Visiting Austin


 
G

Graham Timson

New member
My son surprised me a few weeks ago when he said that in December this year, he would be attending an Amazon reseller event in Austin Texas. What's more, he invited me to accompany him. He was well aware of my love for traditional American BBQ since our family BBQs in England were never just about throwing a few burgers or sausages on a grill, he grew up on my Texas-style brisket, ribs and pulled pork. This short visit for him, is primarily a business trip.

For both of us, it is a golden opportunity to visit some legendary BBQ joints and some priceless father-son experience. It is a long way to travel for a 5-day visit, so would very much like to make the most of our short stay and would appreciate some suggestions as to the best places to go for a genuine Texas BBQ experience. We have earmarked Franklin's for one venue which happens to be a 10-minute walk from our hotel but I'd like other suggestions also. Black's has a high profile but is it maybe a bit touristy? I don't know. Could you guys help out and steer us in the right direction?

Also, any suggestions for blues clubs, please? we both enjoy good live music
Graham
 
A good source of information is the bbq restaurant directory below. Page 20 has the Lockhart joints and that’s a short drive from Austin. Have fun.
 
Graham Timson said:
My son surprised me a few weeks ago when he said that in December this year, he would be attending an Amazon reseller event in Austin Texas. What's more, he invited me to accompany him. He was well aware of my love for traditional American BBQ since our family BBQs in England were never just about throwing a few burgers or sausages on a grill, he grew up on my Texas-style brisket, ribs and pulled pork. This short visit for him, is primarily a business trip.

For both of us, it is a golden opportunity to visit some legendary BBQ joints and some priceless father-son experience. It is a long way to travel for a 5-day visit, so would very much like to make the most of our short stay and would appreciate some suggestions as to the best places to go for a genuine Texas BBQ experience. We have earmarked Franklin's for one venue which happens to be a 10-minute walk from our hotel but I'd like other suggestions also. Black's has a high profile but is it maybe a bit touristy? I don't know. Could you guys help out and steer us in the right direction?

Also, any suggestions for blues clubs, please? we both enjoy good live music
Graham
Click to expand...
What a great father and son trip! I am sure wherever you land in Austin or nearby area for BBQ you will have some memorable times. This is the type of thing I hope to do with my sons one day!
 
Graham Timson said:
My son surprised me a few weeks ago when he said that in December this year, he would be attending an Amazon reseller event in Austin Texas. What's more, he invited me to accompany him. He was well aware of my love for traditional American BBQ since our family BBQs in England were never just about throwing a few burgers or sausages on a grill, he grew up on my Texas-style brisket, ribs and pulled pork. This short visit for him, is primarily a business trip.

For both of us, it is a golden opportunity to visit some legendary BBQ joints and some priceless father-son experience. It is a long way to travel for a 5-day visit, so would very much like to make the most of our short stay and would appreciate some suggestions as to the best places to go for a genuine Texas BBQ experience. We have earmarked Franklin's for one venue which happens to be a 10-minute walk from our hotel but I'd like other suggestions also. Black's has a high profile but is it maybe a bit touristy? I don't know. Could you guys help out and steer us in the right direction?

Also, any suggestions for blues clubs, please? we both enjoy good live music
Graham
Click to expand...
I'm linking Chris's post which is a lot of fun to read on the flight over and hopefully useful!

https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/tvwb-central-texas-barbecue-crawl-tips-for-planning-your-trip-1/
 
I've been dying to go to Leroy and Lewis. It's a food truck although a brick and mortar is coming soon. Valentina's for the breakfast burrito is amazing. Terry Black's is pretty solid and one of the few open for dinner. Salt Lick is more about the atmosphere. The food itself is kind of mid-level. They use gas-fired rotisseries and the open pits you see are mostly for holding and reheating. It a cool drive, though.

Others I've heard about but haven't been to are La Barbecue, Micklethwait, Interstellar.

I haven't been to Franklin in years but it was amazing and every bit worth the wait. I've been wanting to go to Lockhart at some point.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I've been dying to go to Leroy and Lewis. It's a food truck although a brick and mortar is coming soon. Valentina's for the breakfast burrito is amazing. Terry Black's is pretty solid and one of the few open for dinner. Salt Lick is more about the atmosphere. The food itself is kind of mid-level. They use gas-fired rotisseries and the open pits you see are mostly for holding and reheating. It a cool drive, though.

Others I've heard about but haven't been to are La Barbecue, Micklethwait, Interstellar.

I haven't been to Franklin in years but it was amazing and every bit worth the wait. I've been wanting to go to Lockhart at some point.
Click to expand...
Dustin is correct.
 
Graham Timson said:
My son surprised me a few weeks ago when he said that in December this year, he would be attending an Amazon reseller event in Austin Texas.
Click to expand...
Welcome to Texas, Graham. In Austin, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a decent barbecue joint. Franklin is the place for brisket, to be sure. The lines are long, but you can order take-away in advance. There's a minimum dollar order (around $100, I think), but if your son has a couple of friends to go in on the deal, it might be an option. Check their website for details.

If you'd like some history with your barbecue, Lockhart is the birthplace of Central Texas barbecue and it's about 20 minutes out of downtown. Black's, Kreuz, and Smitty's are all there. Smitty's is the original location (see photo below) and it's a unique slice of Americana that shouldn't be missed. As soon as you walk in the front door, the visual environment and the aroma will hypnotize you. You place your order at the end of the corridor, which is where the pits are located. Fully old school.

As far as music is concerned, Austin isn't the blues Mecca it was when Stevie Ray ruled the world, but there is still excellent music - including blues - all over town. The best listening room is the Saxon Pub on South Lamar. It typically features multiple bands per night of varying styles, but all good. Farther down Lamar is The Broken Spoke, an original honky-tonk that hasn't changed in decades. (It's now surrounded by high-rises, but still has a dirt parking lot.) If you want to witness some Texas 2-stepping, this is the place. The Continental Club is another famous venue that features good music. It's on South Congress (SoCo) in the middle of an active nightlife area. 6th Street is loaded with bars that feature live music. It caters to the college crowd and is worth a stroll.

Smitty’s by Jeff Hasselberger, on Flickr
 
If you can , make your way a little south of Austin to Driftwood.
Salt Lick BBQ- Driftwood TX ( they also have a location in Round Rock, but the Driftwood location is amazing and a great experience.
Its a beautiful drive roughly 22 miles southwest of Austin and amazing BBQ

For a quick breakfast, go to Rudy's BBQ
They have amazing breakfast burritos & darn good BBQ for quick in and out.

Terry Blacks is another top notch BBQ joint. - some say it rivals Franklins

Even H.E.B has an amazing selection of pre cooked Brisket and all things carnivore.
 
I've been to Black's in Austin a couple times and it was really good. No frills and didn't seem super touristy. Parking sucks. Pro tip: get the brisket sandwich. It's almost a half pound of brisket, but only $9 (half pound runs $13 I think). The sides are pretty good, but the street corn was not. If you can get to the one in Lockhart, that is where they actually do the smoking, and I have heard it's even better.

And if you end up in Tyler or Bastrop, stop by Buc ee's. Their sliced brisket sandwich is pretty good for a gas station. And the beaver nuggets are insane!
 
Graham Timson said:
My son surprised me a few weeks ago when he said that in December this year, he would be attending an Amazon reseller event in Austin Texas. What's more, he invited me to accompany him. He was well aware of my love for traditional American BBQ since our family BBQs in England were never just about throwing a few burgers or sausages on a grill, he grew up on my Texas-style brisket, ribs and pulled pork. This short visit for him, is primarily a business trip.

For both of us, it is a golden opportunity to visit some legendary BBQ joints and some priceless father-son experience. It is a long way to travel for a 5-day visit, so would very much like to make the most of our short stay and would appreciate some suggestions as to the best places to go for a genuine Texas BBQ experience. We have earmarked Franklin's for one venue which happens to be a 10-minute walk from our hotel but I'd like other suggestions also. Black's has a high profile but is it maybe a bit touristy? I don't know. Could you guys help out and steer us in the right direction?

Also, any suggestions for blues clubs, please? we both enjoy good live music
Graham
Click to expand...
Update
My thanks to all of you who responded to my post concerning a visit to Austin, this is what we did.
We are back in England now and I can tell you we really enjoyed ourselves during our shot BBQ tour. The only trouble was we needed more time, perhaps a second visit sometime in the future as 3 days was definitely not enough. We tried Terry’s, Terry Blacks and Franklins. Even managed a few Tacos from various trailers and they were all good. We have very fond memories of our visit to Austin it started on arrival when we sailed through passport control fastest ever anywhere, in my experience. The Airbnb was excellent situated being on the edge of 6th street. Only one regret, we would have like to have gone to Lockhart we simply did not have the time.

All BBQ joints were superb, Black’s was a little more low key but the Brisket was delicious the ribs and pulled pork excellent also. Terry Black’s had a fantastic vibe and was the busiest of all and we did not have to queue (I mean wait in line). After we had eaten I wandered round the back and a voice boomed out “would you like a tour of the pits”. “Well I certainly would” I said. The guys were very welcoming and answered all my questions and allowed me to take pictures, unforgettable. On Thursday morning the day of our flight home we went to Franklin’s. As we were not flying out until 7pm we had plenty of time, so we decided to arrive at 10.30am, to my amazement there were only about 20 people before us. So by 11.15 we were sitting down and eating the best BBQ I have ever had, pity I ordered too much as usual, I never learn. We were offered and accepted an invite to see the pits and talk to the pit master who told me had 130 Briskets on the go spread around 4 huge pits, and again I was allowed to take pictures.

We had some interesting conversations with several Uber drivers who spoke of many up and coming BBQ smoke houses such as Rudy’s, LA Barbecue rivalling Franklin’s and other well known established places. We did make time to have a look around Austin, the state capital building was magnificent and if I had brought swimming shorts I would have gone for a swim in Barton Springs Pool which looked very inviting even in December where the temp is a constant 69F all year round. We paid a visit to the White Horse Honky Tonk for some Country music and watched the experts filling the dance floor with some Texas 2 stepping.

The whole experience in Austin was delightful and my son and I had a wonderful time and got to meet some really nice people.

Graham
 
I made the pilgrimage to Austin and surrounding area in 2022 and had a fantastic time.
Definitely need a return trip as there are still many BBQ restaurants I need to visit.
Didn't make it to Snow's :cry:

Franklin's was probably the highlight but so many other good places, most notably Pinkerton's in San Antonio.
Made it to Lockhart (Old school BBQ joints) , San Antonio (The Alamo) and Fredericksburg ( amazing Pacific war museum)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top