WARNING: This post contains some gloating, but we hope it stops well short of excessive celebration.

A few weeks ago, we wrote about our latest BBQ tour, in search of good smoked meat in Houston.

We didn't find any. And we quoted Houston Chronicle photographer Smiley Pool, who shared a Pulitzer Prize while at The Dallas Morning News, saying if you wanted good BBQ in Houston, then you had to get in a car and drive two hours.

Several readers chided our taste and challenged our BBQ expertise. One even took at shot at the beer we drank. That's low. Really low.

Now comes a story out of Houston about Jerry Pizzitola, owner of Pizzitola's Bar-B-Cue on Shepherd Drive, one of the places we visited. We found the history of his joint better than the barbecue.

It seems that Pizzitola had an epiphany while eating at Snow's in Lexington early this year. After tasting Snow's brisket, Pizzitola realized that the brisket he served wasn't in the same league.

The Posse agrees. We think Snow's brisket is great. Only two other places in the state -- Franklin's in Austin and Fargo's in Bryan -- are equal or better.

Since seeing the light, Pizzitola and his pitmasters have been experimenting with different sizes of brisket, different cooking times, temperatures and wrapping techniques.

"It's better," Pizzitola told the Web site 29-25.com last week, "but it's not where we want it to be. Not now. Not yet."

We applaud Pizzitola's honesty and wish him luck in his quest. Better brisket is a noble goal.

And, we have to thank him for supporting our original judgment about Houston.

Indeed, good barbecue there is still two hours away.

Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse