Schmidt Family Barbecue Austin,TX

Located at the corner of Bee Cave Rd. and HWY 71

Schmidt Family Barbecue opened in October of this year and has brought Lockhart, TX barbecue to Austin.  The Schmidts of Lockhart own both Kreuz Market and Smitty's Market and although the one side of the family who owns Smitty's and the other owning Kreuz have had a rivalry going on for years seem to finally agreed on something, bring Lockhart barbecue to Austin.  This truly is a family affair because even the family (Jill Bergus) who owns Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas is also involved in the operation or at least represented on the walls.  Pictures of Smitty's, Kreuz, and Lockhart Smokehouse adorn the walls of Schmidt Family Barbecue.  The existence of this place is kind of a big deal in the Central Texas barbecue world because it represents a "burying of the hatchet" so to speak.  (BTW, I've heard rumors that Black's Barbecue in Lockhart is also opening a satellite store in Austin).  Well, on to my visit to Schmidt Family Barbecue.

Cold and rain didn't keep people away the day we went

 So I go down to Austin the weekend before Thanksgiving to visit family and hit Stiles Switch BBQ on Lamar and the newly opened Schmidt Family Barbecue.  So my aunt and my cousin's six month old baby girl head out to Schmidt Family Barbecue on a very cold and rainy Monday.  The weather didn't keep many people away because the parking lot was almost full when we got there. We got a bit of everything and of course ribs, sausage, and brisket.  Burnt ends were on special so I had to get some of them

Holy Trinity and Burnt Ends

In addition to the meat we got beans, coleslaw, mac-n-cheese w/ ham, and some banana pudding to "balance" out the meal but enough of all of that...let's talk about the meat.
The ribs were a bit over-done and dry but still tasty.  I'll give them another chance on those on a future trip back.  The brisket was dead-on good.  Salt and pepper rub, great bark and fat rendering, and it had a well pronounced smoke ring, it was a perfect representation of what Central Texas brisket should be, moist and delicious.  The sausage I ordered was the jalapeno cheese variety and they serve Kreuz sausage as does Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas.  I've always liked Kreuz sausage but this stuff was far above the average Kreuz sausage.  Not sure what they did but they did it right.  It comes to them from Lockhart so of course it's consistent with the same grind, meat mixture, and snappy casing but maybe it was how they smoked it there that took it up a notch.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Burnt Ends (dry) the only way you should order them

The burnt ends - meat candy!  They were crazy awesome, sweet and salty, tender, smoky, and they'll make your eyes roll back into your head. I caught a candid shot of my aunt eating one and got the facial expression below:










The only "beef" I have with how the burnt ends are served is you get a choice of "dry" (no sauce) or "wet" (dipped in sauce).  Order them "dry" the way they should be, don't ruin them with the sauce.  This goes against what the Schmidt family preaches in Lockhart which is no sauce.  In fact they don't even offer sauce at Kreuz and you have to ask for it (hidden behind the counter) at Smitty's.  Barbecue should stand on it's own with no sauce . Sauce just masks sub-par meat like when you refrigerate a poor quality red wine to mask the flavor. Why mask a perfectly good piece of meat with sauce you ask? Because "city-folk" don't get it, they have to have sauce.  Case in point Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas opened with no sauce and after numerous complaints from Dallasites the culinary guys there whipped up some sauce and it's now a staple there.  In fact I think it's the same sauce now found at Schmidt Family Barbecue.

Too young for BBQ

Kreuz Sausage

So folks if you live in or are visiting Austin hit up Schmidt Family Barbecue.  It can save you a trip to Lockhart,TX but I still recommend you plan a trip down there as well.

Smitty's Market

Lockhart Smokehouse

Kreuz Market

Schmidt Family Barbecue

Phone 512-263-4060

12532 FM 2244

Bee Cave, TX 78738

Mon-Sat 11 AM - 9 PM

Sun 11 AM - 8 PM

http://schmidtfamilybarbecue.com/

Below are links to the other Schmidt Family joints I've already posted about:

Lockhart Smokehouse - Dallas, TX

http://www.lockhartsmokehouse.com/

Smitty's Market - Lockhart, TX

http://www.smittysmarket.com/

Kreuz Market - Lockhart, TX

https://kreuzmarket.com/

Taking some time off the blog for the holidays, see y'all next year! 

Mike Anderson's BBQ Dallas, TX

Mike Anderson's is located in Dallas, TX right across the street from Parkland Hospital, first opened its doors in 1981. They have an extensive selection of meats, stuffed baked potatoes, sides, and desserts.  They also will ship their barbecue anywhere in the country. I have driven right by it many times over the years not giving it much thought. However, I came across an article in the local Observer, a dining and entertainment publication, about the best barbecue joint "sides" in Dallas.  Kind of an oxymoron when it comes to barbecue when it's really about the meat and not the sides. (Lockhart Smokehouse was also included in the article.  So the famous sides are fried okra and the Cheezy Corn Bake with Poblano and Onion and I thought I'd go try them and maybe get myself some barbecue as well.

I arrived around 11:30 AM and a line had already begun to form. I ordered ribs, sausage, and brisket along with my fried okra and the cheezy corn bake with poblano and onion. The brisket was actually a bit dry and fairly lean with very little fat content.  It was really no better than what one would find at any of the Metroplex barbecue chains (Sonny's, Dickey's, Spring Creek).  The sausage had a good smokey flavor and had a coarser grind than I usually prefer but over all it was above average.  The ribs were the highlight of the barbecue, tender, smoked well, and very moist. They were dead-on good. On to the sides, can't believe I just wrote that!

Cheezy Corn Bake with Poblano

Well, the sides were pretty good.  The fried okra was actually pretty average.  In the Observer article the author describes the fried okra as being "light", "airy", and the best they ever had.  Honestly, it has the consistence and quality of the okra in any public school cafeteria in Texas. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad but it's very average.  On to the cheezy corn bake with poblano which was actually really good.  Think of taking spicy cornbread dressing and adding corn and cheese.  It was sweet, a bit spicy, and gooey from the cheese.  Other than the ribs it was the other highlight of the trip to Mike Anderson's.  If you happen to be visiting someone in one of the area hospitals near Mike Anderson's then it's not a bad place to try but if you have a hunger for good barbecue then hit the original Sonny Bryan's on Inwood.

Mike Anderson's BBQ House

5410 Harry Hines Blvd.

Dallas, TX 75235

Phone:214-630-0735

Open Mon-Sat 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Closed Sundays

http://www.mikeandersonsbbq.com/

Pecan Lodge - Dallas,TX

Holy Trinity at Pecan Lodge

Pecan Lodge

Located in Shed #2 at the Dallas Farmers' Market, Pecan Lodge, is a Dallas barbecue hot spot. This place has also been included in Texas Monthly magazine as one of the top 50 barbecue places in Texas.  The tricky thing about getting barbecue here is they are only open Wednesday through Sunday and they start serving at 11 AM until sold out which usually means before 2 PM.  They even have a cut off sign which they give to the lucky person who will be more than likely the last one served to hold.  Those unlucky souls standing behind this person may or may not get to taste some of their damn good barbecue. I would suggest getting there early.  Early being about 10:30 AM, not as early as the one to two hours required to get into Franklin Barbecue in Austin.

I ordered my usual sampling of ribs, sausage, and brisket.  It's all good here and it's all done right, you wont be disappointed. The ribs were smoky and the meat came off the bone easily with each bite.  Sausage is made onsite with a nice natural casing and a good blend of cuts ground into a medium coarse grind with just the right amount of smoke. I leave the brisket for last.  It has the perfect seasoning of salt and pepper, great bark, and it's very tender.  I suggest ordering the "moist" cut for the most enjoyment of one of the top three briskets you can find in Dallas. Lockhart Smokehouse and Hutchins have the other "best" Dallas brisket. I highly recommend this Pecan Lodge just remember to get there early, they sell out fast!

Pecan Lodge

Dallas Farmers Market Shed #2

920 South Harwood

Dallas, TX 75201

214-748-8900

Open Wednesday - Sunday

11 AM - 3 PM (or until sold out)

http://www.pecanlodge.com/

I'm heading to Austin this weekend to check out Stiles Switch BBQ and Schmidt Family Barbecue (just opened last month and it's a new place of the Lockhart Schmidts). I will report back on these two BBQ joints in future posts.  I'm taking the week of Thanksgiving off from the blog but will post my opinion of Mike Anderson's BBQ in Dallas in my next post.  So until then BBQ fans!!

Hutchins BBQ McKinney, TX

McKinney, TX located about thirty minutes north of Dallas this suburb is currently the second fastest growing city in the U.S. and according to CNN Money the second best place to live in the country.  It also houses a great barbecue joint that not many people even know of including yours truly and a lot of the locals.  It popped up on my radar when I read last May's Texas Monthly magazine's barbecue edition.  Hutchins placed in the top 50 and this November took part in Texas Monthly's BBQ Fest in Austin.  I've been three or four times since last May and will continue to go back. If you live in the DFW area it's worth the drive. So, with that being said you know my opinion on this place will be favorable.

Chopping block is where you start

As you walk in the smell of smoked meat permeates the air and if the smell makes you lose your bearings, the line starts to your right. The serving pit is to the pitmaster's right and two smoking pits are to his left.  They don't claim to cook barbecue the central Texas way but they use brick-lined floor pits that you find in any place in Lockhart, TX and you can taste central Texas in their brisket. So you start at the chopping block and place your meat order which is similar to a lot of places in the Dallas area but that is where the similarity ends. Next onto the hot side steam table and then to the cold table for your cold sides and by the way their sides are way above par of most other places.  You don't hear me say this often but don't skip on the sides.

Sausage and brisket (most recent visit)

After being rung up at the register the drink station and relish bar are in the next room to the right. Relish bar has the usual complement of pickles, jalapenos, onions, etc. but take a 180 degree turn and this place has another surprise in for you.  Yes, your often present soft serve ice cream machine is here but with a complement of sundae toppings and one to two cobbler choices included in the price of your meal, oh and banana pudding too. So how is the barbecue?

Second visit

Although, I ordered ribs, brisket, and sausage on my first visit I failed to take a photo so I've included some foodie pics from my follow-up visits.  The ribs are very good and I highly recommend them but I've always been an overall bigger fan of sausage and brisket.  The sausage is above store quality and they offer mild, jalapeno, and hot link varieties, but the brisket! The brisket is Lockhart, TX quality.  You can even order lean or moist and it is seasoned perfectly with just a simple salt and pepper rub.  The bark, smoke ring, and fat rendering create a smoky melody of perfection, I mean just look at the pictures.  Hutchins brisket is right there with Pecan Lodge and Lockhart Smokehouse when it comes to metroplex barbecue so take the drive to McKinney and get yourself some!

Texas Monthly knows it's good!

Hutchins BBQ

Phone: 972-548-2629

Sun-Thur 11 AM - 9 PM
Fri, Sat 11 AM - 9:30 PM

http://www.hutchinsbbq.net/

Next week, Pecan Lodge in Dallas, until then!

Lockhart Smokehouse Dallas,TX

Lockhart Smokehouse

400 W. Davis St
Dallas,TX 75208
214-944-5521

Open everyday 11 AM until we're done!

http://www.lockhartsmokehouse.com/

(Thursday - Sunday) they have extended bar hours and usually throw more meat on the pit)

I actually discovered this place when watching a barbecue contest on some obscure cable TV channel. When they did the back story on Jeff one of the pitmasters at Lockhart they referred to Lockhart Smokehouse so I had to try it.  Jeff and Jill Bergus own Lockhart Smokehouse and Jill is the granddaughter of Edgar "Papa" Schmidt of Kreuz Market now Smitty's Market or "both" depending on what side of the family you're on.

My bounty and the Holy Trinity

So onto my first visit of many.  Located in the Bishop Arts District south of the Trinity River (catty-corner from Hatties for you locals) this place brings Central Texas barbecue to Big "D".  The Schmidt family connection helps to procure Kreuz Market sausage which is smoked here and helps to continue the legacy of the German meat market style of barbecue.  Yes they even sell chunks of cheddar cheese just like at Smitty's and Kreuz Market in Lockhart. On my first visit I ordered ribs, brisket, and sausage with sides of pinto beans and Lockhart slaw (a spicy version of coleslaw - it's great).  The brisket is solid and has been on follow-up visits, simple salt & pepper rub with great bark and very moist.  The ribs were also very good but have been a bit hit and miss on other visits. The Kreuz Market sausage is always good but can be too greasy for some folks but I always like it. The barbecue overall is excellent and accurately represents Central Texas barbecue that one can find in Lockhart, TX. However, what sets this place apart from many other barbecue joints is head Pitmaster Tim McLaughlin and the meats he offers outside the usual realm of ribs, brisket, and sausage.  I will admit I have not tried these other cuts but I will and based off of the culinary skill of Tim and his crew they sound great.  Just an example of choices offered outside of the Holy Trinity are habanero glazed chicken, turkey, burnt ends (Thursdays only), porchetta just to name a few. These of course are offered on certain days and a great way to know what's on the menu is to 'Like" their Facebook page.  They are great about posting daily on what's on the menu and what other events may be coming up. They also have a good bar scene on top of great barbecue.

Memorial Day lunch with family

Another quality that set Lockhart Smokehouse apart from the rest continues with the emphasis on culinary arts and quality food.  The meat is great but the sides are not to be missed.  Let me repeat myself, don't pass up on the sides! I don't say this lightly because all I really care about is the meat. So, the sides vary from day to day but here's a list of a few.  Baked beans, pinto beans, habanero macaroni and cheese, blue cheese coleslaw, spicy Lockhart coleslaw, deviled eggs, potato salad, and the occasionally blue cheese bacon hominy (the hominy is ridiculously good). Also, the relish bar with various pickles, jalapenos, and onions all pickled and cured onsite is something not always found at other barbecue places.  You can taste the culinary experience through everything offered. I highly recommend a trip to Lockhart Smokehouse and for those of you living in DFW it beats driving 200+ miles for Lockhart, TX barbecue when you can find it just south of the Trinity.

I leave you this week with some more pictures from Lockhart Smokehouse.  Next week,  Hutchins Barbecue McKinney, TX...until then!

Burnt ends (on the left Thursdays only)

Blue cheese bacon hominy far right lower corner

Another visit

Photo courtesy of Mike Hiller's page "escape hatch dallas"

The Texas Barbecue Trail (Middle to Southern Half)

Elgin, TX

The Texas Barbecue Trail (Lexington, Taylor, Elgin, Lockhart, and Luling)
This week's post includes the rest of the places I've been to on the Texas Barbecue Trail excluding Snow's in Lexington.  I'm still working on getting my schedule worked out for that one since it's only opened on Saturdays.
However, we start this trip with a visit to Southside Market in Elgin. This place is set-up cafeteria style where you go through a line, pick how much meat and then what sides you want. It reminds me a lot of Dickey's in Dallas as far as the set up but the meat is much better.
I got my usual, ribs, brisket, and sausage. The sausage had really good flavor and is processed onsite. Ribs were perfectly cooked with the expected aldente firmness but with meat easily leaving the bone when bitten into the rib.  The brisket was very good.  Take a look at the picture below at the pronounced smoke ring and thick bark, it was delicious.

Dining room

So my overall opinion is it's worth a visit not only for the barbecue but to also to put a notch in your belt to check-off one of the places on the Texas Barbecue Trail.

Southside Market

1212 HWY 290 E
Elgin, TX 78621

512-281-4650

Monday-Thursday 8 AM - 8 PM
Friday, Saturday 8 AM - 9 PM
Sunday 9 AM - 8 PM

http://southsidemarket.com/

City Market (Luling)
Prior to my visit I've heard a lot of great things about this place from many people.  Some even saying it's the best in Texas. So, I left Austin, drove straight through Lockhart, and arrived in Luling just after 11 AM. When you walk in you pass by the counter and continue towards the back of the store to the smokehouse. Once you walk into the smoke house the smell of smoke and meat hit your nose.  You place your order for your meat and then walk back into the store to the counter for sides and to pay.

 

 I'm going to give this place another try just because I've heard such great things but the brisket was dry and the sausage had too much smokey flavor for my taste.  The ribs were good but I really like just a simple salt & pepper rub and not so much a cooked on sauce glaze.  Give it a try, I think I hit them on a bad day.

City Market 

 633 E Davis St, Luling, TX 78648

(830) 875-9019

Monday - Saturday 7 AM - 6 PM

Sunday Closed

  

Next week...Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas!

Louie Mueller BBQ Taylor, TX

Louie Mueller BBQ opened in 1949 and as you walk into this place you are walking on hallowed Texas barbecue ground.  The soot stained walls and the smell of wood and meat fills the air. This place has borne three generations of Muellers who have influenced and continue to influence barbecue in the Taylor and Austin area.  Louie started the place and I discovered later after visiting the first time he was a cousin of Oscar Lindemann, my grandfather, and my two great uncles Charles and Marcus Lindemann.  This explains my uncle Charles' sauce being so similar to Mueller's sauce (Louie must have shared his recipe).
Louie's son Bobby took it over and after Bobby's passing Wayne Mueller (grandson) currently is the owner and pitmaster.  Bobby's other son John has run a number of places of his own and was featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.  The Mueller family has influenced or created such barbecue joints like: JMueller BBQ (closed), La Barbecue, John Mueller Meat Co., and Stiles Switch BBQ. The last three places are on my "To Do List".  I will include links at the bottom of this post to these three in particular and include some pictures of my visit to JMueller BBQ when it was opened on South First Street (I believe La Barbecue has taken over this place if not using his old BBQ trailer). Louie Mueller Barbecue is the second stop after Snow's in Lexington on the northern leg of the Texas barbecue trail followed by Southside Market in Elgin, Smitty's, Black's, Kreuz Market, and Chisholm Trail in Lockhart, City Market in Luling, and I like to also include Gonzales Meat Market in Gonzales.

The line

So onto my "opinion" of Louie Mueller Barbecue, I didn't even really know about this place until my boss told me about it so I had to try it.  The place is a bit famous in it's own right but it has also been featured in Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Travel Channel.  So my buddy Reu and I got there about 1 PM after already hitting Southside Market in Elgin about 30 minutes earlier.  We were probably about 40 people back in line and thankfully it took about an hour and a half to get to the counter which allowed us and our stomachs to be ready after just eating at Southside Market.  We finally got to the counter and before we could order the pitmaster placed a burnt end on each of our trays lined with butcher paper.  I popped it in my mouth and it was nirvana, I has to pause before placing my order!  I proceeded to order my ribs, brisket, and sausage so how was it you ask?

First visit

Second visit

The brisket was delicious, salt and pepper rub with perfect fat rendering, the sausage was tasty but had a course grind that fell out of the casing when cutting into it, but the ribs were amazing.  Great "aldente' firm to the bite with the meat easily coming off the bone. I highly recommend this place and have already been back.

Guy Fieri likes it!

Louie Mueller Barbecue
206 W. 2nd St. Taylor, TX
512-352-6206
M-F 11 AM - 6 PM
Sat 10 AM - 6 PM
Sun Closed
Website:
http://www.louiemuellerbarbecue.com/

A footnote about John Mueller

John is kind of known as the "bad boy" of Austin barbecue.  He knows his stuff and he and his places pop up and disappear here and there but when he gets his hands on a place the barbecue is gold.  I've been to JMueller on South 1st St. that again I believe is now La Barbecue and have included some pictures of my visit below as well as some links to other Mueller family influenced BBQ joints.

2/3 of the Holy Trinity (Out of Ribs)

Aaron Franklin and John Mueller

Line at JMueller

Ordering Truck at JMueller

My Austin Barbecue "To Do List" ("Opinions Pending")

La Barbecue

http://labarbecue.com/

John Mueller Meat Co.

http://www.johnmuellermeatco.com/

Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew

http://www.stilesswitchbbq.com/

Schmidt Family Barbecue (Lockhart Schmidts)

Opens October 28th

http://schmidtfamilybarbecue.com/

Next week, Southside Market (Elgin),  and City Market (Luling)

Until then BBQ fans!!

Chisholm Trail (Lockhart), Opie's, and a Trip Back to Franklin Barbecue

Chisholm Trail BAR-B-Q (Lockhart)
Took a quick trip down to Central Texas last weekend to visit a couple of new places to me and to go back to Franklin Barbecue in Austin.
So I started the trip by going to the fourth but lesser known Lockhart BBQ joint, Chisholm Trail BAR-B-Q.  This place is said to be the place where the locals go and those other three, Smitty's, Kreuz, and Black's, are the tourist traps. Well we got there at 12:30 and I ordered my usual, ribs, brisket, and sausage. The brisket was dry, ribs were tough and dry, and the sausage had little flavor.  I really wanted to enjoy this place but I'm sorry it's no better than any BBQ chain you would find in the city. I'm also not the kind of person to complain about the actual facility but this place was a bit of a dump.  Flies were everywhere, restrooms were pretty nasty, and they had one of the dirtiest "wet floor" signs I've ever seen sitting on the floor as you exit the line.  I'm not even going to give this place a second chance when I know I can get great barbecue in Lockhart at one of the three "tourists" traps.

 http://www.chisholmtrailbbq.com/
1323 S Colorado St, Lockhart, TX 78644
Phone: 512-398-6027
Hours: 8 AM - 8 PM

Next on to Opie's BBQ in Spicewood

Keira and Leah

Well the next day some of my family in Austin joined me to try out Opie's in Spicewood, TX.  We got there about 12:45 and shortly after arriving ordered off of the serving pit.  I got brisket, jalapeno cheese sausage, and a half rack of habanero ribs. I also got some sides, spicy corn (kind of like Mexican corn in a cup), coleslaw, and tater-tot casserole (yeah, it's as good as it sounds).  I gave my aunt some of my ribs and we both bit into our ribs at the same time and looked at each other with eyes wide opened.  These are the best ribs I've ever had anywhere.  Cooked perfectly and full of flavor, these ribs were amazing. The brisket was great as well with a simple salt and pepper rub and great fat rendering. The sausage was good too and better than Cooper's in Llano. If you don't want to spend money on sides, pinto beans, bread, and relishes are included with your meat. The facility is large and very clean, a great place to take the family. Opie's may now be my aunt's favorite place.  Sorry Cooper's, you just took the back seat.

Serving pit

Great Brisket

Awesome ribs

Wood pile at Opie's

http://www.opiesbarbecue.com/

Phone: 830-693-8660

9504 HWY 71 Spicewood,TX 78669

Hours:  Mon & Tue 11-4

Wed, Thur, & Sun 11-7

Fri & Sat 11-8

A Quick Trip Back to Franklin Barbecue

Franklin BBQ old sales trailer

Well on my way out of town I stopped by Franklin for another taste of the best barbecue in Texas.  This trip I had my eye on the Tipsy Texan.  A BBQ sandwich consisting of chopped and sauced brisket, sausage, pickles, onions, and topped with coleslaw. I got there at 9 AM and was probably already about 60 people back in line.  I met a young couple on vacation from Chicago who were standing behind me in line and who I joined once we got in and got our food. Once they opened it took us another 30-45 minutes to get up to the chopping block which was manned by the proprietor, Aaron Franklin himself. He's a bit of a BBQ guru and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.  I ordered and he told me I couldn't just order a sandwich after waiting that long for BBQ so he sliced me a piece of brisket which I was thankful.  It was all excellent but next time I'm just going back for the brisket.  It literally is a cut above any other brisket in the state, it bites you back and makes you pause for a minute. Mouth watering.

The line

Still a little longer

The guru, Aaron Franklin

Tipsy Texan with a side of brisket

See ya next week ya'll!!