Texas Monthly's Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints 2013

People love "Best of" lists. People love rankings. And people love debating them. List of top BBQ joints is no exception. Yesterday, Texas Monthly, for the first time since 2008, published its list of the Top 50 BBQ joint in Texas. There are lots of Texas BBQ lists out there, but no list creates as much buzz as TM's. They say that Texas has around 2K BBQ joints. For this list, their team of eaters visited 658 of them, covering 33,168 miles. This is the most joints they've visited in preparation for the list, no doubt thanks to the help of our buddy and their new hire Daniel "BBQ Snob" Vaughn. Only 18 of the 50 are repeats from 2008, so there is certainly lots to talk about. For each stop, the staffer sampled "at least 3 meats, a couple of sides, and a dessert." Afterward, the eater filled out a "detailed score sheet. The final score considers intangibles like setting, service, and history, but mainly it is based on meat. The brisket score counts the most."

Before I ask for your reactions (Many of you already have weighed in. As of now, there are 138 comments below the TM post.), I just want to congratulate all of the winners for the honor, as well as the staff of Texas Monthly for seeing their hard work come to fruition. Kudos for traversing far and wide to get as big of a sample as you did. Cheers to all of you.

So, what are your thoughts? I can't imagine any two people would come up with the same list, as lists like this are inherently subjective, so I am sure everyone has something to say. Any places you feel should not be on the list? Places that should have been included? Thoughts on the list's methodology? Should brisket count the most? What about the 1300+ joints that didn't get visited?  Anyone already making plans to hit up all 50? Weigh in with your thoughts!