Coming up...

Videos of my interview of world-champion pitmaster Chris Lilly

More Memphis in May BBQ pics

Meat-on-grill pics from Quito, Ecuador

Pics from first visit to Buzzie's Bar-B-Q (Kerrville)

Review and pics from first BBQ stops in Fredericksburg

Pics from Bo's first visit to Kip's Texas BBQ (San Marcos)

Jacob and friends hit up 7 BBQ joints in 24 hours

The Q Card goes on sale!

*Reminder: You have through June 4 to enter to win some great prizes from Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor).

Man Up Texas BBQ loves the environment.

12 hours well spent.

Good times in Fredericksburg yesterday and Luckenbach last night. Hit up two BBQ joints, made it to a third 30 minutes after they closed at 4 PM, and found that the other one I saw online is no longer open. Pics on the way.

Classic Hill Country Saturday coming up

About to head out to Fredericksburg, to see what kind of BBQ we can get into, have some drinks and cigars, and hear a little music in Luckenbach. I've got 2 or 3 BBQ joints in mind, but if you have any ideas or opinions, let me know.

J-Pa lunches at Franklin.

Jason hit up lunch at Franklin Barbecue last Friday. Here's his review and a pic:

So last Friday I had the opportunity to venture to Franklin bbq w/ my co-workers. Having gone last week w/ some of them and waiting quite a while in line; we decided to go earlier this time. We arrived at approximately 10:55 and there was a line of people already there!! After about a 5 - 10 min wait; I got in line and ordered a Brisket Sandwich and one pork rib. I must say today the brisket was exceptional!!!! Very exceptional. Might have been the best brisket I've had this year. Yep! 10! Man this was super moist and just very flavorful! It was AWESOME!!! Pork rib was excellent as well 9.5. Overall a great experience as usual; since we got there early and didn't have to wait 20+ min my overall exp will be high at a 9.6.

National Brisket Day: A True American Holiday

Today is National Brisket Day. A legit holiday unlike, say, Presidents Day or Arbor Day. Anyone celebrating?

Memphis in May: Miscellany

These are the rest of the pics I took. Brad took a truckload more. I'll post his over the course of the next few weeks. Also, next week, I'll post the videos of my interview of world-champion pitmaster Chris Lilly.

Why make a good thing even better, Opie's?

I guess I'm not all that suprised that the half chicken I had yesterday for lunch at Opie's was the best I've had all year. Just surprised that it was the first time I've ever ordered it. I guess I just never thought about it, after having their sweet-and-spicy ribs the first time I went. (And since I get a half chicken everywhere else, I figured I could just pass on it at Opie's and eat the ribs.) Then I discovered their pulled pork, which is ridiculously good. Now the chicken? This creates some complex ordering dilemmas from here on out. Thanks a lot, Opie's.

It's Guys Night Out at Cooper's tonight in Fort Worth

The Ticket Sportsradio presents Guys Night Out at Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in Fort Worth. The skinny:

Calling all P1’s it’s GNO time again! Come out and kick off Summer the right way at Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar B Que in Fort Worth on Thursday, May 27th. We’ll be serving up some roundtables on a platter, Ticketchicks in short shorts, and some sort of baked bean action…We’ll start at 3 and go till 8!

And what picnic would be complete without a Three Legged Run? Sign up to get tied up to run with Kassie, Natalie, or Jen…You could score a pair of tickets to the Tim McGraw Show!

Of course we’re not stopping there, we’ll have the world famous Ticketchick toss… Ummm, we mean water balloon toss to score a pair of tickets to the Doobie Brothers/Chicago Show at Superpages.com Centre… we’ll also throw in $50 for some spending money!

Meet us on Thursday, May 27th starting at 3 at Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar B Que at 301 Stockyards Blvd. in Fort Worth!

Guinea pig: The fleecing of tourists in Ecuador

Monday night was my last night in Quito, Ecuador, and I had saved one goal of my trip for my final dinner: eating Guinea pig. Apparently, it's a thing, and Anthony Bourdain did it, so obviously I wanted to check this Ecuadorian rite of passage off my list. Funny thing, though: Not a single Ecuadorian that I asked had ever partaken of the little mountain sprinter. Should've tipped me off to the scam that is Guinea pig, or cuy, as it's known locally.

Anyway, very few restaurants had it on the menu. I went to the one the hotel concierge recommended. I ordered the half portion, mistakenly thinking it would be akin to half a chicken and, thus, be enough for a meal. The plate arrived (fried, though I specifically asked for it to be grilled, not fried), and with the little pig's face staring me down, I was a bit uncertain:

But, I didn't come this far to back down, so, with a smile on my face, I embraced what was about to happen...

...and dug in:




The meat you see here is the extent of the meat in a half cuy. Probably a tad less than you'd get from a standard chicken wing. What. A. Ripoff!!!



Yes, these would be teeth:

And here's what was underneath the fried skin on the second piece: NOTHING.


Thoroughly disappointed with spending $11 for 2 bites of (albeit salty and tasty) meat, I decided to salvage the meal by simply gnawing on its head. And, yes, I ate its crispy little ears.

Memphis in May: It's all about the pig.

Austin Chronicle's Best BBQ

2010 Readers Poll: Barbecue

Winner: The Salt Lick

Runners-up: Rudy's Country Store & Bar-B-Q, County Line

Honorable Mention: Lamberts, Iron Works BBQ, Ruby's BBQ

Okay, I've got a few "Are. You. Kidding. Me?" reactions to this. Anyone know what all was considered "Austin" for purposes of the voting? Clearly, the poll wasn't just on BBQ joints in Austin proper, b/c The Salt Lick was picked. In a couple of the categories for "Critics Picks," joints in Lexington and Lockhart were chosen. Could you vote on places that far from Austin in the readers poll? Were Lockhart, Taylor, Spicewood, Elgin, Luling and other places within an hour fair game? Anyway, what say you? How did the Chronicle's readers do on this?

Coming up...

More pics from the Memphis in May BBQ competition

Pics from first visit to Buzzie's Bar-B-Q (Kerrville)

More Texas BBQ Wannabes

Jason reviews his latest trip to Franklin Barbecue (Austin)

Some meat-on-grill pics from Quito, Ecuador

*Reminder: You have through June 4 to enter to win some great prizes from Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor).

They say not to ask how sausage is made...

To our friends at Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse: Please be careful with your vaccum tumbler, b/c things didn't turn out so well for this guy.

Memphis in May: Some tents and smokers