Austin and Lockhart TX brisket tour Nov. 7-12, 2024

(bolded and underlined and blue signifies a link)

When in Texas... our first foray was as guests of my HS and lifelong buddy and his wife, also a HS classmate, Marc and Barb (Oates) Knisely. The venue was County Line on the Lake in Austin. I went with the ribs, Linda went with the brisket tacos, and I refrained from photos out of respect for Marc and Barb... great ribs, which I got into for a subsequent breakfast (yup, it's Texas, baby) and the leftover tacos are next up for another breakfast.

Our second foray was with nephew and niece Jack and Hanna, who like Barb and Marc are also residents in Austin. Joining us, their parents Jim and Janet, Linda's sister and her husband, who flew in from central Oregon. Jim, Janet, Linda, and I are sharing an Airbnb for the five-day expedition.

 

So Jack and Hanna took us to Loro Asian Smokehouse and Bar which, again, no photos from me out of an abundance of respect but an amazingly wide variety of combinations and tastes - Q - centric for sure, and another for-sure recommendation. Okay, one photo:

We then took a break on the Brisket Trail for a day to be tourists in downtown Austin... the LBJ Library was fabulous. It sits hard by the University of Texas stadium (they whupped the Florida Gators the next day, Saturday... another story line). 

 

Back to the Library... some visceral memories surfaced for me, what with the Vietnam war exhibits (my draft number was 79), the review of the Kennedy assassination (I was in junior high, all of us remember when and where we were when the terrible news broke), and of course the music of the day... a truly moving and must-see tourist stop. The Oval Office recreation alone is worth the price of admission, but I must admit I was totally impressed with the actual limo, right there, bigger than life. Well, actual life, so, just huge.

 

And then there was the Bullock Museum of Texas history. This is an especially well-curated (and presented) review of centuries of history, which brought to us (among many other insights) a much better understanding of why Texans have such a strong orientation toward independence. And yes, Linda and Janet did pose for the tourist shot:

 

With all that traipsin' around, y'all can work up a mighty thirst, thus my experimental night shot:

But this is about BRISKET!!! Focus, Hecker!!

 

So the next day, we all headed south to Lockhart with Jack and Hanna as bwanas:

 

 

First stop, Smittys:

 

 

This is a huge operation, with large "waiting room" capacity, and several "dining" rooms. Turns out it wasn't near capacity at the time of our stop.

 

But there's an indication of the formality of the experience sort of up front:

 

 

 

Take that, tourists.

Our purchases ended up on butcher paper (this is authentic BBQ, y'all), and Jack was happy to dig in to portion everything for the six of us:

 

 

 

Meanwhile, I went back in the pits. Really. 

They use cord wood and indirect heat. Behold:

 

 

So here's a pile of sliced brisket (in the pan behind the brisket-to-be-sliced):

 

 

And here, chicken and spuds (for some reason I think one of the pitmasters has OCD):

 

Then it was on to Barbs B Q, which was already sold out of beef ribs by the time we arrived. It's a teeny storefront but unique in that it's a female-owned and operated business, surely an anomaly in the world of Q. That's the Lockhart City Hall reflected in their window:

 

 

And here's a Facebook snag of that beautiful building (I think my colors are better):

 

 

Here's the portioned-out feast at Barbs B Q; ribs, brisket, turkey, and green spaghetti in a creamy roasted poblano sauce (with sliced pickled jalapeño in the upper left corner):

 

 

 

 And while we're in Lockhart, what would this blog entry be without revealing some family drama... behold the Blacks BBQ, and Terry Blacks BBQ split... huge story there.  They are two separate enterprises.

But back to our (non-drama) family; the anti-brisket faction (claiming to be the voices of reason [oh and they outnumber me, all vs. one]) lobbied for an alternate cuisine. So we went to Tiki Tatsu-Ya. 

For me, the menu was incomprehensible, but others in our party have actually traveled to foreign lands, successfully, and learned things. I trusted them, and I'm so glad I did!

Why yes, there was some drama which I was able to capture:

  (editor's note; sorry Janet [who was sitting just to the right of the conflagration], I had to edit you out... photographer's prerogative)

My observation is that, in Texas, if you're not serving BBQ, you're gonna need some other fireworks to compensate.

(truth, it was an overall amazing experience - please don't revoke my bubba card)

Last day, o what to do... hey, let's take a walk in a park! How about... down by Lady Bird Lake? Cool!

 

It's actually the Colorado River, a backed-up pool created to be a cooling pond for a new power plant in 1960. It makes a great paddling retreat and oh, by the way, reflecting pond for photo folks.

But, this is a post about brisket!

What's close... um, Terry Black's, you say? Just around the corner? Cool!

So yeah, final stop (maybe... I haven't googled the airport yet!). Here's the family tray:

Bread, slaw, green beans, mac and cheese, potato salad, baked beans, brisket, sausage, and (at last!) beef rib!!!

And this is the same tray once the locusts had descended (thanks for the "after" shot, Hanna!!):

 

Following the consumption for we six (Jack, Hanna, Janet, Jim, Linda, and me), I had to go back to the pits... briskets and (to the left) beef ribs:

Since a guy in from Canada (!) and I were showing interest, we got the grand tour:

These are the elusive, REAL beef ribs... and, they do 300 briskets a day. Yikes. 

I also got a "fire in the hole" shot:

 

Just behind me as I took this shot they've stored the cordwood.  Extensive collection, all locked in cages. Illustration available upon request. (what, you're surprised at that?)

In any event, we've pretty much exhausted ourselves and suffered greatly from food comas (the rookies, anyway), but I have to close this segment with an undeniably egotistical portrait taken by Janet:

 

And tonight's excursion was to the bat bridge on Congress Ave..  thousands of bats in residence who come out at sundown to feed... boats in the river/lake, tourists on the riverbank and bridge, but... no bats tonight. 

Austin in da moonlight:

Final votes are in... brisket, tie between Barbs and Terry Black. Slaw, Terry Black, as well as beef ribs, but only because they were sold out at the other places.

Fabulous trip, great to see friends and family. Great memories.