Rather than review 25 pages-did a search and Bryan's was not listed.

Bryan's Black Mountain Barbecue in Cave Creek, AZ.

http://www.bryansbarbecue.com/

Not that yelp is the definitive critique site but....

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bryans-black...que-cave-creek

I went to a new one over the weekend:

Coopers BBQ in New Branufels, TX

My friend and I split a half pound of pork chops, half pound of sirloin and a half pound of brisket as well as an order of cole slaw and it was all amazing. Served on wax paper (the only way to eat it), in a large room full of lots of picnic table type seating. Good selection of beer in bottles at reasonable prices, free bread, pickles, baked beans and jalapenos for the diners. The sirloin was some of the best meat I've ever eaten. I'd give this place an A.

Black Mountain comparo?
 

How does Black Mountain stand up to a really good Texas barbecue, like Blacks, Kreutz or Coopers?

I see from these links that they use sauce, so it gives me pause even though we drive by there once or twice a month on the way to the feed store.

Isn't that redundant? :p

Wow. No new entries since July of last year. :eek:

After sampling six different BBQ joints in Central Texas last week, we still had enough gas in the tank to make our usual BBQ Thursday jaunt at lunch today. This time we ate at Stiles Switch in DNA. (For those who aren't locals, DNA = Deadly North Austin.)

I arrived at 12:15 PM and there were about 10 people in front of me. The line cleared quickly and I was seating myself across from Mackieman before 12:30 PM. YMMV on how fast you get served and seated. This place seats about as many as Texas Rib Kings and has a similar feel to it.

I ordered brisket (fatty/moist side with plenty of bark), pork ribs, a link of two kinds of sausage (Thorndale & Switch Original), and a side of corn casserole.

The brisket was very tasty; moist, peppery (but not overly so) with a nice layer of smoke. The pork ribs were meaty, tender, and came off the bone easily (but not as easily as the ones at Franklin BBQ).

The Switch Original sausage was a drier sausage than Thorndale, spicier and made with pork and beef. The Thorndale was a pure beef sausage, from what I could tell. Less spicy, but very tasty. I liked it the best, but Mackieman preferred the Switch Original.

They offer one sauce which reminds me of some places in Kansas City. It is tomato-based and thin with a hint of vinegar and very slightly sweet. It did not take away from the meat, but neither would I have missed it if it wasn't there.

The corn casserole was something I've never seen at a BBQ joint, but it was okay. I'd order it as a side again, but it didn't wow me. Both paranoiatx and Mackieman commented that there was not much excitement surrounding their mac and cheese sides either.

I had heard that their banana pudding was very good, so I went back and was given a half pint for free since it was the last serving. I picked up some extra spoons to share and Mackieman and I agree that it was a very good homemade banana pudding (they serve it right out of the Pyrex dish).

So, I put this place up there with Black's in Lockhart as far as the brisket goes. The ribs are better than what we get at Texas Rib Kings and that's sayin' something, IMHO. And, the sausage passes the test as well.

Always nice to find another acceptable BBQ joint right here in River City to spend a BBQ Thursday lunch.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B176 Safari/7534.48.3)

High praise. When we lived in Austin we would go in pilgrimages to Blacks. Thanks for the update. Have you tried Ironworks in Austin?

Yes. Everytime I can't get fed at Franklin BBQ, I end up at the Ironworks. I'm 10 out of 20 (50%) in being able to eat at Franklin, so I end up there more often than I'd like. ;) It isn't bad, but Stiles Switch is better, IMHO.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

I made a few entries in the Best BBQ Anywhere in the South thread but most of those were not worthy of best in the US! :D

It probably belongs there more than here, but this was the first thread I was able to find. :D LOL

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B176 Safari/7534.48.3)

Hope I can get to Austin and try it. I lived there in the 80s. Blacks was in Lockhart then but closer in it was Ironworks, County Line and Salt Lick.

Franklin BBQ is the very best I've found in Austin proper, but I have yet to go by Johnny Mueller's trailer/food truck location at 1502 South First Street. Last Thursday, I stood in line at Franklin for 2 1/2 hours for just a chopped beef sandwich and a bourbon banana pudding pie. If I usually had that kind of discretionary time, I might not eat BBQ anywhere else. It is that good.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

the lines at Muellers is very short!

I live in Texas, so I can't comment much on styles of BBQ that aren't [Central] Texas style. My vote goes to Franklin in Austin. Been there once. Not too long after they moved into the permanent building. It was already very popular, but this is before one of the big national food magazines named it the best BBQ in the USA.

The BBQ was awesome. Went there on a weekend after doing yet another BBQ crawl of central Texas. It was better than any place we had been to. Better than the places in Lockhart. Better than City Market in Luling. It was better than Snow's.

Austin, TX
 

If you ever find yourself near Austin, TX try Snow's in Lexington TX... but get there early they sell out before noon!

http://www.snowsbbq.com/

And I Agree.... Franklin's is the BEST!! Again get there early, their pulled pork sandwich is the best I have ever had!

http://franklinbarbecue.com/

Has anybody else tried Jack Stack's in KC? We ate there recently and I thought it was pretty good. Would have liked to try Arthur Bryant's but that will have to wait until later in the summer.

I prefer Arthur Bryant but the only thing complaining about Jack Stack is my waistline ;)

Eaten there plenty of times and never disappointed. Their Burnt Ends are great.

I liked Jack Stack okay, but my favorite in KC is Oklahoma Joe's. I remember jack Stack as having some great burnt ends and sides.

I went by Arthur Bryants on one of the KC BBQ Do's, but I don't remember eating there. I was just too full of BBQ at the time, so that may have played a role in my lack of memory.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

We had the burnt ends also and they were great!

How is that possible when you went to six places in one week and didn't get full! :)

Actually, that reminds me of a road trip through West Texas and New Mexico when I had Mexican food 10 days in a row. Best trip of my life.

Practice. ;) But, during the KC Do, we did about 6 places in one day. I was literally worn out by the time we got to Arthur Bryant's, so I skipped eating there (I think) and ate at Gate's BBQ (the last stop) instead.

We went to four places in one day during Austin Mega Do 1 down in Lockhart. That's about my maximum per day consummage when it comes to BBQ. :D

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

My benchmark by which BBQ is measured remains in ancient memory, the gatherings of the local unit of 36th Division, Texas National Guard, at the old YMCA camp outside valley Mills, TX. There, BG Wiley Stem (passed but not forgotten), survivors of the desperate attempt to cross the Rapido, as bloody as Antietam and Gettysburg, Hell in a small place, the 36th's flanders Fields, and younger Guardsmen, hauled in the sacred pits, and converted brisket and shoulder clods (few "fixins" beyond light bread, onions and pickles, no beer) into ambrosia with which to feed dignataries, local and state pols, and a few boys being groomed to fill the ranks.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi!

I just got back from a little BBQ Weekend to Austin, TX and I thought I'd report back. Two places are big names, one place might be new to some people.

Friday: Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX
I've been here once before and wow was it great to be back. My friend and I arrived at about 7 PM and waited 40 minutes for a table. As we'd brought a dozen beers, we didn't care! We ordered the Thurman Plate which came with brisket (good, not great), rib (amazing), sausage (also amazing) and taters, slaw and beans. We followed this up with blackberry cobbler which was the just excellent.

http://cmk10.smugmug.com/Travel/Flye.../1009854-L.jpg

Initially I took this picture from farther away but they insisted I come around the counter to get a better shot.

http://cmk10.smugmug.com/Travel/Flye.../1009855-L.jpg

http://cmk10.smugmug.com/Travel/Flye.../1009856-L.jpg

Saturday: Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX
This place was new for both of us and when we arrived, the line was out the door. However, good food is worth waiting on and we weren't disappointed. The place is a gigantic warehouse with no air conditioning (though they have a smaller air conditioned dining room as well). We ordered a pound of brisket (decent, worse than Salt Lick), a half pound of Prime Rib (amazing) and two jalapeno/cheese sausages (amazing). I also tried Big Red which, fun as it was to try, is not something I'll be having again!

http://cmk10.smugmug.com/Travel/Flye.../1009866-L.jpg

"I'll take one"
"one what?"
"One everything!'

http://cmk10.smugmug.com/Travel/Flye.../1009870-L.jpg

Sunday: Franklin's BBQ in Austin, TX
Believe it or not, this was my first time visiting Franklin's. We arrived at 9:20 for the 11 AM opening and were 7th in line. We ordered a half pound of brisket (the best of the weekend), half pound of pulled pork (very good), and two sausages (love the hard casing and soft insides, best sausage of the weekend). This place absolutely lives up to its hype and I would have waited 4 hours for all the food.

http://cmk10.smugmug.com/Travel/Flye.../1009890-L.jpg

Menu on paper? Love it!

http://cmk10.smugmug.com/Travel/Flye.../1009896-L.jpg

You can see the famous Franklin's sauces too.

Great food, great weekend.

Sorry to have missed you.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Me too. I didn't know it was going to be a BBQ weekend until I arrived and it sort of happened. Wow do I feel like I swallowed a bowling ball though, I'm going to have to take it easy this week :D

Agreed...and unhealthy as MSG is NOT good for people...

Cheers,

Austin BBQ
 

As a native Austinite, I have grown up eating fantastic BBQ....the best ever was made by my grandfather and it included ribs, brisket and cabrito (SP??) or, young goat. My greatest regret is that I never paid attention to how he made is BBQ (mainly the sauce he made and used during the cooking/smoking). Sad, since I learned loads from a great grandmother, grandmother and mom...

I may start a firestorm, but I am going to poop on Salt Lick...great atmosphere but every time I and friends eat there we get sick....to me, some of the best BBQ in Austin (prior to Franklin's opening) is on your right on Hwy 290 (just past the Y in Oak Hill) as you drive towards Salt Lick...a small place called Donn's Texas BBQ and is behind a large big box store and is easy to miss....Iron Works used to be fine (maybe it still is) but I have not been there in years...Austin has become too bloody hot in recent years to make me want to try Iron Works again except in the "coldest" months (oxymoron??)

Black's in Lockhart is still very good but as far as Kreuz's goes, I ate there with a small group once and not one of us has ever returned...except for Black's...

Finally,County Line is pretty decent BBQ (great bread and sauteed mushrooms), but pricey and I use that place to take visiting friends as the lake location has great ambiance...the hill location is also tasty but trying to get back onto Bee Cave Rd can sometimes be like a near death experience

Cheers,

My favorite place when I'm out near the Y. Going to make a trek out to Opie's a little farther out on 71 soon, however.

Iron Works is an acceptable place still; not the best, but certainly not the worst either. They don't have AC, so yeah, it can get uncomfortable during late spring - late fall unless you are lucky enough to find seating near one of the huge circulating fans.

I agree completely. When I'm in Lockhart, it's always Black's for me.

Not that big a fan of this place. So many others are so much better, so I only go when someone from out of town insists upon it.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

I know this is a VERY old post, but I wanted to bring it up for discussion. Is MSG really a common ingredient in "prize-winning" BBQ? I can see how it would be. I've found that adding a bit of MSG (usually Goya Sazon) to certain dishes really helps balance the flavor.

As for BBQ, our options here in Florida are limited. Sonny's is the big chain, but they're amazingly mediocre IMO. And any BBQ restaurant that considers brisket to be pulled beef isn't a real BBQ restaurant in my book.

MSG in "prize winning BBQ"? Purists, especially those who rub their meat with only salt & pepper, would react with horror at such an adulterant (which would be likely to be organically converted to some strange and dangerous compound by 12 hours or so in the pit). Of course, Purists are reactionary extremists and consider that the inclusion of any 'sweetener' in BBQ sauce, especially HFCS or ingredients containing such, to be as heretical as openly practicing the Albegensian faith or engaging in sexual congress with livestock.

50 years ago, when the world was young, Lou Bono's in JAX, had pretty good ribs, but time has taken its toll...

I will never eat ANY type of food with MSG (mono sodium glutamate) as it is classified an an excito-toxin and is NOT good for people....I know many folks (including my dad and brother) who will become extremely ill if they eat food with MSG (Chinese places are usually the biggest offenders though to the credit of many Chinese restaurants will leave it out if requested).....sadly,many available BBQ rubs are loaded with MSG :mad:

I have never encountered MSG in any of my regular BBQ haunts in town, but I will always ask if I try a new place....

Cheers,

If you eat out at all, I'll bet you are eating it routinely. In things you would never suspect.

Question: Where do you people stand on the issue of sweet barbecue sauces?

I don't like much or most barbecue, especially Texas barbecue, for that reason. Went to County Line a long time ago and found what I ordered too sweet. I buy grocery barbecue sometimes for DH and can't manage it because of the sweetness factor.

(Just as an aside, love those fun Burger King barbecue sandwiches available this summer! Yes, I know that is heresy to you gourmet people! But we're talking just sheer fun, not gourmet, with them--big, paperwrapped goodies with all sorts of additions, slices of tomato, onion, lettuce, cheese, sauces--fun to figure out all the additions in the oversized, paper-wrapped giants. Not a treat for every day unless I wanted to be carried out of BK on a stretcher, but so much fun once a week or so, for a few weeks anyway!).

Okay--back to topic: I have researched online barbecue sauces, looking for something non-sweet. I have also researched barbecue-sauce recipes, and though they might work, still are a lot of work.

So my question: Do you people find Texas-style beef/brisket barbecue too sweet? Is it supposed to be sweet?

And what about accompaniments? Bun, maybe toasted, or is it often with accompanying dry white bread? I stopped at a roadside chain awhile back, thinking I was going to get some authentic barbecue. Actually, I ordered barbecued turkey, and though it wasn't served with sweet sauce (could add my own if I had chosen), still just had dry, cottony white bread with it.

So I am hesitant to check out Texas barbecue further. (My interest would be limited to sandwiches, not the meat with sides.) Mainly, I just wonder if the preference is for a sweet sauce. Have checked barbecue sauces in grocery stores, and the main ingredient is sugar or corn syrup. I just wish for a savory sauce, not a sweet sauce.

Probably served with a flame-retardant suit. :p I know this heretical post is going to offend just about every barbecue person around. :D

And yes, I know that the BK Whopper versions of BBQ have sugar too, but the taste of sugar is diluted considerably with the sandwich additions. Anyway, I am giving them a special exemption. After all, it's only for the summer. ;)

Brisket has no need for sweetening, since beef slow smoked develops plenty of caramelized sugars on its own. "Sweet" BBQ sauces are like unto perfumed hoors, attempting to conceal the likely absence of quality beneath.

The classic presentation of BBQ, brisket, ribs or sausage (or variety meats like lamb, cabrito, organ meats) is without sauce, especially the immoderately over-sweetened offerings currently in vogue. "On the side', purists prefer a traditional "Dipping Sauce", unsweetened, seasonings (often offered in varying degrees of "heat") and thinned with liquid, stock best, but even water works, not to souse the meat, but to sprinkle a bit atop while eating.

Traditional cooking rubs were no more than salt & pepper, adding one or more of the ground dried chilies optional. Slathering sticky, juicy rubs before/during cooking are the Devil's work!

"Light" ("Store-bought") bread is traditional and common, the foundation for the "wrap", a hand-composed envelope of a sausage link (especially the East Texas "Hot Link", essentially a spicy short version of what we used to call "Ring Baloney" [sic]), or brisket.

Sides? Few and simple, sliced raw onion, sliced dill or sour pickles, jalapenos in escabeche (pickled) or maybe cherry peppers and pepperoncini, and the dipping sauce.

Sauce? We could argue all day over composition, but "homemade" is the key. My basic version (without drippings unless prepared with home-smoked meats) contains beef stock, a little (very little) ketchup ('cuz it too is sweet), soy sauce, any of several Mexican or Louisiana "Hot Sauces" (not US "picante" sauce) or these days sometimes Chipotle in Adobo. A little of the vinegar favored by Carolinians/Carolingians is acceptable for pork and spareribs, as is mustard (and basic "yellow' works). I haven't seen any in years, but there was once a bottled sauce named "Juicy Pig" that stood above gloppy, sugary goo that lines supermarket shelves and served in most BBQ joints.

Great minds think alike. ^

I'll try the recipe, and thanks. Thanks also for the civil post. :D

I was thinking when I posted, that I was soon likely to be flamed myself on the barbecue grill. Still can happen, the day is yet young. :D

One of the best BBQ sauces is Bone Suckin' Sauce from Raleigh, NC. No corn syrup, all natural. Not sickly sweet or fake smoky. It frequently makes the "best of" lists for BBQ sauces.

WOW...I am not sure where you ate at, but I will categorically restate that as a native Texan AND Austinite, I have never found BBQ (brisket, pork etc) at any of my favorite haunts (including County Line) to be "sweet"....as someone else posted, properly cooked BBQ will develop its own caramelized sweetness and not from an artificial garbage (like McDonald's or others)...and, I guess that "sweetness" could easily be very subjective as well??:confused:

Cheers,

Most of the places where I eat beef brisket, they don't offer BBQ sauce. Even the few that do, I wouldn't miss it if they didn't...although I have a great fondness for Franklin BBQ's espresso BBQ sauce. McDonald's McFib sauce, it isn't.

Pork, however, is an entirely different animal (pun intended). Got to have a mustard-based vinegar sauce for my pulled pork. ;)

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Many Cuban/Latin restaurants use MSG as a spice also FYI.

Do you and your family members also avoid other natural sources of glutamate like soy sauce, tomatoes, bread, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, or anchovies? I'll bet that gets tough.

I had a friend who was sensitive to MSG. It gave him nasty headaches. He was usually able to handle most Chinese food, but always had trouble with KFC of all places.

What's the scoop on Houston? Different style than Austin/San Antonio or essentially the same?

I would say the style is the same (low heat, slow smoked), but not as much emphasis on brisket as in Central Texas. To me, it's hard to find a really decent BBQ joint in the city itself. Hartmann would probably have the best recommendation, however, since that's his turf and he probably knows of some places that I've never heard of. ;)

Another similar viewpoint: http://houbbq.com/

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]