My company started scheduling all internal summits in Dallas a few years ago, and then my client moved headquarters to Austin. Texas went from a distant foreign land to a state that I visited somewhat frequently. As someone with the wanderlust syndrome, I take every opportunity to do touristy stuff. On these business trips to Texas, that touristy stuff was barbecue. While still far from being a snob or expert, by this point I’ve sampled a good subset of top-rated BBQ joints to have an opinion on my briskets and ribs. Here’s a list:
Dallas
1. Lockhart
I’m not a big “vibes” guy, but some things are just better when done in specific ways. For example, dim sum should be picked out of a push cart, and barbecue needs to be cut to your order by the pit master. Lockhart in Bishop Arts District is the only barbecue joint where I got to stand in front of a giant smoker to place an order. It was a bit intimidating, actually, having to follow the sign to the darker back side of the restaurant. But it also elevated my relationship with the meat to witness it being sliced and wrapped in paper by the tough-looking guy who took my order.
The food was excellent. It was made better by the absence of trays and plates. Why bother with proper dining ware when I could simply unwrap the steaming hot meat, squeeze delicious sauce all over that paper, and tackle it with my bare, manly hands? Fear not about making a mess as there’s plenty of napkins… eh, I mean brown paper towel.
2. Pecan Lodge
Everyone seemed to agree that Pecan Lodge had the best barbecue in central Dallas, so it’s been on my bucket list for a while. However, due to its rather limited hours pre-pandemic, I didn’t get to try it during my first three visits to the city. My company’s meeting planner once arranged to have them cater lunch, a thought I much appreciated, but barbecue is far from the best food you could prepare offsite and bring into a conference room.
Four years after hearing its reputation, an opportunity finally arose during the couple hours between the end of a conference and our flight home. Tim and I decided to make a stop there en route to the airport, and the experience was fabulous. I had sampled a fair share of top-rated barbecue by this point, and just had lunch at the conference an hour prior, and would not hesitate to call its brisket and ribs the best I’ve had.
3. Terry Black’s
Andrew and I ate here on a Monday night because, well, the super-famed Pecan Lodge was not open. It was by no means a disappointment, though, as Terry Black’s was a famous BBQ brand in Austin that also opened a location in Deep Ellum of Dallas. Spacious, brightly lit, and clean, it would be my top choice if I had to bring a date or a client to barbecue.
Let’s get the negatives out of the way first – the brisket at this place was no good. It was dry like the kind served by restaurants in places where people don’t really eat barbecue. But no matter, because the star at Terry’s was the beef rib. I can’t compare it to anything because I haven’t been anywhere else that sold beef ribs, but I sure am glad to have tried it despite its massive presence both on my tray and on the credit card receipt. Whereas most barbecue was measured by weight, including pork ribs, the beef rib was sold by the rib. If you are ignorant, like me, about how much larger a cow is than a pig, this would be your wake-up call. My “as small as possible” rib was two pounds, and I paid probably $30 just for the weight of the bone. If we judge food only by the first bite, few things come to mind as having wowed me as much as the salty, fatty charred beef clinging on that club-sized bone. Finishing that whole thing (plus half a pound of that brisket), on the other hand, was not among the more mature life decisions I’ve made. Imagine plotting one’s happiness level over the course of a meal, between the first and last bites. This would be a steep downward slope, just like that time Ron and I each ate two cheese steaks in Philadelphia.
4. Ferris Wheelers
Ferris Wheelers Backyard and BBQ (confusingly, not “backyard BBQ”) was among the top rated barbecue places in the city that opened for dinner on Mondays. It was a few miles northwest of downtown core, and sat on a wide stroad behind a large parking lot. Unless you are staying at one of the hotels directly across, odds are high that you can’t get here without a car. It was on the Lyft ride to this meal when my driver told me to expect 2/3 of the cars around us to have a gun in it. Because Texas.
I recall this place being dimly lit and having a quiet vibe. The large windows perhaps made it more depressing because the view consisted of just asphalt and cars. Food was good, though.
What stood out most about this place was having some level of table service. I ordered at the counter just like at other barbecue joints. But instead of being handed my food right away or called back to pick it up at a window, I took a number and sat down. A friendly waitress brought me a bucket of sauces, followed by my drink, then the food. That had to be the Ritz level service for an authentic place where I ate sticky meat with bare hands.
Austin
1. Henry’s BBQ
When your most important clients and coworkers haven’t eaten lunch at 4pm, and have flights to catch in an hour, what do you do? Suggest that they grab a bite at the airport? Wrong. You take them to this barbecue joint on the side of the road, with bars on the windows and barbwire above the fence, next to a motel advertising weekly rates. Whatever happens next will be remembered by all, very possibly more so than the meeting that just took place with the client’s bosses. The nature of that memory just depends on the reliability of the rating system on Google Maps.
What appeared to be the restaurant at first was really just a dining room, with nothing other than several basic tables and chairs. That made all the iron bars all that curious… I mean what’s there for anyone to steal? The food was made in the backyard, as barbecue should be, and sold from a trailer. As I bathed my blazer in the Texas afternoon sun and stepped my best pair of dress shoes on the gravel, I wondered how often people paid for meals here with a corporate Amex card. I was gonna meet up with friends for dinner right after this; ordered a whole pound of meat anyway.
We went into the dining room and waited for two friendly dudes to bring our order in paper (meat only), Styrofoam boxes (meat with sides), and Ziploc bags (white toast). I felt right at home and started digging in with my hands. It wasn’t until I noticed everyone else using flimsy plastic utensils, that I was reminded how the same group had eaten the previous dinner at an upscale steakhouse where valet parking alone cost $15. The food here was excellent – juicy, tender, flavorful, and stands proud next to these top barbecue joints on my list – but let’s just hope my clients remember the food more than they remember those iron bars.
Airports
1. Salt Lick AUS
Before taking our clients to Henry’s, Sean mentioned that the Austin airport had a Salt Lick, “the best barbecue found in a Texas airport”. I went the next day, got a box of food, and mentioned to the bartender that I had heard great things about this place. “It’s not bad for airport food,” she replied. With emphasis on the qualifier.
2. Cousin’s BBQ DFW
This place gets a mention primarily as a point of comparison with Salt Lick above. It wasn’t a disappointing meal compared to other airport food options like Burger King, but that’s about all I can say about it.
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