Lunch In Lockhart
Jul. 18th, 2014 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebI'm off on Fridays and Robin's off every day and so we decided it would be a good day to go to Lockhart, the Barbecue Capital of Texas. I'd heard of Smitty's and Kreuz many times, now Black's is popular, and some locals also go to Chisolm Trail because although it's not quite as tasty, it's cheaper and has shorter lines.
Basically you go south on 183 until you get there. There's a point where the signs imply you should get on 130, the toll road, but 183 is basically the access road to 130 and there are no red lights (just lights flashing yellow), so there's no reason to get on the toll road unless it has a slightly higher speed limit.
Disclosure
Now, I am not a meat lover. Generally when I go to barbecue places, I get the chopped beef sandwich. The exception is at the Salt Lick where I'm always going with friends who order family style which means they bring never-ending plates of brisket, sausage, and pork ribs (plus sides). There, I eat the pork ribs. Yum!
Whenever barbecue is catered somewhere, I always get the bread and the barbecue sauce to help make the boring brisket more yummy. Sometimes I also have to put sausage on the sandwich I'm making, too to get enough flavor.
I usually find the sausage tasty, but so dripping in grease that I really don't want much.
Smitty's Market
Robin decided we would check out the first three places today and decide which one was the best (if possible). First stop: Smitty's. Why? Because they open the earliest.
First you walk down the hall to the back where the fires are going and order your meats. Summer plus hot fires equals--not that bad. Weird.
This place does not have chopped beef sandwiches, so I decided to just taste Robin's "lean" and jalapeno sausage. He told me the "lean" isn't brisket, but shoulder. Whatever.
Then you go through a door to the air conditioned part, order your sides and drinks, and have a seat. We did not order any sides.
The lean was delicious. By which I mean it does not need barbecue sauce. They have pretty good barbecue sauce there, but it just detracts.
I really liked the sausage, too. It was a little spicy hot, but the meat was delicious and not dripping in grease.
I decided to get half a pound of "lean" to bring to craft night tonight. Then, while waiting in line, I decided to get an additional half-pound to eat myself next week. It was so good that I decided that even if the other two places turned out to be better, I would not regret this decision.
Black's
All three of these places are in walking distance from each other. And the weather was amazingly good for mid-July late-morning weather: in the 70s! We really did get a cool front like Pam from Canada promised she had sent our way (though it arrived later than predicted).
Black's had an extremely narrow pathway along the salad-bar like area where you pick up your sides--again we didn't get any.
Then continue down the counter to where you order the meat. This place did have chopped beef sandwiches, so I got one. The guy asked whether I wanted pickles, onions and barbecue sauce. I said yes. Robin got brisket and a beef rib. The beef rib turned out to be quite expensive.
Then you continue to the area with the drinks, condiments, and seating. This place had much more ambiance. Mostly made out of dead animal heads, horns, and antlers, but more ambiance nonetheless.
My sandwich was delicious. Robin agreed, though he likes the one at Franklin's better. I ate half and put the other half in a container to take home for later so I wouldn't get too full.
I thought Robin's brisket and rib were pretty boring, so I prefer the sandwich as usual. Robin liked both the brisket and the rib, especially the beef rib because those are hard to find. But he liked the lean at Smitty's better than both.
There was a flyer explaining that Black's will be opening a new branch in Austin (they decided that it's a good idea to open a new branch every 82 years or so--I think you can guess how old they are) on Guadalupe just north of UT. Mmm, sandwiches.
Kreuz
Then we walked over to Kreuz, which is gigantic. Robin heard that when the original owner of Kreuz died, he gave one child the building and one child the name. They did not get along back then, so the child who got the building changed the name to Smitty's. The child with the name built a huge new building. The pit cooks went with whichever owner they liked best--ten to the former, twelve to the latter. They started with the same recipes but evolved in different directions.
It was a similar setup except gigantic. Walking to the back you pass two doors to the air-conditioned dining hall. There was a sign that vegetarians should enter one of those doors, but normal people should continue down the hall.
Again into a huge room with fires to order the meat. Robin got brisket and jalapeno cheese sausage. A sign said that you order the chopped beef in the other room, and the lady warned me that the sandwich had no sauce on it. I said that was fine.
Nevertheless, I tasted Robin's food first. The brisket seemed plain and boring. I decided not to order a chopped beef sandwich there after all. Worse yet, I decided to eat the other half of the one I had from Black's instead.
I also tasted the sausage. I was wondering why there were yellow puddles of grease coming out; then I remembered that this one was cheese flavored. Robin said I would like it because it had less jalapeno flavor. No. It still had a smoky flavor and was much hotter. Plus I didn't like the meat as much.
Robin said the macaroni and cheese was well-reviewed. I said I don't trust people's reviews of macaroni and cheese (everyone thinks Velveeta is such a great invention). If a group of people brings me there, I might try that for lunch, though.
We made sure to ask how to pronounce the name of the place: Krites. The dining room was fabulously huge and spacious. Plus they had a great covered patio.
Conclusion
Robin likes Smitty's best; I like Black's slightly better. Just for hanging out and having a party, Kreuz has the best atmosphere.
Downtown
Walking between Between Black's and Kreuz it smelled like horse manure--there was a nice breeze coming from a not fabulous direction. But Smitty's was closer to downtown. It's a big square with a fancy courthouse in it. Then there are shops and restaurants all through a one-block radius from it. It reminded me of the square in Denton.
Basically you go south on 183 until you get there. There's a point where the signs imply you should get on 130, the toll road, but 183 is basically the access road to 130 and there are no red lights (just lights flashing yellow), so there's no reason to get on the toll road unless it has a slightly higher speed limit.
Disclosure
Now, I am not a meat lover. Generally when I go to barbecue places, I get the chopped beef sandwich. The exception is at the Salt Lick where I'm always going with friends who order family style which means they bring never-ending plates of brisket, sausage, and pork ribs (plus sides). There, I eat the pork ribs. Yum!
Whenever barbecue is catered somewhere, I always get the bread and the barbecue sauce to help make the boring brisket more yummy. Sometimes I also have to put sausage on the sandwich I'm making, too to get enough flavor.
I usually find the sausage tasty, but so dripping in grease that I really don't want much.
Smitty's Market
Robin decided we would check out the first three places today and decide which one was the best (if possible). First stop: Smitty's. Why? Because they open the earliest.
First you walk down the hall to the back where the fires are going and order your meats. Summer plus hot fires equals--not that bad. Weird.
This place does not have chopped beef sandwiches, so I decided to just taste Robin's "lean" and jalapeno sausage. He told me the "lean" isn't brisket, but shoulder. Whatever.
Then you go through a door to the air conditioned part, order your sides and drinks, and have a seat. We did not order any sides.
The lean was delicious. By which I mean it does not need barbecue sauce. They have pretty good barbecue sauce there, but it just detracts.
I really liked the sausage, too. It was a little spicy hot, but the meat was delicious and not dripping in grease.
I decided to get half a pound of "lean" to bring to craft night tonight. Then, while waiting in line, I decided to get an additional half-pound to eat myself next week. It was so good that I decided that even if the other two places turned out to be better, I would not regret this decision.
Black's
All three of these places are in walking distance from each other. And the weather was amazingly good for mid-July late-morning weather: in the 70s! We really did get a cool front like Pam from Canada promised she had sent our way (though it arrived later than predicted).
Black's had an extremely narrow pathway along the salad-bar like area where you pick up your sides--again we didn't get any.
Then continue down the counter to where you order the meat. This place did have chopped beef sandwiches, so I got one. The guy asked whether I wanted pickles, onions and barbecue sauce. I said yes. Robin got brisket and a beef rib. The beef rib turned out to be quite expensive.
Then you continue to the area with the drinks, condiments, and seating. This place had much more ambiance. Mostly made out of dead animal heads, horns, and antlers, but more ambiance nonetheless.
My sandwich was delicious. Robin agreed, though he likes the one at Franklin's better. I ate half and put the other half in a container to take home for later so I wouldn't get too full.
I thought Robin's brisket and rib were pretty boring, so I prefer the sandwich as usual. Robin liked both the brisket and the rib, especially the beef rib because those are hard to find. But he liked the lean at Smitty's better than both.
There was a flyer explaining that Black's will be opening a new branch in Austin (they decided that it's a good idea to open a new branch every 82 years or so--I think you can guess how old they are) on Guadalupe just north of UT. Mmm, sandwiches.
Kreuz
Then we walked over to Kreuz, which is gigantic. Robin heard that when the original owner of Kreuz died, he gave one child the building and one child the name. They did not get along back then, so the child who got the building changed the name to Smitty's. The child with the name built a huge new building. The pit cooks went with whichever owner they liked best--ten to the former, twelve to the latter. They started with the same recipes but evolved in different directions.
It was a similar setup except gigantic. Walking to the back you pass two doors to the air-conditioned dining hall. There was a sign that vegetarians should enter one of those doors, but normal people should continue down the hall.
Again into a huge room with fires to order the meat. Robin got brisket and jalapeno cheese sausage. A sign said that you order the chopped beef in the other room, and the lady warned me that the sandwich had no sauce on it. I said that was fine.
Nevertheless, I tasted Robin's food first. The brisket seemed plain and boring. I decided not to order a chopped beef sandwich there after all. Worse yet, I decided to eat the other half of the one I had from Black's instead.
I also tasted the sausage. I was wondering why there were yellow puddles of grease coming out; then I remembered that this one was cheese flavored. Robin said I would like it because it had less jalapeno flavor. No. It still had a smoky flavor and was much hotter. Plus I didn't like the meat as much.
Robin said the macaroni and cheese was well-reviewed. I said I don't trust people's reviews of macaroni and cheese (everyone thinks Velveeta is such a great invention). If a group of people brings me there, I might try that for lunch, though.
We made sure to ask how to pronounce the name of the place: Krites. The dining room was fabulously huge and spacious. Plus they had a great covered patio.
Conclusion
Robin likes Smitty's best; I like Black's slightly better. Just for hanging out and having a party, Kreuz has the best atmosphere.
Downtown
Walking between Between Black's and Kreuz it smelled like horse manure--there was a nice breeze coming from a not fabulous direction. But Smitty's was closer to downtown. It's a big square with a fancy courthouse in it. Then there are shops and restaurants all through a one-block radius from it. It reminded me of the square in Denton.