Friday, January 30, 2015

Live Oak Barbecue (Austin, TX) closing

Austin BBQ joint Live Oak Barbecue is shutting its doors. The Statesman's Matthew Odam has the scoop. By the way, Live Oak's smoker is for sale.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Jess Pryles on cover of The Weekly Review!

It doesn't get much better than seeing good things happen to your friends. So, I was so pleased to see my friend and favorite Aussie Jess Pryles (who runs the blog Burger Mary) get some love on the cover of The Weekly Review. The article, "Smokin' hot," is about the rise of American-style BBQ in Australia. And no one there knows more about our brand of BBQ than Jess, who splits her time between her native Melbourne and Austin. Congrats, Jess!

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Smokey Denmark's Gameday Giveaway Texas Trinity

As I announced yesterday, we're giving away a huge Texas BBQ prize from Smokey's Denmark's BBQ Truck. Part of the prize is a private dinner for 2. Just thought I'd give you a peak at the 3 meats that will be served at the dinner: sausage, beef ribs, & brisket. The Texas Trinity. Pictures courtesy of Smokey Denmark's (via Twitter). CONTEST INFORMATION & ENTRY.







Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Smokey Denmark's Texas BBQ Giveaway

Sunday's matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots gives me a reason to team up with a Texas BBQ joint and hold one last Texas BBQ Giveaway of the football season. So, that's exactly what I've done. It gives me great pleasure to team up with Austin's very own Smokey Denmark's BBQ to give you a fantastic Texas BBQ Giveaway. Huge thanks to Smokey Denmark's, for making this happen. If you're into a private Texas BBQ feast for two with a pit tour & a personal Texas BBQ "how to" class, this giveaway has your name all over it!

PRIZE (copied & pasted from Smokey Denmark's)

Dinner for two (their choice of date--within 30 days of winning). They will receive personal attention from us (I would like to do this after our "normal" business hours of Tues-Fri., perhaps around 5 or 6pm?).

Menu: (Holy Trinity) Beef Short ribs, brisket, sausage, and two sides and drinks--we are two doors down from Live Oak Brewery, so we will pair up a good beer too.

Tour of our pit(s).

A "BBQ" one on one tutorial class, where they can learn all about how to smoke a brisket--includes how to purchase a good one, trimming, seasoning, selection of wood, how to run the pit from start to finish, etc.

ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS & RULES

To enter, I must have each of the following predictions for Sunday's game:

(1) Winner
(2) Final score
(3) Combined total yards in the game (i.e. Seahawks' total yards + Patriots' total yards) - NOTE: Combined total yards will serve as a tiebreaker, in the event one is needed. In the unlikely event we have a tie after this tiebreaker, I will come up with an additional tiebreaker unrelated to Sunday's game, for there will be just 1 winner.

You may submit your prediction via email, via Facebook, via Twitter, or as a comment at the bottom of this blog post. (If you submit via blog comment, make sure to include contact information.) You may enter just 1 way. If you submit multiple (different) entries, none of your entries will be counted. Any entry submitted after kickoff Sunday will not be counted. Good luck!

Monday, January 26, 2015

Tour stoppin' at Louie Mueller

The last stop of one of my recent Texas Q Tours trips was Louie Mueller Barbecue (Taylor, TX). We toured the kitchen/pit with proprietor Wayne Mueller. But, first, the food:








Sunday, January 25, 2015

Kreuz Market to open in Bryan

Bryan, Texas: Kreuz Market is coming! The famous Lockhart joint is opening a location in Bryan and will be taking some hot coals there this Wednesday at 4PM. Soft opening is February 2. The grand opening will be sometime in May. Hours will be 10:30AM-9PM, 7 days a week.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

1st tour of the year!

Rise & shine! Later this morning, we're hitting the road for our 1st Texas Q Tours trip of the new year. Five stops: 3 BBQ joints & 2 craft breweries! Updates via @TexasQTours @ManUpTexasBBQ! If you want a customized tour for you & your family, your friends, your coworkers, etc., email me!

Friday, January 23, 2015

Riverport BBQ (Jefferson, TX) for sale

I learned this week via Twitter that Riverport BBQ (Jefferson, TX) is for sale. The picture below was posted with the tweet announcing the sale. The joint remains open for business, in the meantime. Follow Riverport BBQ on Facebook and Twitter.


Thursday, January 22, 2015

First visit to Specht's Store (San Antonio, TX)

This past Sunday, I made my way to Specht's Store (about 9 miles north of Loop 1604 off Blanco Road in San Antonio). I had a feeling that it might be closed, but I went anyway. Guess I could have, you know, checked online beforehand, but I didn't. It was a beautiful day, and I wasn't far away, so it would be worth the drive regardless. Well, it was indeed closed. But I snapped a few pictures of the outside (front & side). I look forward to going back when I am certain it is open.









Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Texas BBQ Wannabe: 123

123. Gary Ray's Texas BBQ (Tucson, Arizona) - "TEXAS BARBECUE AT IT'S FINEST. WE DON'T TAKE THAT LIGHTLY!"

Updated list: 

1. Texas Smokehouse (Decatur, AL)
2. Hill Country Barbecue (Manhattan)
3. Dallas BBQ (Manhattan)
4. Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q (Beijing)
5. Capital Q (Washington, DC) - RIP
6. Little Texas (Iasi, Romania)
7. Back Forty Texas BBQ (CA)
8. West Texas Barbeque Co. (Jackson, MI)
9. Dr. Hogly Wogly’s Tyler Texas BBQ (Van Nuys, CA)
10. Barn Burner Texas Barbeque (Pasadena, CA)
11. JR’s Texas Bar-B-Que (Sacramento, CA)
12. Texas West BBQ (3 CA locations)
13. Tootie’s Texas Barbeque (Cathedral City, CA)
14. Armadillo Willy’s Real Texas BBQ (Los Altos, CA)
15. The Original Texas Barbecue King (Los Angeles)
16. Longhorn Barbecue (3 WA locations)
17. Bubb's Big Texas Style BBQ (Big Bend, WI)
18. The Texas BBQ Company (Northborough, MA)
19. DJ's Texas Style BBQ (Lewiston, ME)
20. Serious Texas BBQ (3 CO locations)
21. Abbey's Real Texas Bar-B-Q (San Diego, California)
22. Jake's Authentic Texan Bar B-Q (Rensselaer, NY)
23. Buster's Texas Style Barbecue (3 OR locations)
24. Howard's Texas Barbecue Service (Portland, OR)
25. Bennett's BBQ (CO, TN, & NC)
26. Kin Folks Texas Style BBQ (Altoona, IA)
27. Cecil's Texas Style Bar-B-Q (2 FL locations)
28. Shaw's Texas Style BBQ (Hercules, CA)
29. Backwoods BBQ (Corona, CA)
30. Cedar River Smoke House (Renton, WA)
31. Big Al's Texas BBQ (Lehi, UT)
32. East Texas BBQ, LLC (Huntsville, AL)
33. Bonehead's Texas BBQ (San Francisco, CA)
34. Texas Pride Barbecue (Huntsville, UT)
35. Bart's Texas Style BBQ (Traverse City, MI)
36. Roland's Bar-B-Que Company (Hot Springs, AR)
37. Ralphies Texas Style BBQ & Ribs (Fairmont, WV)
38. Taste of Texas Bar-B-Q (Spencerport, NY)
39. Danny's Little Taste of Texas (South Windsor, CT)
40. Taste of Texas BBQ (McCook, NE)
41. Lockhart's BBQ (Royal Oak, MI)
42. Big John's Texas BBQ (Flagstaff, AZ)
43. Big Star Texas Barbeque (Flagstaff, AZ)
44. Big Mouth BBQ (Great Falls, MT)
45. Bull Durham’s Texas BBQ and Steakhouse (West Chester, PA)
46. Texas Ribs and BBQ (Clinton, MD)
47. The Silver Spur Texas Smokehouse BBQ (Elm Grove, WI)
48. Elmer's Authentic Texas BBQ (Battle Lake, MN)
49. Doc's Texas BBQ & Burgers (Sonora, CA)
50. Dixie's Smokehouse Texas BBQ & Rotisserie (Kings Park, NY)
51. Bob's BBQ & Mexican Grill (Pattaya, Thailand)
52. Bob's Texas BBQ (Boise, ID)
53. Hickory River Smokehouse (6 locations in OH & IL)
54. Texas Tony's BBQ Shack (Naples, FL)
55. Roosters Texas Style BBQ & Steakhouse (Nashville, TN)
56. Lee's Texas Style Bar-B-Q (Detroit, MI)
57. Texas Smokehouse Bar-B-Q (Woodinville, WA) - RIP
58. Austin BBQ (Wheaton, IL)
59. Alamo BBQ (Richmond, VA)
60. Austin's BBQ (Mountain View, CA)
61. 4C BBQ (Ponce De Leon, FL)
62. Rotuno's Texas Style Barbeque (Elyria, OH)
63. Smoke City Market (Sherman Oaks, CA)
64. The Ranger Texas Barbecue (Manhattan)
65. 4Rivers Smokehouse (2 FL locations)
66. Podnah's Pit Barbecue (Portland, OR)
67. Taste of Texas BBQ (Keystone, NE)
68. Bubba's Barbecue (Jakarta, Indonesia)
69. Molly's Smokehouse Texas BBQ (Wahiawa, HI)
70. Smokin' J's BBQ - Real Texas Barbeque (Gulfport, FL)
71. Texas BBQ & Steaks (Nha Trang, Vietnam)
72. Texas BBQ (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
73. Lynyrd Skynyrd BBQ & Beer (Las Vegas, NV) - RIP
74. Red River BBQ (Melbourne, Australia)
75. Triple A Bar (Toronto, Canada)
76. Texas Bar-B-Q (Puebla, Mexico)
77. Bubba's Texas BBQ (Philadelphia)
78. Tex's World Famous Bar-B-Q (Nashville, TN)
79. Gilley's BBQ (Las Vegas)
80. Texas Pit BBQ (St. Thomas, VI)
81. Texas Best BBQ (Valley Village, CA)
82. Selma's Texas Barbeque (Moon Township, PA)
83. Texas BBQ House (Phoenix)
84: Bludso's BBQ (Compton, CA)
85. Wayne's BBQ Shack (Superior, CO)
86. Little Miss BBQ (Phoenix, AZ)
87. Wise Barbecue Company (Los Angeles)
88. Hickory River Smokehouse (multiple locations in OH & IL)
89. Jim's Pit Bar-B-Q (Reddick, FL)
90. Burnt to a Crisp Texas Smokehouse (Los Angeles)
91. Smoke Ring (Rome, Italy) 
92. Texas BBQ Grill (Chehalis, WA)
93. Texas Joe's (London, England)
94. Texas Stockyards BBQ (Lady Lake, FL)
95. Bubba's Texas Style Bar-B-Que & Saloon (Shanghai, China)
96. Hill Country Barbecue (Brooklyn, NY)
97. Hill Country Barbecue (Washington, DC)
98. Double J Texas BBQ (Havelock, NC)
99. Bar-B-Q Shack (Brighton, England)
100. White Smoke - A Texas Smokehouse (Tokyo)
101. Kim's Texas BBQ (San Diego, CA)
102. Swingin' Door Texas BBQ (North Hollywood, CA)
103. Brick's Barbeque (Sarasota, FL)
104. Texas Hold'em BBQ (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
105. Texas Ribs (multiple locations in Mexico)
106. The Beast (Paris, France)
107. Texas BBQ (Tel Aviv, Israel)
108. Horse Thief BBQ (Los Angeles)
109. BBQ Rush (Tucson, AZ)
110. Allison's Texas BBQ (Mesa, AZ)
111. The Proper Pig BBQ (Cleveland, OH)
112. The Beach Pit (St. George Island, FL)
113. Rangers Texas BBQ (Sydney, Australia)
114. Taste of Texas BBQ (Waitara, Australia)
115. Marley's Central Texas BBQ (Albuquerque, NM) 
116. Round Up Texas Smoked BBQ (Cold Spring, NY)
117. Texas Pit BBQ (Cloudcroft, NN)
118. Joe's Texan BBQ (Currumbin, Australia)
119. The Calhoun Family's Texas Barbeque (Murrieta, CA)
120. Rio Grande Texas Barbecue (Balgowlah, Australia) 
121. The Texan Bar-B-Q & Chili House (Algonquin, IL)
122. Bob's Omahoma Barbeque (Wooster, OH)
123. Gary Ray's Texas BBQ (Tucson, AZ)

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Lunch at Blanco BBQ (San Antonio, TX)

Last week, I had lunch at Blanco BBQ. I opted for a a sliced-brisket sandwich, steamed broccoli, & iced tea.






Monday, January 19, 2015

Texas BBQ Wannabe: 122

122. Bob's Omahoma Barbeque (Wooster, Ohio) - "Serving you the best in Traditional Texas Style Dry BBQ Rub"

Updated list: 

1. Texas Smokehouse (Decatur, AL)
2. Hill Country Barbecue (Manhattan)
3. Dallas BBQ (Manhattan)
4. Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q (Beijing)
5. Capital Q (Washington, DC) - RIP
6. Little Texas (Iasi, Romania)
7. Back Forty Texas BBQ (CA)
8. West Texas Barbeque Co. (Jackson, MI)
9. Dr. Hogly Wogly’s Tyler Texas BBQ (Van Nuys, CA)
10. Barn Burner Texas Barbeque (Pasadena, CA)
11. JR’s Texas Bar-B-Que (Sacramento, CA)
12. Texas West BBQ (3 CA locations)
13. Tootie’s Texas Barbeque (Cathedral City, CA)
14. Armadillo Willy’s Real Texas BBQ (Los Altos, CA)
15. The Original Texas Barbecue King (Los Angeles)
16. Longhorn Barbecue (3 WA locations)
17. Bubb's Big Texas Style BBQ (Big Bend, WI)
18. The Texas BBQ Company (Northborough, MA)
19. DJ's Texas Style BBQ (Lewiston, ME)
20. Serious Texas BBQ (3 CO locations)
21. Abbey's Real Texas Bar-B-Q (San Diego, California)
22. Jake's Authentic Texan Bar B-Q (Rensselaer, NY)
23. Buster's Texas Style Barbecue (3 OR locations)
24. Howard's Texas Barbecue Service (Portland, OR)
25. Bennett's BBQ (CO, TN, & NC)
26. Kin Folks Texas Style BBQ (Altoona, IA)
27. Cecil's Texas Style Bar-B-Q (2 FL locations)
28. Shaw's Texas Style BBQ (Hercules, CA)
29. Backwoods BBQ (Corona, CA)
30. Cedar River Smoke House (Renton, WA)
31. Big Al's Texas BBQ (Lehi, UT)
32. East Texas BBQ, LLC (Huntsville, AL)
33. Bonehead's Texas BBQ (San Francisco, CA)
34. Texas Pride Barbecue (Huntsville, UT)
35. Bart's Texas Style BBQ (Traverse City, MI)
36. Roland's Bar-B-Que Company (Hot Springs, AR)
37. Ralphies Texas Style BBQ & Ribs (Fairmont, WV)
38. Taste of Texas Bar-B-Q (Spencerport, NY)
39. Danny's Little Taste of Texas (South Windsor, CT)
40. Taste of Texas BBQ (McCook, NE)
41. Lockhart's BBQ (Royal Oak, MI)
42. Big John's Texas BBQ (Flagstaff, AZ)
43. Big Star Texas Barbeque (Flagstaff, AZ)
44. Big Mouth BBQ (Great Falls, MT)
45. Bull Durham’s Texas BBQ and Steakhouse (West Chester, PA)
46. Texas Ribs and BBQ (Clinton, MD)
47. The Silver Spur Texas Smokehouse BBQ (Elm Grove, WI)
48. Elmer's Authentic Texas BBQ (Battle Lake, MN)
49. Doc's Texas BBQ & Burgers (Sonora, CA)
50. Dixie's Smokehouse Texas BBQ & Rotisserie (Kings Park, NY)
51. Bob's BBQ & Mexican Grill (Pattaya, Thailand)
52. Bob's Texas BBQ (Boise, ID)
53. Hickory River Smokehouse (6 locations in OH & IL)
54. Texas Tony's BBQ Shack (Naples, FL)
55. Roosters Texas Style BBQ & Steakhouse (Nashville, TN)
56. Lee's Texas Style Bar-B-Q (Detroit, MI)
57. Texas Smokehouse Bar-B-Q (Woodinville, WA) - RIP
58. Austin BBQ (Wheaton, IL)
59. Alamo BBQ (Richmond, VA)
60. Austin's BBQ (Mountain View, CA)
61. 4C BBQ (Ponce De Leon, FL)
62. Rotuno's Texas Style Barbeque (Elyria, OH)
63. Smoke City Market (Sherman Oaks, CA)
64. The Ranger Texas Barbecue (Manhattan)
65. 4Rivers Smokehouse (2 FL locations)
66. Podnah's Pit Barbecue (Portland, OR)
67. Taste of Texas BBQ (Keystone, NE)
68. Bubba's Barbecue (Jakarta, Indonesia)
69. Molly's Smokehouse Texas BBQ (Wahiawa, HI)
70. Smokin' J's BBQ - Real Texas Barbeque (Gulfport, FL)
71. Texas BBQ & Steaks (Nha Trang, Vietnam)
72. Texas BBQ (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
73. Lynyrd Skynyrd BBQ & Beer (Las Vegas, NV) - RIP
74. Red River BBQ (Melbourne, Australia)
75. Triple A Bar (Toronto, Canada)
76. Texas Bar-B-Q (Puebla, Mexico)
77. Bubba's Texas BBQ (Philadelphia)
78. Tex's World Famous Bar-B-Q (Nashville, TN)
79. Gilley's BBQ (Las Vegas)
80. Texas Pit BBQ (St. Thomas, VI)
81. Texas Best BBQ (Valley Village, CA)
82. Selma's Texas Barbeque (Moon Township, PA)
83. Texas BBQ House (Phoenix)
84: Bludso's BBQ (Compton, CA)
85. Wayne's BBQ Shack (Superior, CO)
86. Little Miss BBQ (Phoenix, AZ)
87. Wise Barbecue Company (Los Angeles)
88. Hickory River Smokehouse (multiple locations in OH & IL)
89. Jim's Pit Bar-B-Q (Reddick, FL)
90. Burnt to a Crisp Texas Smokehouse (Los Angeles)
91. Smoke Ring (Rome, Italy) 
92. Texas BBQ Grill (Chehalis, WA)
93. Texas Joe's (London, England)
94. Texas Stockyards BBQ (Lady Lake, FL)
95. Bubba's Texas Style Bar-B-Que & Saloon (Shanghai, China)
96. Hill Country Barbecue (Brooklyn, NY)
97. Hill Country Barbecue (Washington, DC)
98. Double J Texas BBQ (Havelock, NC)
99. Bar-B-Q Shack (Brighton, England)
100. White Smoke - A Texas Smokehouse (Tokyo)
101. Kim's Texas BBQ (San Diego, CA)
102. Swingin' Door Texas BBQ (North Hollywood, CA)
103. Brick's Barbeque (Sarasota, FL)
104. Texas Hold'em BBQ (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
105. Texas Ribs (multiple locations in Mexico)
106. The Beast (Paris, France)
107. Texas BBQ (Tel Aviv, Israel)
108. Horse Thief BBQ (Los Angeles)
109. BBQ Rush (Tucson, AZ)
110. Allison's Texas BBQ (Mesa, AZ)
111. The Proper Pig BBQ (Cleveland, OH)
112. The Beach Pit (St. George Island, FL)
113. Rangers Texas BBQ (Sydney, Australia)
114. Taste of Texas BBQ (Waitara, Australia)
115. Marley's Central Texas BBQ (Albuquerque, NM) 
116. Round Up Texas Smoked BBQ (Cold Spring, NY)
117. Texas Pit BBQ (Cloudcroft, NN)
118. Joe's Texan BBQ (Currumbin, Australia)
119. The Calhoun Family's Texas Barbeque (Murrieta, CA)
120. Rio Grande Texas Barbecue (Balgowlah, Australia) 
121. The Texan Bar-B-Q & Chili House (Algonquin, IL)
122. Bob's Omahoma Barbeque (Wooster, OH)

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Saturday, January 17, 2015

1st visit to B & D Ice House (San Antonio, TX)

I spent yesterday afternoon in the Southtown neighborhood of San Antonio, one of my favorites. While hanging out at The Friendly Spot, I walked across the street to B & D Ice House. It was my first visit. I ordered half a pound of brisket.