So we're sitting in our bring-your-own chairs on the narrow sidewalk outside of Fargo's Pit BBQ in Bryan during our recent tour, loudly licking our fingers after eating some fine brisket, ribs, chicken and sausage.

"I like everything," I said.

"That's rare," Posse member Jim Rossman said. "A five-star place is good at everything. A six-star place is good at everything all the time. Consistency."

Rossman, a technology expert at The Dallas Morning News when he isn't visiting pawn shops and eating barbecue, did an authoritative job explaining the star-rating system that the Posse borrows from Daniel Vaughn, the BBQ Snob.

True, Vaughn can be a bit more poetic. He defines a six-star joint, his highest rating, as a place to "reconsider your honeymoon destination."

But there are only two in Texas -- Fargo's and Franklin BBQ in Austin -- and we were at one.

"Mmmmm, that's good," Rossman said, licking his fingers again. "It's a good meal when you can finish like that."

Yes, it was.

Photos ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse. Bottom photo of Jim Rossman, left, with his dad Tom.