This weekend my family and I made a trip to Lockhart, TX to try their BBQ. It was a lot of fun. There are three places in Lockhart that are known for their BBQ and we tried all three. We went into each place and tried 1/4 Brisket, link of sausage, and beans.

The three places are:

Kreuz’s Market

Black’s BBQ

Smitty’s Market

All three were awesome and had a ton of character. Kreuz’s Market looked like it had been remodeled recently. Huge parking lot and easy to spot when you are driving into Lockhart. I was a little concerned when I walked in and was greeted by the heat in a large open room, but it was where you would order your meat right out of the smoker. Fortunately they had an air conditioned room to sit down and enjoy your meal. They wrap your meat in paper, give you a knife (no fork, no sauce), some bread and you go inside the next room to order your sides. We just ordered some beans and actually they were the highlight of the meal. The brisket and sausage was good, but the beans had chunks of tomato and green bell pepper. It was awesome. Tons of spice and flavor. The brisket was a good, and the sausage was a little gritty for my taste, but overall it was a good start.

Smitty’s was a little further into Lockhart. When you walked in the back you basically walk inside their giant smoker. There is an open flame, soot on the wall, and really, really hot. When it is August in Texas you aren’t exactly looking for more heat, but it was a cool experience. We ordered brisket, beans, sausage, and pork ribs. Again, no sauce or forks. The brisket and sausage were about the same, the beans were kind of bland and lacked little flavor, but the pork ribs were really good. Tons of flavor, tender meat, and messy. Also, beer was only $2 a bottle which is always nice!

Black’s was our favorite. The character was lacking because you basically walk through a serving line and I had flashbacks of Furr’s as a kid with my grandparents, but the food was great. We ordered brisket, sausage, and just couldn’t fit in the beans. They didn’t look that good, but it might have been because it was our 3rd place to eat BBQ. The brisket and sausage were great. It was tender, great flavor, still no forks, but they provide some sauce that is really good.

In the end I would pick the beans from Kreuz’s, the beer and ribs from Smitty’s, and the brisket and sausage from Black’s. It took about 45 minutes from north central Austin and we got to drive the kids by the airport to see the planes.