In case you missed it, Texas Monthly's new Top 50 list of the best BBQ joints in the state is at the end of this post. The magazine will reveal its Top 4 on Thursday. Why only 4? We're hearing No. 5 had consistency problems and was dropped at the last minute.

Now, for some Posse reaction to the new Top 50:

-- The most interesting omission was Vera's Backyard Bar-B-Que in Brownsville. New Texas Monthly BBQ editor Daniel Vaughn put Vera's in his Top 5 in the state in his book, The Prophets of Smoked Meat. But maybe whole beef heads cooked with wood smoke didn't sync with TM's sensibilities.

-- Posse member Bryan Gooding called the choice of Cowpokes in Pearsall "bogus" and "a pity nod for the valley and possibly the wrong one instead of Vera's." Cowpokes is a gasser, Gooding says.

-- Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins said the list verified many of the Posse's recent conclusions. Lockhart is no longer the BBQ Capital of Texas (Smitty's didn't make the list), Austin is (new joints La Barbecue and John Mueller Meat Co. made it along with Stiles Switch, Franklin Barbecue, and Lambert's).

-- Wilkins was also surprised and impressed that seven Dallas-Fort Worth area joints made the list (Pecan Lodge and Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas, Meshack's in Garland, Longoria's and Cousin's in Fort Worth, Bartley's in Grapevine, Hutchins in McKinney).

-- Posse member Jim Rossman said he couldn't find any holes "to poke in the new list." By quick count, he said, he had been to 23 of the places on the new list and now had 27 more that he needed to visit.

"All in all, no controversy for me," Rossman wrote in an email. "Congratulations to Daniel Vaughn and the crew at Texas Monthly."

Texas Monthly's 2013 Top 50 BBQ Joints

ALAMO
The Original Willie's Bar-B-Que

AMARILLO
Tyler's Barbecue

AUSTIN
Franklin Barbecue
John Mueller Meat Co
La Barbecue
Lamberts Downtown Barbecue
Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew

BELTON
Miller's Smokehouse

BRYAN
Fargo's Pit BBQ

CYPRESS
Brooks' Place

DALLAS
Lockhart Smokehouse
Pecan Lodge

EAGLE LAKE
Austin's BBQ and Catering

FANNIN
McMillan's Bar-B-Q

FORT WORTH
Cousin's Bar-B-Q
Longoria's BBQ

FREDERICKSBURG
Cranky Frank's Barbecue Company

GALVESTON
Leon's World's Finest In & Out Bar-B-Que

GARLAND
Meshack's Bar-B-Que

GIDDINGS
City Meat Market

GRAPEVINE
Bartley's Bar-B-Q

HENDERSON
Bob's Bar-B-Que

HOUSTON
Gatlin's BBQ & Catering
Virgie's Bar-B-Que

JASPER
Billy's Old Fashion BBQ

JEFFERSON
Joseph's Riverport Barbecue

KERRVILLE
Buzzie's Bar-B-Q

LEXINGTON
Snow's BBQ

LIVINGSTON
Hitch-N-Post BBQ

LLANO
Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que

LOCKHART
Black's Barbecue
Kreuz Market

LULING
City Market

MARLIN
Whup's Boomerang Bar-B-Que

MCKINNEY
Hutchins BBQ

MEXIA
Kirby's Barbecue

PEADENVILLE
Hashknife on the Chisolm

PEARSALL
Cowpoke's

PECOS
Pody's BBQ

ROCKPORT
Hatfield's BBQ & Blackjacks Beer Garden

SAN ANTONIO
The Granary 'Cue and Brew
Two Bros. BBQ Market

SAN MARCOS
Hays Co. Bar-B-Que and Catering

SMITHVILLE
Zimmerhanzel's BBQ

SPICEWOOD
Opie's Barbecue

SPRING
Corkscrew BBQ

SWEETWATER
Big Boy's Bar-B-Que

TAYLOR
Louie Mueller Barbecue

TYLER
Stanley's Famous Pit Barbecue

VICTORIA
Mumphord's Place BBQ




Austin Top 5 plus Snow's

Texas BBQ Posse eBook Let the Meat Speak for Itself

Texas BBQ Posse eBook CTA 336x280

Texas BBQ Posse eBook Let the Meat Speak for Itself

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