Welcome again for the ultimate time, of us. All good issues should come to an finish. Our journey by way of the Texas Month-to-month Prime 50 BBQ joints has reached its last cease at cease #44. No, we haven’t forgotten find out how to do math. This trek adopted the 2017 addition of the record and passed off again in 2020. There was a bit of occasion happening again then generally known as the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazingly, we managed to go to 44 stops, even wrestling with closures and stay-at-home orders.
Sadly, whether or not as a result of pandemic or in any other case, six of the joints on the record completely closed earlier than we might go to. Whereas this will likely have meant the untimely finish of our travels, it was nonetheless fairly an endeavor that took us to each nook of the good (and huge) state of Texas.
Fittingly, we finish our journey within the mecca of Texas BBQ, central Texas. Coming down from east Texas, we arrive in a tiny city exterior of Austin. In one other becoming incidence, this author and Flickchart’s weblog editor obtained to fulfill as much as commemorate the top of this text collection. Since our go to, the lead pit grasp has been featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Desk collection and not too long ago turned 90 years previous. Sure, there may be solely place we may very well be speaking about:
Cease #44: Lexington, Snow’s BBQ
They are saying you may journey the entire world in Texas, from Dublin to Paris and extra. However you can even journey by way of the entire US, too, with lots of Texas’s cities and cities sharing names with different notable US places. In contrast to the Kentucky metropolis, this Lexington is small. About 40 miles west of School Station-Bryan and 51 miles east of Austin, Lexington sits in the course of, if not nowhere, not a lot. It sported a inhabitants of just one,217 as of the 2020 census.
The city was based again in 1837 by Texas Revolution warfare hero James Shaw. Shaw was granted the land as a reward for his navy service. In traditional Texas style, he got here to the world alone on horseback to begin a brand new life. Quickly he gathered in different settlers and opened a submit workplace by 1848. Shaw was the spine of the city and space, serving as a schoolteacher, surveyor, and legislator. The neighborhood modified its identify to Lexington in 1850 and isn’t named after the Kentucky locale, however fairly the city in Massachusetts.
With farming and ranching because the city’s major financial basis, the following many years introduced sluggish however regular progress, although not with out disruption. The Civil Battle lowered the inhabitants resulting from each navy recruitment and emancipation. The twentieth century noticed a seesaw of inhabitants change. In 1927, Lexington sported a inhabitants of 1000 individuals however fell to 600 within the Nineteen Fifties. It will solely go over 1000 once more after the beginning of the twenty first century.
At this time, agriculture stays the city’s major focus. Most of Lexington is comprised of native farmers and ranchers and supporting companies. Peanuts are a notable crop from the world, and there may be an aluminum plant that employs some individuals.
The city, like many others in central Texas, had all the time had a powerful custom of Saturday BBQ. It’s a custom that lead pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz grew up in as a local to Lexington and a farmer’s daughter. Her first BBQ gig began in close by Giddings all the best way again in 1966, and she or he hasn’t stopped since, apart for a short time when her husband had a stroke.
Snow’s proprietor, Kerry Bexley, knew that Lexington served top-tier BBQ and satisfied Tootsie to open Snow’s with them after a number of makes an attempt within the late 90s and early 00s. Snow’s opened its doorways on March 1, 2003 and has been placing out excellence ever since. It’s the #1 rated joint on this model of the record!
Did we save the perfect for final? The wait appeared to make it so. Regardless of arriving at 6 AM, we had been 106th in line! Practically 4 hours later, we sat down with a heaping plate of BBQ and sides. With nice anticipation, we loved brisket, sausage, and a singular providing: pork steak! Pork steak is a minimize that comes from the butt, or shoulder, of the pig.
The sausage was beautiful smoky taste, served in a hefty hyperlink and smoked to nice high quality. Whereas it gained’t battle for high hyperlink, it was nonetheless among the many highest high quality within the state. The brisket was additionally incredible. With a definite smoke ring and flavorful bark, the tender beef was additionally among the many higher briskets in Texas.
But the star of the present was the distinctive merchandise, the pork steak. Representing many years of mastery of her craft, Tootsie’s pork is among the many finest meat you could ever eat. Completely tender, the wealthy smoky taste brings out hidden tastes that you’d by no means count on from pork for Texas BBQ. Is it the perfect single meat to eat in Texas? Particular person tastes could range, however there’s little doubting that is amongst these bites.
To not go unmentioned, Snow’s additionally unexpectedly provided probably the greatest sides in Texas. The potato salad right here was fine quality. The actual mayo-mustard mix was fairly distinctive and flavorful, even for somebody who doesn’t significantly like mustard-based potato salads. This isn’t a aspect to be missed.
We additionally had the enjoyment of getting a photograph with Ms. Tootsie herself!
This was a stunning technique to bid adieu to this tiring but extremely rewarding endeavor. I award the sausage 4 hyperlinks out of 5, the brisket 5 slices out of 5, and the pork steak 5 oinks out of 5! I award Snow’s BBQ an ideal 5 people who smoke out of 5!
The Movie: Hope Floats
Hope Floats doesn’t happen in Lexington. Certainly, it could be a little bit of a shock that any movie can be set in that particular little city. However it does happen within the close by, barely bigger city of Smithville. The film even filmed some scenes in Smithville and different close by cities, so it’s a becoming alternative as consultant of the small cities to the east of Austin.
Sadly for Snow’s probabilities of being the general winner of this rating journey, the movie it’s being paired with shouldn’t be the best high quality. Although it stars the excessive profile abilities of Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr., and is directed by Forest Whitaker of all individuals, Hope Floats falls aside within the writing realm.
The premise isn’t inherently dangerous. Birdee, a Chicago housewife, is publicly humiliated when her husband is revealed to be dishonest on her in a Jerry Springer-style TV present. She and her daughter flee to her small city and reside along with her precocious and demanding mom, performed by the superb Gena Rowlands. This may very well be the muse of a superb story of a lady getting again to her roots, remembering her Texas small-town values, repairing her relationships, and reflecting on how far she’s come.
Sadly, the script takes this and inflects it with the utmost melodrama. Connick Jr. is ready up as a former classmate romancing her, leading to cheese and corniness. Each performers are respectable sufficient, however their characters are written as these caricatures of individuals with altering motivations and character traits that go wherever the foolish plot takes them.
Except for this syrupy romance, the plot layers on a coronary heart assault, Alzheimer’s, Birdee’s mother and father getting divorced, Birdee’s daughter getting rejected by her father, and extra. Any of these items explored with some depth or nuance might make for a superb movie. However it’s explored suddenly and with the depth of a puddle. Consequentially, the entire thing is kind of soggy.
A redeeming high quality is the soundtrack. There’s a robust assortment of songs from Americana, rock, and folks artists that punctuate scenes. Given the Texas setting, this soundtrack matches the flavour of the world properly. Would that it had been a part of a greater film.
Does anybody eat barbecue?
Sadly, no!
Now for one final replace of the charts earlier than awarding a winner:
Texas Movie Chart
- The Final Image Present
- No Nation for Outdated Males
- Hell or Excessive Water
- Rushmore
- A Ghost Story
- Hud
- Workplace Area
- Blood Easy
- The Tree of Life
- Boyhood
- Paris, Texas
- The Proper Stuff
- Lone Star
- Chef
- Bernie
- Big
- North Dallas Forty
- Smokey and the Bandit
- Apollo 13
- The Texas Chain Noticed Bloodbath
- Leadbelly
- Krisha
- Tender Mercies
- Dazed and Confused
- Dallas Purchaser’s Membership
- JFK
- The Sugarland Categorical
- Phrases of Endearment
- City Cowboy
- American Violet
- The Greatest Little Whorehouse in Texas
- Planet Terror
- Frank
- Whip It
- Pure Choice
- That is The place We Stay
- The Junction Boys
- Pure Nation
- The Alamo
- Tune to Tune
- Outlaw Blues
- Selena
- Hope Floats
- Nadine
Texas BBQ Chart
- Franklin’s Barbecue
- Snow’s BBQ
- Evie Mae’s Pit Barbecue
- Pinkerton’s Barbecue
- Bodacious Bar-B-Q
- Killen’s Barbecue
- Cattleack Barbeque
- Terry Black’s Barbecue
- Pecan Lodge
- Stiles Change BBQ
- BBQ on the Brazos
- Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ
- Hutchins Barbeque
- Joseph’s Riverport Bar-B-Que
- Pody’s BBQ
- Tyler’s Barbeque
- Blue Moon BBQ
- Corkscrew BBQ
- 2M Smokehouse
- Vera’s Yard Bar-B-Que
- La Barbecue
- Hays Co. Bar-B-Que
- Roegels Barbecue
- Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue
- Smolik’s Smokehouse
- Louie Mueller Barbecue
- Miller’s Smokehouse
- Lockhart Smokehouse
- Heim Barbecue
- Reality Barbeque
- Fargo’s Pit BBQ
- Gatlin’s BBQ
- Metropolis Market
- Baker Boys BBQ
- Kreuz Meat Market
- Stanley’s Well-known Pit BBQ
- Micklethwait Craft Meats
- Payne’s Bar-B-Q Shak
- The Pit Room
- Cooper’s Outdated Time Pit Bar-B-Que
- 4-T’s Bar-B-Q
- The Smoking Oak
- Heavy’s BBQ
- Harris Bar-B-Que
The Ultimate Rating & The Finish?
We clocked 1000’s of miles and energy and plenty of hours of cinema alongside the best way of this BBQ odyssey. Whereas we sadly didn’t get to go to all 50 joints, this endeavor was past rewarding. Since this journey, a brand new version of the Texas Month-to-month Prime 50 debuted in 2021, and one other must be coming later this 12 months. We have now no plans to go to all of these new joints in a single 12 months like with the unique trek. However that doesn’t imply we would not pop again on the street to cowl extra BBQ and one other Texas-set movie.
Inside the historical past of cinema, there are a mess of Texas-set movies we didn’t cowl. For sure, Texas performs an enormous half in American movie. Whether or not it’s the Mexican-influenced coastal flats of the south, the rolling hills of central Texas, or the expansive deserts of west Texas, filmmakers have explored all of those locales in making nice artwork. The Texan story is the American one in some ways. It’s a historical past of revolt and heroism, if marred by the imperfect implementation of the beliefs of freedom in relation to minorities. It’s a story informed throughout the breadth of those 44 movies, and plenty of extra.
We now arrive on the last rating. The most effective movie crown goes to The Final Image Present, whereas the perfect BBQ crown goes to Franklin’s, narrowly over Snow’s. However who’s the perfect general? What’s the finest city in Texas? Which has the perfect mixture of BBQ and movie? Let the stats story the story:
Ultimate Rankings:
- Wolfforth: Evie Mae’s Pit Barbecue & Hell or Excessive Water (Rating: 3)
- McKinney: Hutchins Barbeque & The Final Image Present (Rating: 7)
- Austin: Franklin’s Barbecue & Chef (Rating: 7.5)
- Houston: Pinkerton’s Barbecue & The Proper Stuff (Rating: 8)
- Amarillo: Tyler’s Barbeque & Hud (Rating: 11)
- Longview: Bodacious Bar-B-Q & Smokey and the Bandit (Rating: 11.5)
- Dallas: Cattleack Barbeque & North Dallas Forty (Rating: 12)
- Jefferson: Joseph’s Riverport Bar-B-Que & Bernie (Rating: 14.5)
- Pecos: Pody’s BBQ & Big (Rating: 15.5)
- San Marcos: Hays Co. Bar-B-Que & Boyhood (Rating: 16)
- Brownsville: Vera’s Yard Bar-B-Que & Lone Star (Rating: 16.5)
- Taylor: Louie Mueller Barbecue & Blood Easy (Rating: 17)
- Fort Price: Heim Barbecue & A Ghost Story (Rating: 17)
- Austin: Stiles Change BBQ & Dazed and Confused (Rating: 17)
- Pearland: Killen’s Barbecue & City Cowboy (Rating: 17.5)
- Dallas: Pecan Lodge & JFK (Rating: 17.5)
- Houston: Gatlin’s BBQ & Rushmore (Rating: 18)
- Belton: Miller’s Smokehouse & The Tree of Life (Rating: 18)
- Spring: Corkscrew BBQ & Krisha (Rating: 20)
- Tomball: Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue & Apollo 13 (Rating: 21.5)
- Mercedes: The Smoking Oak & No Nation for Outdated Males (Rating: 22)
- Lexington: Snow’s BBQ & Hope Floats (Rating: 22.5)
- Hearne: Blue Moon BBQ & American Violet (Rating: 23.5)
- Forney: 4-T’s Bar-B-Q & Workplace Area (Rating: 24)
- Cresson: BBQ on the Brazos & Pure Nation (Rating: 24.5)
- Houston: Roegels Barbecue & Phrases of Endearment (Rating: 25.5)
- Austin: Terry Black’s Barbecue & Nadine (Rating: 26)
- Austin: Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ & Outlaw Blues (Rating: 26.5)
- Dallas: Lockhart Smokehouse & Dallas Purchaser’s Membership (Rating: 26.5)
- Hondo: Heavy’s BBQ & Paris, Texas (Rating: 27)
- Lockhart: Kreuz Meat Market & The Texas Chain Noticed Bloodbath (Rating: 27.5)
- Tyler: Stanley’s Well-known Pit BBQ & Leadbelly (Rating: 28.5)
- San Antonio: 2M Smokehouse & The Alamo (Rating: 29)
- Austin: La Barbecue & Tune to Tune (Rating: 30.5)
- Brenham: Reality Barbeque & The Greatest Little Whorehouse in Texas (Rating: 30.5)
- Luling: Metropolis Market & Planet Terror (Rating: 32.5)
- Houston: The Pit Room & The Sugarland Categorical (Rating: 33)
- Mathis: Smolik’s Smokehouse & Selena (Rating: 33.5)
- Cedar Hill: Harris Bar-B-Que & Tender Mercies (Rating: 33.5)
- Bryan: Fargo’s Pit BBQ & The Junction Boys (Rating: 34)
- Gonzales: Baker Boys BBQ & Pure Choice (Rating: 34.5)
- Austin: Micklethwait Craft Meats & Frank (Rating: 35)
- Burnet: Payne’s Bar-B-Q Shak & Whip It (Rating: 36)
- Llano: Cooper’s Outdated Time Pit Bar-B-Que & That is The place We Stay (Rating: 38)
In maybe a surprising consequence, the general winner is Wolfforth/Lubbock. It had probably the greatest BBQ spots within the type of Evie Mae’s and was paired with a completely glorious fashionable masterpiece in Hell or Excessive Water. Whereas the excessive rating pairings of Franklin’s and Chef and Hutchins and The Final Image Present had been sizzling on its heels, there was nonetheless a transparent separation! We additionally had a number of units of ties, which we utilized our private discretion in breaking.
Congrats to Evie Mae’s and Hell or Excessive Water on being the Texas Month-to-month BBQ Street Journey grand champion! Thanks readers for following all these years, as we lastly pull into the driveway and settle in. Till then, we’ll being seeing ya!
