Texas – The Tour
It was July, 2018. The Devon Outback
Despite it being summer we were huddled behind my camper van using a ProQ BBQ base as some sort of medieval brazier to keep warm in the nagging wind. Ty had just won the SCA Steak Cook Off at Q Fest. Fuelled by a heady cocktail of beer, wine, gin and some Jim Beam Red Stag we hatched a plan that we would attend the SCA World Steak Championships in Fort Worth, Texas in October. Ty’s win included a Golden Ticket to the championship. As a registered SCA judge I would try and get a judging spot. We had no choice other to go to Texas on a BBQ pilgrimage.
Spin forward to October. Ty and Georgina had flown in to Atlanta and had driven down through New Orleans to pick me up from Houston Airport. We made our way to our hotel close to the airport where we met our good friend Marvin.
Originally from Houston, he proposed a trip to Ninfa’s on Navigation in downtown Houston. It is famous for being the origin of the fajita – or tacos al carbon. Made with hand pressed lard infused tacos, peppers, tomato’s and chargrilled skirt (it’s the only true fajita), they were superb. The gallons of margaritas and flights of tequila would take their toll though, as Marvin proudly announced that “we didn’t take no Uber to be Pussies!”. It would become our battle cry.
Jet lagged, badly hung over and still half asleep, Marvin insisted we were up at 6 for a trip to Shipley’s Donuts. We needed t get them still warm he insisted! We stuffed our faces, drank coffee and pretended we were in some low budget cop series before saying our goodbyes to Marvin and starting our journey West. Lockhart was our target. Home of the big three – Kreuz, Blacks and Smitty’s. We knew it would be a challenge trying to fit all three in for lunch – time was limited! – but we had a plan. Just have one plate at each, no sides (We don’t need to Carbohydrates) and limit our selection to make it manageable.
Resistance was futile! The temptation of brisket in the great hanger at Kreuz, and the hot links, oh and ribs……… On to Blacks. Just a couple of hot links….. and a bit of brisket….. oh, and the Giant Short rib for which they are famous……. And that smoked turkey looks amazing……… Smitty’s next. Probably the most everyday place in Lockhart. More sausage. The brisket looked good. Oh and ribs. We lost our fight with the smoky, greasy meat and succumbed to a little mac n’ cheese here. We retreated to our Air BnB in the Tiny Texas Cabins to contemplate life, drink cold beer and pick at left overs we had bagged up on our journey.
City Market in Luling just up the road for lunch the next day. Its an old fashioned joint and very famous. A favourite of my good friend Byron. And really gives the impression of how everyday BBQ is in America. Most places are only open for lunch – the brisket is plentiful, fresh and juicy at this time. And loads of people drop in for take away lunch, scurrying away with brown bags full of BBQ. And it was full! More sausage, ribs and brisket. We were on a mission!
From here we headed towards Germantown and stopped in a cottage in the grounds of a vineyard in Texas wine country. It was idyllic. The next day saw us driving through a mountainous area of Texas – the Three Sisters. It was fabulous scenery and unlike all of the other areas of Texas we visited. Next stop was Bandera – the cowboy capital of Texas. We had heard about a bar that had a steak night where they provide the grills, the beer and the music and you bring your own steaks! It sounded like a great opportunity for Ty to get some practice in so we turned up with ProQ’s Beefy rub, three massive rib eyes, fairy dust and a thermapen much to the amusement of the Texas cowboy community.
From here turned North towards Fort Worth. The 4 BBQ joints we had visited were all pretty mainstream and established. Time for a BBQ shack then. We pulled into Paynes BBQ – its on a lot of best BBQ in Texas lists – a small joint on the side of the road. Mr Payne himself showed around the blackened smokers under the lean-too outside. It was excellent!
On to Fort Worth to meet up with our fellow traveller – Pete. We had booked another Air B n B and were loving the format – it was much more like living there that being tourists and Uber made it all easy to do. Our first night the SCA had invited all the international teams and judges to party in a brewery – it was great to meet friends new and old.
The next day saw us joining an organised tour of Fort Worth and surroundings. Of course, no tour would be complete without a bit of BBQ – 3 BBQ places were included in addition to the Fort Worth Water Gardens, The Stockyards to see the cattle drive and a couple of margarita stops. Billy “All my Exes Live in Texas” Delp was our roguish raconteur – stopping the traffic for our pictures, sharing the history and introducing us to pit masters as we toured the city. Most excellent.
And so to the SCA World Championships! 180 teams from all around the World competing for a $10,000 first prize! Ty and Georgina were competing, ably supported by Pete. They had managed to borrow a gazebo, grill and equipment from a local team so set up to cook in the qualifier on Saturday. Competition was fierce – I had managed to secure a place judging some of the best completion steaks in the world! The ProQ guys didn’t qualify for the finals on day two but went on to cook in another open round running in parallel. It was an awesome event!
Our next target was Austin – we couldn’t come to Texas without getting to Franklins. First stop was Red Rock Dounts for their world famous donut the size of your head. The on too a shooting range where we were handed a Kalashnikov, a Glock and a couple of boxes of ammunition. It was incredibly easy to arm ourselves and let off some rounds with little control or instruction. We had read about a restaurant called Lomo in Austin – collaboration between Aaron Franklin and Chef Tyson Cole of Uchi. After a week of grilled and smoky meat some delicious meat fused with sharp and spikey Asian flavours was just what we needed!
The next morning saw us up at 6. Our Air BnB was just 200 yards from Franklins so it was an easy walk with our chairs and coolers of cold beer to wait in line for them to open at 1100. We had heard they often sell out by 2 and the queue starched right across the parking lot by mid morning.
You need to pre order so make sure you have thought about what you want – a helpful waiter passed along the line and took our order, helping with our choices. We were quickly at counter ordering wet and dry brisket, ribs, sausage and sides. It was sublime! No, better than that. People will tell you they have the best brisket here and as we travelled towards Austin we really couldn’t believe Franklins could top the ones we tried. But it did!
Our last day Pete and I headed to Valentina’s, a Tex Mex BBQ place in a food truck on eth outskirts of Austin for one last hurrah! We had heard that this si where Aaron Franklin goes for Brisket! It was so good!
In 10 days, we tasted amazing BBQ at 11 spots – some big, many famous, some small family run places and attended the SCA World Championships for 2 days. Fabulous trip!
Kreuz – Lockhart
Blacks – Lockhart
Smitty’s – Lockhart
City Market – Luling
Paynes BBQ Shack
Angelos – Fort Worth
Off the Bone – Fort Worth
Smokeys BBQ – Fort Worth
Loro Asian BBQ – Austin
Franklins – Austin
Valentina’s Tex Mex – Austin
Plus a few chicken fried steaks and random taco’s ;)
One last tip, there is a chain of service stations called Buckey’s on the Interstates. Reputed to have the cleanest rest rooms in Texas and selling everything from cold craft beer through brisket sandwiches, BBQ’s, lodge pans and clothing it became our lifeline on the road – one of the few places we were able to source much needed fresh fruit and vegetables.
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By Andy Williams