your honey doesn't mind a little grease on her wrists.

A new Texas dancehall style open pit place called Hard Eight has opened in Coppell to bring barbecue from its other location in Stephenville to the big city. I love to step up to the pit and survey the smoking selection of meat that beckons the carnivore in me. I've tried it all here, but especially love the ribs, turkey poppers (turkey rapped around some bacon, onion and jalopenos) and the smoked prime rib. Watch for their happy hour specials on food and libations and bring a crowd to eat and listen to some good old Texas music.

I've made a couple of forays to nearby states and must certainly mention my favorite pork palace--the Whole Hog Cafe in Little Rock, AR. This group of award-winning barbecue cooks do some mighty fine pulled pork which is what I order every time I'm in town. What I like least about the place is that it is located in a strip center west of downtown which has the ambience of ... well there is no ambience. However, their six pack selection of sauces is the best I've tasted anywhere. These folks understand that while their meat is spectacular, different strokes of sauce for different folks' tastes is very pleasing to the palate. They have regular vinegar-based sauce, molasses, mustard, some heat and a couple of other varieties to try with your meat. I love the sauce.

The place that really made me notice barbecue more than 30 years ago is the renowned Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City MO. I remember standing in a long line out the front door ( I learned to call in my order from the pay phone across the street) and finally reaching the counter where I ordered a brisket special. The very tall and sweaty cook reached over into a pile of sliced brisket and put a handful on butcher paper and with his other hand in the same motion took a paint brush full of spicy sauce (this is the best one for beef) which he painted the top of the stack before throwing a couple of slices of White Wonder bread on the side. If you are a regular, you know to grab a few of the burnt briskets ends at the window to savor until you finish paying at the end of the line. This is BBQ heaven.

Other favorites in north and central Texas include: Schoepp's in Belton for pork ribs, beef sausage anywhere in Muenster, Meyer's or Southside in Elgin for a wide variety of sausages, a true Texas BBQ experience at the Salt Lick in Driftwood south of Austin, or the gospel BBQ buffet at Stubbs in Austin.

That's enough for the BBQ vagabond, it's dinner time.

P.S. Let me know about your favorite BBQ places, sauces, rubs, techniques, etc. and I'll give it a try.