Talk about manning up!

An email from Jason:

So my buddies from Chicago are in town; what a great opportunity to take them to some Texas BBQ and what better place then Lockhart, Texas! We hit 4 places on this tour…yep all 4.

We started at Kruez’s the big massive mammoth of a building; it was Saturday afternoon around 1:00pm and it was slammed; it was one of the longest lines I’ve ever seen coming here. Today we ordered 4 slices of brisket (2 lean and 2 fatty); 3 sausages (2 jalapeno cheese and 1 regular); we also got 4 pork ribs. Brisket was average; tasty and flavorful. The sausage… man this is the best thing going for these guys! Solid once again…that jalapeno cheese rocks!! Pork rib was good; very peppery, as I remember the last time. Brisket 8; Ribs 8.2; Sausage 9.9; Overall 8.7.

Next we headed down a couple blocks to Black’s – I do enjoy black’s brisket and turkey so I recommended the guys get that. As tempting as those sides are coming into this place… we moved along cause there was much more meat to eat! So we ended up ordering 2 slices of turkey, 1 slice of pork loin, 2 slices of brisket, and 1 pork rib. Turkey 9.4; Brisket 8.9; Pork loin 8.7; Didn’t eat the rib; Overall 8.8.

Of course, farther down the road is Smitty’s. I won’t forget to mention this is my favorite place in Lockhart. We took a different entrance today, going in from the rear door, which leads to the other side of the fire, which sometimes they make you go to. Anyhow, the line was long, by far the longest I’ve seen at Smitty’s. People were definitely ready to eat today. The BBQ pits were definitely all going today, as we saw 4 pits blazing with the wood, as it was nice and toasty waiting in line. It was our last meat stop and we definitely manned up on some brisket, ribs, and 1 sausage. Fatty brisket 9.3; Lean brisket 9.2; Pork ribs (off the chain, as usual) 9.8; Sausage (very oily, as usual, but I expected that…but very tasty once you drain all the oil) 8.6; Overall 9.3.

Lastly, how can we forget Chisholm Trail? Peach cobbler a la mode! Can we say that was a 9.8 today!! Great sweetness and great texture! Loved it!

Adrian - In general, I loved the jalapeno sausage at Kreuz and the ribs at Smitty's. Brisket was good at all three - I think I prefer BBQ pork to beef though. Black's was the least impressive overall - kinda thought the turkey was the best thing there. Absolutely loved the building/atmosphere of Smitty's (which, if i understand correctly, is where Kreuz used to be located before they moved to that gigantic sterile big building?)

Ben - My review: "yum, me fat."