Gary Jacobson

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Is Lockhart losing its title as the BBQ Capital of Texas?

Smitty's Market oak wood pile & Caldwell County courthouse. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) At the Posse, we're ready to declare State Highway 130, the high-speed tollway that skirts Austin, the Barbecue Super Expressway. However, we're beginning to wonder whether Lockhart, one of the main stops on that highway, still deserves its title as the BBQ capital of Texas. Yes, we know that's borderline smoked-meat heresy. But on our recent Best of Texas Tour, we ate at three Lockhart joints and only one -- Kreuz Market -- made our top tier of six. The others -- Smitty's Market and Chisholm…

Joints - 02/14/2013

Lines, lines, everywhere we go there are BBQ lines

Long lines at Franklin BBQ in Austin, top, and Pecan Lodge in Dallas. (Photos © Daniel Goncalves) Aaron Franklin has made it cool to stand in a long line for barbecue. That has been the norm at his joint in Austin going back to its trailer days in 2009. Now, the phenomenon appears to be spreading, as we discovered on our recent Best of Texas BBQ Tour. When we left Stanley's Famous Pit Bar-B-Que in Tyler about noon last Friday, three dozen people were in line and more appeared to be walking down the sidewalk to join the queue. This…

Joints - 02/13/2013

A respite from brisket, ribs and sausage on the Best of Texas BBQ tour

The Posse digs into a Brother-in-Law sandwich at Stanley's. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves) Discipline and portion control were the guiding principles of our recent Best of Texas BBQ Tour. They have to be when you eat at 10 places over a period of about 48 hours. But while we focused on -- and scored -- only brisket, pork ribs and sausage, we did manage to sample other fare on the first day of the tour, when we visited only 3 places. At Stanley's Famous Pit Bar-B-Que in Tyler, we loved the smoked turkey breast and the Brother-In-Law sandwich, made of chopped…

Joints - 02/12/2013

Snow's brisket is only meat to score a perfect 10 on Posse's Best of Texas BBQ Tour

Our perfect 10 brisket from Snow's BBQ in Lexington. (Photo by Tom Fox/DMN) During our recent Best of Texas BBQ Tour, we traveled nearly 700 miles over three days and tasted brisket, pork ribs and sausage at 10 top places in the state. Each meat was scored on a scale of 1 to 10 (best) by 6 members of Texas BBQ Posse. Just one received a perfect score: the brisket at Snow's BBQ in Lexington. "The taste almost explodes in your mouth," said Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins as he savored a bite. In 2008, Texas Monthly crowned Snow's, which is…

Joints - 02/11/2013

It’s the Super Bowl of BBQ tours for the Posse

As we prepared for our biggest tour ever this weekend, members of the Texas BBQ Posse faced their biggest controversy yet: Should sausage count as much as brisket in determining the best barbecue joint in the state? On our organized tours and smaller excursions over the past 4 years, members of the Posse have visited hundreds of places in search of the best smoked meats in Texas. Now, to determine the very best – at least for this one trip -- we plan to visit our 10 favorites over three days, covering nearly 700 miles. Then, we’ll rank the top…

Joints - 02/04/2013

Big BBQ beef ribs coming soon to Pecan Lodge in Dallas

Posse veteran Jim Rossman and I went to lunch at the Pecan Lodge on Thursday. For us, it was our first time to eat at the popular Dallas Farmers Market barbecue location since it was featured on the TV show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives at the end of May. The lines have just been too long. But when we arrived just before the 11 a.m. opening, only 15 or so people were ahead of us and it took only about 10 minutes to work our way to the cash register where we ordered. We both got 3-meat platters. And neither…

Joints - 09/14/2012

Still no joint of his own, but Clyde Biggins wins more BBQ fans

The first time we sampled the cooking of Clyde Biggins, the former Dallas BBQ king who is trying to make a comeback after nearly 17 years in prison, we arrived with about 10 Posse members and friends. The food was great. So was the company. That was a month ago. Since then, Clyde's fame has grown, even though he still doesn't have a joint of his own, just a portable smoker. When we arrived Friday for another lunch sampler, we were more than 30 strong, all anxious to taste Clyde's brisket, ribs and sausage. "It was better than the first…

People - 07/27/2012

Posse members react to Clyde Biggins' BBQ

There is no shortage of opinions on the Texas BBQ Posse. Often we differ among ourselves. That wasn't the case when we ate lunch last week at Clyde Biggins' house. We all agreed that the former Dallas BBQ King, trying to make a comeback after nearly 17 years in prison, can still cook. Here are comments from Posse members there: Michael Ainsworth: Took me back to a different time, when it was just a bunch of friends getting together for food and fun. It's not re-creatable. It just is. Chris Wilkins: What a great setting for a Friday afternoon BBQ…

People - 06/26/2012

Clyde is back, cooking some of the best BBQ in Dallas, but you can't buy it

Sometimes, the only place to start is at the beginning. In early January 2010, a large manilla envelope came to me in the mail from the federal prison in Fort Worth. A reader commented on a story I had written for The Dallas Morning News about the Posse's very first barbecue tour, to the Central Texas BBQ heartland. "It's all good," the reader wrote. "'But' have you really tasted the best barbecue in Texas?" The reader said his name was Clyde Biggins and that he once owned "Clyde's Old Fashion Hickory Smoked Barbecue" on Westmoreland Road in Dallas. "'Note,'" Biggins…

People - 06/25/2012

About the iguana who thought he was a cat and the python who only eats rats

On a barbecue tour, there is no such thing as down time. Even the long drives bring surprises. Last year, returning to Dallas from East Texas, we decided that someone should call out Texas Monthly for including joints that use gas-fired pits in its Top 50 BBQ rankings. We did just that, eventually engaging TM food editor Pat Sharpe in a constructive discussion about the magazine's selection criteria. Sometimes, we just learn interesting things about our fellow Posse members. On the first leg of our recent 35-hour, 700-mile dash to the Gulf Coast and back, Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins talked…

People - 06/22/2012

At Pecan Lodge, the Franklin-esque lines for BBQ begin to form at about 10:15 a.m. weekends

Just the other day, a barbecue friend asked me when the lines begin to form for the Pecan Lodge, open Thursday through Sunday for lunch at the Dallas Farmers Market. We have both tried to eat there on a work day since the Lodge was featured on the popular TV show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and been discouraged by long lines and gone elsewhere. This morning, I ran into my Oak Cliff neighbor and Pecan Lodge pitmaster Justin Fourton. He said business has continued to build since the show first aired in late May. On Thursdays and Fridays, he said,…

Joints - 06/20/2012

Professor Rossman explains the BBQ star system

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…

People - 06/18/2012

A meditation on "creamy, crunchy" BBQ perfection

Recently, one of our readers, probably from Houston, took issue with a reference here to the spectacular ribs at City Market in Luling, seen in the photo above. A Posse member called the best rib he had ever eaten -- just that morning at City Market -- "moist, creamy, crunchy perfection." Our reader wondered how any real barbecue fan could ever call a rib creamy. Of course, he was probably more upset that the same post essentially said the best barbecue in Houston was average when compared to the best in Dallas. Hot barbecue opinions, like hot sports opinions, do…

Cooking - 06/15/2012

On a barbecue tour, Facebook is your friend

From the accompanying video (* the video was removed a while after we wrote about it), it would appear that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a barbecue fan. Though it's hard to think that Silicon Valley's apparent taste for fish eyes would ever catch on in Texas. Anyway, real barbecue aficionado or not, the Posse wants to thank Zuck for developing the best tool ever for keeping barbecue fans informed and connected, especially when they are on a tour. Witness our recent 700-mile, 35-hour run to the Texas Gulf Coast and back. Posse co-founder and ace photographer Chris Wilkins regularly…

Joints - 06/13/2012

Houston BBQ king Jerry Pizzitola's epiphany: His brisket isn't in the same league as Snow's

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.…

Joints - 06/12/2012

History more interesting than BBQ at Pizzitola's in Houston

Pizzitola's. Great name for a pizza joint. And that's exactly what what some potential customers mistakenly thought until the place changed its signs several years ago, adding references to barbecue, said manager Lexie Moore. "Everyone thanked us for bringing barbecue to the neighborhood," Moore said. "We had it all the time." We arrived at Pizzitola's Bar-B-Cue on Shepherd Drive in Houston about an hour or so before closing on a Friday night. The joint touts itself as "Houston's Home for Spareribs" and they weren't bad. Neither was the sausage. But the brisket was closer to roast beef, dry and without…

Joints - 06/12/2012

If you want good BBQ in Houston, get in a car and drive 2 hours

Gatlin's BBQ, located just a few miles from downtown Houston, might have the best motto we've ever run into on our barbecue tours. "Welcome to Gatlin's," the sign said. "Where love is the secret ingredient." And if you want to experience the reality of life in a no-zoning, anything-goes big city, this is the place. Next door is a garden expo that looks like a nursery. Directly across the street are an engine repair business, a house where people live and an automotive sales building. Welcome to Houston. Gatlin's gets rave reviews from some, but the Posse was underwhelmed. "If…

Joints - 06/11/2012

The Posse takes a beach break in Galveston

For me, a little beach goes a long way. So, during the Posse's 45-minute beach break in Galveston last weekend, midway through a 700-mile, 35-hour barbecue tour, I mainly watched the pelicans dive-bombing for fish. At times, I'd swear those big birds were flying in attack formation. Phil Lamb, an attorney and also the wheelman on the tour in his Chevy Tahoe, fished from a rocky breakwater nearby. He caught one small mullet and 15 pounds of seaweed. Chris Wilkins, a photo editor at The Dallas Morning News, shucked his shoes and walked into the surf for a while. Then…

People - 06/09/2012

Unlocking at least one secret to what makes Fargo's Pit BBQ so good

Alan Caldwell, owner and pitmaster at Fargo's Pit BBQ in Bryan, has been very protective of the cooking secrets that help make his joint one of the top two or three in Texas. In the past, he has refused to tell the Posse and BBQ Snob Daniel Vaughn the kind of pit he uses or the kind of wood he burns. "You still refusing to show anyone your pit?" he was asked during our weekend barbecue tour that covered 700 miles and took us to the Texas Gulf Coast. "That's my secret," he said. "Let's talk about something else." After…

Joints - 06/08/2012

The thrill is gone from New Zion Missionary Baptist Church BBQ

Everyone in the Posse -- all five of us on this trip -- looked forward to our visit to New Zion Missionary Baptist Church Barbecue in Huntsville, the first stop on a 700-mile, 35-hour tour last weekend to the Texas Gulf coast. Some love the Church's food and wax poetic about the atmosphere. But we were disappointed. Really disappointed. "It was like a bubble burst," said Posse member Phil Lamb. "Boy, the romance is gone from that place." "It was probably good yesterday," Jim Rossman said after tasting the brisket. No smoke, no taste, and the meat looked as if…

Joints - 06/06/2012

Avoiding the dreaded barbecue belch

On a barbecue tour, sometimes wisdom sneaks up on you. And so it was in Galveston on Saturday when Leon O'Neal told us his secret to preventing his customers from burping after they ate his smoked meat. Use dry wood, the owner of Leon's World's Finest In and Out B-B-Q said, standing in front of a tall wall of cut oak. "That's where the after belch comes from." In other words, sappy wood is burping bad. Some might put this wisdom in the same category as always buy brisket from the left side of the cow, which we wrote about a…

People - 06/05/2012

Casting call for the Aaron Franklin-John Mueller BBQ movie

Just finished the February Texas Monthly cover story about Aaron Franklin and John Mueller and it is a very nice read. Posse member Mike Gagne even thinks the tale of the novice pitmaster (Franklin) and the troubled master (Mueller) would make a great movie. Tobey Maguire as Franklin? Sean Penn as Mueller? One pivotal scene in any movie would certainly have to be when Franklin had his barbecue epiphany at Louie Mueller Barbecue in 2002. "I think I might have cried a little bit," Franklin told Texas Monthly of his reaction after his first taste of Mueller's brisket. When the…

People - 02/01/2012

Do Texans need some Q-schoolin? It's your turn to tell us what you think

Posse pitmaster Marshall Cooper is a man of conviction, especially when it comes to smoked meat. After mulling our recent Roots of Dallas BBQ Tour for several days, he was still stunned by the lack of smoke taste we found on the barbecue at the original Sonny Bryan's, Odom's, Dickey's and Peggy Sue's. Why don't some of the most popular Dallas BBQ joints, some with real wood pits, put more smoke flavor on their meat? Is it because of the cost of wood? Do customers really prefer smokeless BBQ? Or, don't they know the difference? "I would like to know…

Cooking - 01/20/2012

Where's the smoke? the Posse asks after visiting historic Dallas joints

The wooden sign on the wall at the original Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse on Inwood Road says "Real Texas Bar-B-Que." It's next to a large black and white photo of Sonny himself. The late Dallas BBQ patriarch, dressed in a white shirt, white apron and white chef's hat, has a gentle smile on his face and a big carving knife in his hand. Once upon a time, that sign might have been accurate. Not anymore. The same goes for all four of the joints the Posse visited on a recent Saturday during its Roots of Dallas BBQ Tour, which included the…

Joints - 01/19/2012

To shig, or not to shig, that is the barbecue question

Excuse me if I'm late to the party, but I just learned a new word: shigging. It means stealing, or attempting to steal, someone's barbecue secrets. The term seems to have come out of the BBQ competition circuit, but also works for joints and backyard pitmasters. For example, my good friend Bryan Gooding, who won the chicken category at the Blues, Bandits & BBQ cook-off in Oak Cliff last year, won't share his recipe. But I watched him. And there's vinegar -- and ice cubes -- in his brine. And on tours, the Posse is almost always shigging. We're constantly…

Cooking - 09/15/2011

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