March 2010

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Shakpig

Support your local Shak: Part Deux

D Magazine is soliciting readers for their Best of Big D Readers’ Choice Poll, which will be published in the August 2010 issue. From their website: "Every August, D Magazine publishes its Best of Big D issue in which the editors name their favorites in food and drink, nightlife, shopping, goods and services, and culture and media. This year, we’re giving our readers a chance to vote for their favorites in each of the above categories." Needless to say, the Baby Back Shak is among the favorites for best BBQ in Dallas. After all, it's the unofficial headquarters of the…
Joints - 03/30/2010
smittys

Historic Smitty's Market

We arrived in downtown Lockhart and stumbled out of the car for an afternoon snack, meat drunk but ready for more BBQ. This was our third stop on the Central Texas BBQ Tour. We entered the screen door with a sign proclaiming "BARBEQUE" over it and walked down the long corridor into something out of the1890's. Smitty's Market was established in 1999 by Nina Schmidt Sells in the building that housed her father's Kreuz Market for more than 50 years. The market sits in the same location where barbecue has been sold in Lockhart since the turn of the last…
Joints - 03/25/2010
HICKORYHILL1

Unexpected stop on the East Texas BBQ Tour

We spotted the smoke while cruising eastward down Hwy. 31 toward the Country Tavern in Kilgore. Since we were in no particular hurry, the BBQ posse hooked a u-turn and headed back to Hickory Hill BBQ. It turned out to be a great stop on the journey. Like Pat Gee’s, they are open Friday through Sunday, closing when the meat runs out. Husband and wife team Kelly and Kerry Shaw opened the joint seven months ago, after years of preparation by Kerry. “I’ve been cooking BBQ all my life,” he said. We ordered up some ribs for the crew and…
Joints - 03/20/2010
LOUIES

Road trip to Louie Mueller Barbecue

Shortly after 11am, we pulled into the Louie Mueller Barbecue parking lot in Taylor, a storefront in an old downtown that had seen better days. The smoke clung to the walls and windows like paint. It was immediately apparent this place was like a Hollywood set for the classic Texas BBQ joint. The line was almost to the door already, giving us time to soak in our surroundings. Unlike Snow's, where the pits were outside under a steel awning, these folks were smoking meat inside the restaurant. The smells and the memories they evoked were unforgettable. Twenty minutes later we…
Joints - 03/18/2010
PATGEES

The Barbecue Chronicles: One day, four pit stops in East Texas

The wheelman on a barbecue tour needs thick skin and quick reflexes. During a 240-mile trip from Dallas through East Texas on a recent Saturday, our driver had both. Moments after getting needled for poking along at 50 in a 70 mph zone, David Woo quickly had his car at the speed limit. Then we spotted smoke coming from a portable smoker in front of a low building. We were headed east on State Highway 31, between Tyler and Kilgore, about 115 miles from Dallas. "That looks interesting," one posse member said. "Let's go back." Woo, a photographer at The…
Roadtrips - 03/13/2010
church

Attending church can be good for your soul

A quick post from our friend and fellow posse member Gary "G" Barber, who's on the road today. He just made a lunch stop at the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church Barbeque in Huntsville and felt compelled to send us a short email and a great iPhone photo of his plate. We were all surprised last month when Daniel Vaughn, aka the BBQ Snob, wrote his review about a disappointing trip to New Zion, giving them a 2-star rating (out of a possible 6). Click here to see the review of his journey to the church. He wrote, "After all…
Joints - 03/13/2010
snowscmbo

Breakfast at Snow's

We had a full tank of gas, two big coolers, a set of horseshoes and an big appetite for central Texas BBQ. Our bags were packed with the consummate BBQ tour attire: sandals, extremely comfortable shorts & our favorite Hawaiian shirt. Why two coolers? One for the ice-cold beer, a necessity on any BBQ Tour, and one with the capacity to bring home 20 pounds of smokin meat. We overnighted in Rockdale, north of Lexington, and arrived at a foggy Snow's BBQ in Lexington before 8am, beating the crowd by 15 minutes. They're only open on Saturdays and the meat…
Joints - 03/12/2010
GaryBrandys

Road trip to Randy's Bar-B-Que in Red Oak

Texas BBQ Posse members loaded up a couple of cars on Tuesday and headed down to Red Oak to check out lunch at Randy’s Bar-B-Que. Daniel Vaughn had named Randy's the number 2 BBQ joint in DFW in his recent D Magazine rankings, so we had to check it out for ourselves. We were wheels up at 11:10 or so from downtown Dallas. Posse member Irwin Thompson warned that we better get there by before noon or risk a long line. We pulled in the lot a little bit after 11:30 and barely beat the crowd. It's a nondescript building…
Joints - 03/11/2010
2stanleysOLD-1

Flashback at Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q

We started our recent East Texas BBQ Tour at Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q in Tyler. It's been around since the 1950s, when W.G. Watson owned the joint. J.D. Stanley, a former oil field worker, bought and renamed it in 1960. Nick & Jen Pencis now own Stanley's, with deep respect to a 50-plus years of the history within. I grew up in Tyler and some of my earliest dining memories are from Stanley's. Much to my surprise, the place is almost exactly how I remember it 40 years ago, when Mr. Stanley was taking orders at the counter. I always…
Joints - 03/09/2010
PATGEES-1

Coming soon: Tales from the East Texas BBQ Tour

A couple of weeks ago, the Texas BBQ Posse headed to east Texas in search of the best BBQ in the area. Posse founding member Gary Jacobson will once again be writing a story on the road trip for The Dallas Morning News, but you can click here for a sneak peek at the slideshow from our journey to the piney woods. We'll let you know when the story is published in two weeks or so. The posse was made up of three of our members from the central Texas tour and five newbies. My dad James Wilkins, a Tyler…
Joints - 03/07/2010
meshackscombo

Speaking of BBQ and Shacks

Another great BBQ joint in the Dallas area is Meshack's Bar-B-Que Shack in Garland, some of the best brisket you'll find north of Snow's BBQ in Lexington, Texas. Meshack's opened in May 2009 in a small building east of old downtown Garland. It was discovered by Daniel Vaughn, the BBQ Snob, later in August and the rest is history. Daniel blogged about Meshack's on his Full Custom Gospel BBQ blog, assigning it his first 4-star ranking in the Dallas area, outside of a few in Ft. Worth. He recently ranked DFW BBQ joints for D Magazine, in his story titled…
Joints - 03/07/2010
DANIEL

A shout out to the BBQ Snob

For guidance and inspiration along the BBQ trail, the Texas BBQ Posse has turned many times to Daniel Vaughn, aka the BBQ Snob. Daniel is a local architect. He has a great website, the Full Custom Gospel BBQ blog, reviewing Texas BBQ joints. We had already started following his blog when fellow posse member David Woo and I had a chance to have lunch with Daniel at The Baby Back Shak. The Dallas Morning News was doing a story on the phenomenal success of his blog. David and I ate ribs and talked que with Daniel, then David shot photos…
People - 03/07/2010
Shakpig-1

Support your local Shak

Despite what you might read in D Magazine, the best BBQ in the city of Dallas is located at 1800 South Akard St. Just a mile south of City Hall, it's worth the trip any time to enjoy pitmaster and owner Clarence Cohen's masterfully prepared ribs and other meats at the Baby Back Shak. The ribs are the best we've had in Dallas, bar none. Clarence also offers great sides, including his green beans (reminds me of my grandma's) and the infamous Shak beans, some of the best BBQ beans you'll ever have. Click here to visit the Shak's website…
Joints - 03/07/2010
snows0ne

The Barbecue Chronicles: Our first journey to Central Texas

In thick fog on a Saturday morning, we missed the turn for Lexington. We quickly doubled back and arrived at Snow's BBQ a little after 8 a.m., relieved to see only a short line. A half-hour earlier, when we left our motel, none of us felt hungry. But the smell of wood smoke changed our minds. We ordered thick slices of tender brisket on white bread. "That's the best breakfast I've ever eaten," said Chris Wilkins. "I could have gone home at that point and the trip would have been worth it," said Gary Barber. Our lightning tour of the…
Roadtrips - 03/07/2010
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