The rest from our December visit to City Meat Market (Giddings, TX)

The rest of the pictures from our Texas Q Tours stop in December at City Meat Market (Giddings, TX):

Stop #2 of December Texas Q Tour: City Meat Market (Giddings, TX)

After our morning meal at Louie Mueller Barbecue, our tour group departed Taylor and headed southeast to Giddings, for a stop at City Meat Market (Our 2010 Readers' Choice Awards Best Overall). It's a good thing we arranged for the food ahead of time, b/c when I called proprietor Gerald Birkelbach to let him know we were on our way, they were already almost out of food! After a 47-ish-mile drive that let our group recover a bit from the first meal, we arrived in Giddings and headed into City Meat Market...

As he's done for decades, Gerald (yellow shirt) was leading the troops in the pit.

Our fearless crew stepped up to the counter to place their orders...

...and then settled in with trays full of pork ribs, brisket, pork shoulder, & sausage.

Two meals down, two to go.

The BBQ Birkelbachs

Post-meal at City Meat Market in Giddings, with proprietors Sharon & Gerald Birkelbach:

 

More from City Meat Market (Giddings, TX)

Going through the line at City Meat Market (Giddings, TX)

Going through the line during our bus-trip vist to City Meat Market:

 

Videos from City Meat Market (Giddings, TX)

Stop 2 on our BBQ bus: City Meat Market (Giddings, TX)

After Snow's, we made the short drive to Giddings for the 2nd stop of our bus trip: City Meat Market. Sharon & Gerald Birkelbach were awesome hosts, as always. Went through the line & picked what we wanted (brisket & pork shoulder for me). More pics to come!

BBQ bus #1 is in the books!

I'm so excited about how well our bus trip went Saturday that I don't know where to stop. Let's see...the food at all 3 stops (Snow's, City Meat Market, & Louie Mueller) was fantastic. The service at all 3 places was incredible (e.g. giving us door prizes unexpectedly, coming on the bus to speak to the group before we drove off, personally cutting out meats, answering questions from the group, table checks and more table checks). We stayed on schedule, but it wasn't rushed. We had cold drinks from Big Red and Honest Tea. We had 3 kinds of cupcakes from Sugar Mama's. We had the one and only Chet "The Daytripper" Garner on board. We had a private beer tasting at Hops & Grain Brewery. It was simply awesome. Our riders were wonderful, and unless they were just faking it so that I wouldn't have a meltdown and fall into a deep depression, they seemed to be having a great time. One of our riders even put together a picture recap via YouTube, by using the pictures that were tweeted with our official trip hashtag (#manupbbqbus). We made videos, took pictures, I talked about how awesome Alabama football is. You know, the usual. I can't thank our sponsors enough for their generosity. And, of course, our sincere thanks to Snow's, City Meat Market, & Louie Mueller, for making this first trip such a success. You guys were, to say the least, a hit. We all left fatter & happier. Bookoos of pics are on the way, as are a few videos. In the meantime, 1 pic from each stop (from top to bottom: Snow's, City Meat Market, Louie Mueller, Hops & Grain):

BBQ-Bus Tickets On Sale!!!

Those of you interested in our first BBQ bus trip have waited patiently for tickets to go on sale, so I'm happy to keep you waiting no longer. Tickets are $100 each. (Payment link at bottom of post. Or just click here.). What will you get with your ticket?

Meal at Snow's BBQ (Lexington), City Meat Market (Giddings), & Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor) - More details to come on the meal for each, but you will either have a set lunch or will be able to choose from between or among set lunches/items. You shouldn't leave hungry, but if you wish to order more food beyond the set lunches, you will have the freedom to do so, at your own expense. 
Transportation in air-conditioned coach with individual seats 
Cold drinks from Big Red and Honest Tea   
Dessert from Sugar Mama's Bakeshop
The Q Card ($10 value) 
Taste of the South magazine's 2011 BBQ issue ($4.99 value) 
A surprise stop in Austin 
Free merchandise, coupons/discounts, and more! 

Itinerary (including some possible non-BBQ stops) still being worked out. We will keep you updated. The plan is to leave Austin at 8AM sharp on Sat, April 28 and return mid- to late-afternoon. No later than 5PM. If you have any questions, please let me know. We hope to see you on April 28!

BBQ BUS!!!

I've been teasing it on Twitter, but I think it's now time to post about it. People have been asking us for a long time to get into BBQ tours/trips for groups. We've always tabled the idea but are now ready to give it a shot. To that end, on Saturday, April 28, 2012, we will lead our first chartered-bus BBQ trip. (Hopefully, there will be many more, but baby steps for now.) I can't reveal all of the details, but I can tell you that the bus, which will depart that morning from Austin, will make BBQ stops at Snow's BBQ (Lexington), City Meat Market (Giddings), & Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor). We'll have a bunch of other goodies in store for our patrons, but mum's the word on 'em right now. Tickets are not on sale yet, but when they are, they'll be first come, first served. So, if this sounds like something you might be interested in, keep April 28 open!

CNN visits City Meat Market (Giddings, TX)

CNN's Defining America project recently stopped into City Meat Market in Giddings, TX. (Here are our posts about CMM, which our readers picked as the best overall Texas BBQ joint for 2011.) They interviewed owner Gerald Birkelbach, who gave them a tour of his place and threw down some fightin' words about Texas BBQ, in general, and his BBQ, specifically. Gotta love tough-talkin' Texans!

The rest from City Meat Market (Giddings, TX)