Monday, September 1, 2008: Opie's Barbecue (Spicewood, Texas)

Man-Up's second visit to Opie's Barbecue in Spicewood was, overall, much more successful than our first visit. (For yours truly, it was no different than our first trip: a perfect 10). Maybe a couple of weeks to reflect upon the error of their ways paid off, in terms of overall scores. Maybe during the visits, everyone grew some taste buds. Or maybe everyone was just really hungry from two hours at Krause Springs. Whatever the reason, Opie's was a Labor Day crowd pleaser.

Master Parish shares his thoughts: "great, authentic Texas atmosphere, situated in one of my favorite parts of the scenic Texas Hill Country, this place blows you away with the heavy, hard-wood furniture greeting you as you walk away from the counter with your hand-selected meats and home-cooked side dishes, such as tater tot casserole and spicy corn…the meat had room for improvement the last time I was out there, and improve it did, as the brisket and pork loin were several notches in flavor and moistness above what I experienced last time I was out there…the ribs (both regular pork ribs and sweet/spicy pork riblets) are in my mind the staple of the menu here…the ribs are magical and ranked 9.3 on the RP scale this time…I rank the brisket a 6.8 this trip since, while good when dowsed with the sauce, it's still not nearly on par with that of the Lockhart or Luling joints…the enormous and delicious banana pudding and the excellent blackberry cobbler can add tremendous value to your trip…would still be kind of tempting for me to bypass this place and keep right on going on the scenic drive out to Llano for some Coopers; but, with the price of fuel these days, Opie's is growing on me for west-71 BBQ." You're getting there, Russell. Keep at it.

And now from Todd: "I visited Opie's of Spicewood once again this weekend after a delightful dip in Krause Springs. There was definite improvement over my first trip, but I still don't think it will crack my top 5. I had the pork ribs and the brisket and was impressed. The ribs were good, pulling in a strong rating of 8.8. I still hold Kruez ribs in first place, but Opies made a strong showing. The brisket was much better the second time around, pulling a ranking of 8.05. It was juicy and moist, perfect for a sandwich. The overall experience helps Opie's. The drive from Austin is beautiful and the heavy wooden chairs are about as manly as you can get, i.e., you must be a man to move them! I give my second trip to Opie's an overall rating of 8.99."

Russell's rankings – Brisket: 6.8; Ribs: 9.3; Overall: 9

Todd's rankings – Brisket: 8.05; Ribs: 8.8; Overall: 8.99

Drew's rankings – Brisket: 8.4; Sweet-and-spicy ribs: 9.8; Sides: 9.6; Overall: 10

If I get any other scores, I'll update the Overall Man-Up Ranking. As it stands now....

Overall Man-Up Ranking: 9.33