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See the photos: First trip (of many) to Lockhart Smokehouse

After waiting several months for Lockhart Smokehouse's opening day, the Posse made its way across the ice-packed Houston Street viaduct today for lunch in the OC. We were not disappointed. Posse pitmaster Marshall Cooper, his son Mark & I sampled the meat spread shown above. We ordered brisket, shoulder clod, a pork chop and Kreuz jalapeno sausage. Jim Rossman and Gary Barber joined in on the meatfest as well. There was nothing left but grease-soaked butcher paper when we were done. It was their second day of business, unfortunately we were too jammed at work to get away on opening…

Joints - 02/04/2011

Super Bowl XLV Media Party - See photos of the Texas BBQ celebration

Even Super Storm 2011 couldn't stop the BBQ greatness of the Super Bowl XLV Media Party last night at the House of Blues. Eight of the planned ten pitmasters from across Texas made it through the ice and snow to the HOB. The teams were Snow's BBQ of Lexington, Louie Mueller Barbecue of Taylor, Franklin Barbecue of Austin, Black's BBQ of Lockhart, Blue Ribbon BBQ (Mikeska family) of Austin, Mills County BBQ Company of Goldwaite, Stanley's Famous Pit BBQ of Tyler, Schoepf's Old Time Pit BBQ of Belton and Earl Campbell's Sausage. Only the teams from Cooper's Old Time BBQ…

People - 02/02/2011

Papa Joe's Backyard BBQ: It's a family affair

Editors note: This BBQ joint s now closed. The first of Oak Cliff's three new BBQ joints, Papa Joe's Backyard BBQ, opened today with an 11am ribbon cutting. Friends and family were on hand to see Lee and Beverly Alvarez's two-year labor of love come to life. Lockhart Smokehouse, located in the Bishop Arts district, will open next Wednesday. Luckie's Smokehouse BBQ, located at 1300 W. Davis across from the Kessler Theater, is also opening very soon. Papa Joe's is located in Oak Cliff's Elmwood neighborhood, near Edgefield and Illinois Aves. and also close to the Alvarez's home. The restaurant…

Joints - 01/29/2011

10 Texas BBQ giants gather in Dallas to cook for Super Bowl XLV Media Party

It's like a dream BBQ tour. Imagine hitting 10 of the best barbecue joints in Texas.....all in one night. Posse lead writer Gary Jacobson got the scoop this morning about a gathering in Dallas next week of legendary pitmasters. Snow's BBQ owner Kerry Bexley called to give Gary a heads up on the story. Pitmasters from 10 top TexasBBQ joints will gather in the parking lot of the House of Blues next Tuesday to cook for the 2011 NFL Super Bowl XLV Media Party, which is held that evening at the HOB. You have to be a Super Bowl credentialed…

People - 01/27/2011

Lockhart Smokehouse: See the photos of Oak Cliff's new BBQ hotspot

More on our blog post earlier today on the long-awaited opening of Lockhart Smokehouse in Oak Cliff. Thanks to an impromptu tour today by owner Jeff Bergus and pitmaster Tim McLaughlin, Posse member Tom Fox and I got to see the closest thing to Lockhart without driving 200 or so miles south to the BBQ capital of America. For those of you familiar with the routine at Lockhart's Kreuz Market, Tim says you should feel right at home. First of all, you order your meat at a counter located in front of the smoker. You order by the pound and…

Joints - 01/27/2011

Lockhart Smokehouse to open next Wednesday, Feb. 2nd

Great news for BBQ fans across North Texas and beyond. Lockhart Smokehouse will open on Wednesday, Feb. 2. It's likely been one of the most anticipated BBQ joint openings in DFW history. We dropped by today and met owner Jeff Bergus and pitmaster Tim McLaughlin as they get ready for the opening a week from tomorrow. We got a tour of the place and got a peek at their amazing custom-made Bewley smoker. Lockhart Smokehouse is located at the corner of Bishop and Davis, in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff. In the photo above, Tim, left, and Jeff…

Joints - 01/27/2011

Posse pitmaster Marshall Cooper talks butcher paper wrapped cooking with Mr. BBQ

Mr. BBQ Bruce Bjorkman has once again called on the Texas BBQ Posse to talk barbecue on his syndicated radio show. Texas BBQ Posse pitmaster Marshall Cooper will join Bruce this Saturday to talk about his test cooks smoking brisket and ribs with butcher paper wrap, rather than foil, during the cooking process. Posse lead writer Gary Jacobson has visited the show three times over the past year to share stories from our Texas BBQ tours, but this is Marshall's first appearance. He's a master backyard pitmaster, with over 25 years of experience manning the smokers. We first saw the…

Cooking - 01/21/2011

The Barbecue Chronicles: Central Texas 5-Star BBQ Tour, 8 joints in 26 hours

Some of us didn’t know what good smoked brisket was until we ate at Snow’s during our first Barbecue Posse tour a year ago. Since then, the Lexington place has been our unanimous standard. Nothing compared. But after a recent two-day, 555-mile “anniversary” tour to Central Texas, there’s a new favorite for several of us: Franklin Barbecue, a trailer joint at 34th street and I-35 in Austin. Over a 26-hour period, we ate at eight places, including lunch at Franklin and breakfast at Snow’s BBQ the next morning. Tour organizer Chris Wilkins, a photo editor at The Dallas Morning News,…

Roadtrips - 01/13/2011

Sad news for fans of Pat Gee's BBQ in Tyler

The first time I stepped into Pat Gee's Barbecue in the late 1970s, Vida Gee was manning the counter as husband Pat handled the smokers and cutting board. Mrs. Gee greeted you with a smile and some of the best BBQ to ever come out of the piney woods of east Texas. After Pat died in 1999, she continued to run the historic BBQ joint with her sons Arthur and Billy. My family members were regulars at Pat's, so I continued to go there through college and then on visits back home in Tyler over the years. I really enjoyed…

Joints - 01/08/2011

City Meat Market in Giddings - Is this one of the best joints in Texas?

I can't think of a better way to start the New Year than to share some great photos of City Meat Market in Giddings shot by Posse member Guy Reynolds. Guy is a Dallas-based photojournalist and fellow photo editor at The Dallas Morning News. Guy is a regular on our Texas BBQ tours, but was unable to join in on the recent Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour, an eight-stop trip that ended at the City Meat Market. However, he was driving through Giddings a week later and asked about the City Meat Market. I told him it very well…

Joints - 01/01/2011

Merry Christmas from the Texas BBQ Posse

We've been busy since 4pm Wednesday smoking Christmas briskets and hanging with Posse pitmaster Marshall Cooper. Best holiday wishes to you and yours and we hope to see you all on the BBQ trails of Texas in coming year!!!! Photo by Chris Wilkins

People - 12/25/2010

Pit Talk: Butcher paper wrapped brisket - Pitmaster Marshall Cooper shows you how

*We have an updated article Cooking butcher paper wrapped brisket, which includes a step-by-step video. Our recent Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour yielded an unexpected discovery as we talked technique with Aaron Franklin, owner of Franklin Barbecue in Austin. Several Texas BBQ Posse members are backyard pitmasters, so we are always pestering BBQ joint pit bosses for their tricks of the trade. This one stopped us in our tracks though, when Aaron casually mentioned that he wraps his award-winning brisket in butcher paper, rather than foil, during the cooking process. What was that? Butcher paper wrapped brisket? Pitmaster Marshall Cooper…

Cooking - 12/23/2010

Prause Meat Market in La Grange - Four generations of BBQ greatness

Our sixth stop on the Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour took us back in time to Prause Meat Market, a fourth generation meat market in the small town of La Grange. We had begun day two of the tour with breakfast at Snow's BBQ in Lexington, which set the bar for BBQ excellence for the day. La Grange is 39 miles south of Lexington on US Hwy. 77, a route that passes directly by City Meat Market in Giddings, one the the best BBQ joints in Texas. Gary Prause met us at the counter and basically gave us the…

Joints - 12/20/2010

Birth of a BBQ Joint - Mama Faye's in Deep Ellum

We had the rare opportunity to try a new BBQ joint on its second day of operation today. Plans were set into motion when Texas BBQ Posse member Gary Barber spotted a big smoker at the corner of Commerce and Walton Streets while at lunch in Deep Ellum the day before. Ernest and Francine Williams opened Mama Faye's BBQ at 2933 Commerce on Thursday. The joint is named after Francine's mother Faye, who supplied the sauce recipe, a family secret that dates back to the 1900s. They are already known in Deep Ellum for their mobile operation, selling sandwiches in…

Joints - 12/18/2010

Why we chose Snow's BBQ as the best joint in Texas

It was a tough call to name the best barbecue joint in Texas for our 2010 Best in Texas BBQ picks. After tallying the votes from Texas BBQ Posse members, we had three very strong contenders for the title. First came Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor. This is truly a world-class BBQ joint, with smoke staining the walls and windows. The tradition is there, the food is great and the ambiance is extraordinary. Their beef ribs and beef sausage are among the best we've ever had. The second contender was Snow's BBQ, situated in an old country feed store next…

Joints - 12/17/2010

Texas BBQ Posse - Follow us on Twitter!

We fought the Twitter thing for a couple of years, making fun of those who tweeted. But in the end, it's time for the Texas BBQ Posse to get aboard the Twitter revolution. "Son, if you can't beat'em, join'em," as my east Texas grandpa always said. Just a quick way to keep the Posse nation up to date with where we've been and what we're up to. Click here to follow us on Twitter, we'll promise to keep it interesting. Thanks for your support and remember, always let the meat speak for itself!

People - 12/15/2010

Announcing the Posse's "2010 Best in Texas BBQ" picks

We all know how controversial picking a "best of barbecue" list can be. Surf a few BBQ blogs in the Lone Star State and you'll be entertained for hours. Outside of religion and football, it's a close third for spirited and emotional discussion, to say the least. Folks in Texas take their BBQ very, very seriously. That being said, the Texas BBQ Posse is publishing our "2010 Best in Texas BBQ" picks. Disclaimer: We have not gone to every joint in Texas, that would take years. Thanks to our friend Daniel Vaughn and his Full Custom Gospel BBQ blog, we…

Joints - 12/13/2010

Wilkins tries something new - Blogging while riding shotgun on a BBQ tour

Given a choice, Chris Wilkins would prefer to do his blogging from home, a glass of red wine nearby. More and more, though, the Texas BBQ Posse co-founder has been live-blogging from the center of the action. During the Blues, Bandits & BBQ cook off in Oak Cliff in September, he regularly posted items and photographs over two days and one long night. "Can't believe I'm still standing," he wrote then. "It's 3:30 am and it's finally cooled down, after a pretty strong little thunderstorm..." On our recent "anniversary" tour to Central Texas, Wilkins tried something new: Posting from the…

People - 12/11/2010

It’s hard to beat BBQ and trains

A surprise from our recent anniversary tour of Central Texas barbecue joints was the discovery of all the train-watching opportunities near the places we visited. In Smithville, a few blocks from Zimmerhanzel’s Bar-B-Que, there’s a nice city park, with a big gazebo, located trackside. In Giddings, a short walk from the City Meat Market, you can watch coal trains (empty and full) pass through and visit a train museum. One of the exhibits lets you toot a train horn. Bet you can’t do it just once!! In Taylor, right outside the doors of the Taylor Cafe, there’s a switching yard…

People - 12/09/2010

Franklin Barbecue plans to move

UPDATE: According to our friends at Man Up Texas BBQ, Franklin Barbecue will be moving to 900 E. 11th St., the former location of Ben's Long Branch Barbecue, hoping to open some time in early January. On our recent Central Texas anniversary tour, Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue in Austin told us that he was looking to move soon to a permanent building. For about a year, he has been operating out of trailers at the back of an old gas station on the east side of I-35 at 34th street, producing what many of us in the Posse think…

People - 12/08/2010

Taylor Cafe - Your chance to attend the Vencil Mares University of BBQ

The final stop of day one of our Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour was the Taylor Cafe, a rare Texas BBQ joint open until 10pm, perfect for our overnight stop in Taylor between days one and two of the tour. I have written several times on the posse blog about Vencil Mares, owner of the legendary BBQ joint that he has operated since 1949. My respect for Vencil and what he means to the legacy of Texas BBQ is deep. You run a BBQ joint 7 days a week, from 6am to 10pm, for 61 years and then we'll…

Joints - 12/07/2010

Baby Back Shak - Is the "Rossman Platter" the best BBQ sampler deal in Dallas?

If you go to the Baby Back Shak and ask for the "Rossman Platter, it's very likely they'll look at you with blank stare and say "excuse me, what did you ask for?" To members of the Texas BBQ Posse, the Rossman Platter may be the closest thing to BBQ greatness that Dallas has to offer. To backtrack, Jim Rossman, shown above on a recent trip to the Taylor Cafe, is a member of the posse who also happens to the the Dallas Morning News tech guru. This man knows his Mac computers and iPhone stuff, but he also knows…

Joints - 12/06/2010

Southside Market in Elgin - It's on the way from Austin to Taylor....

As I was making the itinerary for our recent Central Texas 5-Star Anniversary BBQ Tour, I reluctantly added Southside Market in Elgin. It was on the way from stops one and two in Austin and our fourth stop at the Taylor Cafe in Taylor, where the posse was overnighting. The problem was that reviews of Southside Market are all over the place, never a good sign if you're looking for the best joints in Texas. This was either going to be the best sausage the posse had ever tasted or a waste of time. As we pulled in the parking…

Joints - 12/04/2010

Posse writer Gary Jacobson talks Central Texas cue with Mr. BBQ

Listen in as Texas BBQ Posse founding member and Dallas Morning News writer Gary Jacobson returns for his third visit this year with Mr. BBQ, a syndicated radio show out of Portland, Oregon. Gary is the preeminent barbecue expert at the Morning News and one of the top writers in the BBQ nation. Mr. Barbeque, aka Bruce Bjorkman, has an outdoor cooking show on Newsradio 750 KXL in Portland that is syndicated up and down the Pacific coast. Gary has become a regular visitor on the show as he helps spread the gospel of Texas BBQ to those less fortunate.…

People - 12/04/2010

Texas BBQ Posse named to list of top 50 BBQ blogs in U.S.

We got the news today from Cate Newton of the Guide to Culinary Schools that the Texas BBQ Posse blog has ben named as one of the top 50 BBQ blogs in the country. We share that honor with our Texas BBQ blogging friends at Man Up Texas Barbecue and Full Custom Gospel BBQ Blog. Cate writes, "I am writing to inform you that Texas BBQ Posse has been featured on Guide to Culinary Schools' list of the Top 50 BBQ Blogs. We hand-picked a list of our favorites and outlined the unique reasons why we love them. We chose…

People - 12/04/2010

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