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| Sarah, Jason and Amanda at Black's |
My son Jason is a barbecue fanatic and the self-proclaimed Barbecue King of his backyard in Napa, Calif. He has a big grill and a smoker and can be found on any given weekend in his backyard smoking some huge piece of meat for hours and inviting a big group of friends over for a great meal.
Jason and his wife Sarah joined me in Texas for Amanda’s Army medic graduation at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. While we were there, he took us to the tiny town of Lockhart, mecca for barbecue enthusiasts everywhere. Lockhart, located between San Antonio and Austin, is really not much of a town as far as population goes, but it does have a certain Texas charm. Lockhart’s big claim to fame is the four barbecue spots in town – Black’s, Chisholm Trail, Smitty’s and Kreuz and people come from all over to have a piece of barbecue heaven. In fact, the Texas legislature declared Lockhart the “BBQ Capital of Texas.”
All of these places are extremely casual. No reservations. No calling ahead. If there’s room, you get in. If there isn’t, you wait or go someplace else. To call them restaurants is a bit misleading because, while there is seating, they’re really more like meat markets in a grocery store. You go through the line and tell the person cutting the meat what you want and he cuts it and puts it on a big piece of butcher paper. Depending on the place, there are a variety of sides available, and slices of white bread are the main utensils of choice for scooping up the meat. In fact, at Kreuz’s, this is the sign they have posted in the entrance
They take their barbecue seriously in Lockhart.
Diners sit at wooden tables, some covered in red and white checked oil cloth and others just plain wood and the chairs are decidedly un-fancy. But people don’t go there for the décor. They go for the food and there’s plenty of it.
By the time Amanda and I had arrived in Lockhart we were both extremely hungry after eating a light breakfast. Black’s was our first stop and Jason ordered a “sampler” of meats – ribs, brisket, sausages made on the premises. We didn’t even bother with any sides and just ate with our fingers. It was my first introduction to Texas barbecue and I was a bit puzzled because, although there was BARBECUE sauce for sale and on the tables, the meat we got from the “butcher” was sauce-less. Jason said in Texas, at least in Central Texas, it’s all about the dry rub for the meat and the long hours it spends cooking over indirect heat. Prepared that way the true smokiness of the juicy meat can shine through. And it was fantastic – moist, smoky, so tender no knife was required. The look on Jason’s face was the same one he used to get as a little boy on Christmas morning.
After Black’s, we headed over to Kreuz (pronounced Krite) which reminded me of a big grocery store from the outside. It was a little more “upscale” than Black’s as far as the seating went (still wooden tables but they also had wooden chairs) and they also served Blue Bell ice cream, another Texas specialty. Jason ordered another small portion of brisket and he washed his down with a Lone Star beer, while Amanda had a Coke in the biggest glass bottle I’ve seen in a long time. Sarah had a sherbet cone for dessert. I was so full by that point that I couldn’t imagine eating again for at least another two days or so.
We didn’t try Smitty’s or the Chisholm Trail, although we did walk through the hallway leading to the pit at Smitty’s. The smoke was so thick my eyes were burning and the walls were colored a perpetual black from the smoke. I can only imagine how the employees smell after working there all day.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Texas barbecue education and I will certainly think twice before reaching for that bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce the next time I have a rack of ribs.
Diners sit at wooden tables, some covered in red and white checked oil cloth and others just plain wood and the chairs are decidedly un-fancy. But people don’t go there for the décor. They go for the food and there’s plenty of it.
By the time Amanda and I had arrived in Lockhart we were both extremely hungry after eating a light breakfast. Black’s was our first stop and Jason ordered a “sampler” of meats – ribs, brisket, sausages made on the premises. We didn’t even bother with any sides and just ate with our fingers. It was my first introduction to Texas barbecue and I was a bit puzzled because, although there was BARBECUE sauce for sale and on the tables, the meat we got from the “butcher” was sauce-less. Jason said in Texas, at least in Central Texas, it’s all about the dry rub for the meat and the long hours it spends cooking over indirect heat. Prepared that way the true smokiness of the juicy meat can shine through. And it was fantastic – moist, smoky, so tender no knife was required. The look on Jason’s face was the same one he used to get as a little boy on Christmas morning.
After Black’s, we headed over to Kreuz (pronounced Krite) which reminded me of a big grocery store from the outside. It was a little more “upscale” than Black’s as far as the seating went (still wooden tables but they also had wooden chairs) and they also served Blue Bell ice cream, another Texas specialty. Jason ordered another small portion of brisket and he washed his down with a Lone Star beer, while Amanda had a Coke in the biggest glass bottle I’ve seen in a long time. Sarah had a sherbet cone for dessert. I was so full by that point that I couldn’t imagine eating again for at least another two days or so.
We didn’t try Smitty’s or the Chisholm Trail, although we did walk through the hallway leading to the pit at Smitty’s. The smoke was so thick my eyes were burning and the walls were colored a perpetual black from the smoke. I can only imagine how the employees smell after working there all day.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Texas barbecue education and I will certainly think twice before reaching for that bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce the next time I have a rack of ribs.
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