RG - i'm late to this thread (as in today is the first day i knew it existed) but read it through from the start and then got to the part about PRG from back in June.

i hope you understand the banter that occurs in places like the monthly OOT threads and the containment thread are completely different and separated from posts like you made about your dad.

i'm guessing a majority of us come here for a few hours each day to take a break from everything else we have going on in our real lives. we talk some ****, receive some ****, and go on with our day.

sometimes what happens in our real lives crosses over to what happens here.

many of us have been around this place for quite some time, and unfortunately countless people that have made an indelible mark on our forum experience have either left us before we were ready for them to go, or had people they cared deeply about do the same.

what's my point? anything that you might perceive as negative feedback towards you is not directed towards your actual life experiences and the challenges you encounter on a day-to-day basis, it's only directed towards your 2+2 persona and what you share with us through that method.

i'm (belatedly) sorry for your loss. your dad is only a year older than my mom, and i can't imaging what it's going to be like when she passes.

Cool you’re out on parole finally, try to keep your nose clean. I’ll try to take pics and give my opinions on what’s out there.

Thanks for the obviously heartfelt post. I'm a little bit familiar with how OOT works. I run into trouble when I take the "banter" a bit too far. I'm working on that.

Edit: Pappa RG was awesome. I hope your mom lives much, much longer.


Not parole, just a furlough for this thread only. But, it's a step.

I’ve run into a few *******s on here you’re not one of them. Even for those people I would never wish any ill will to anyone due to disagreements I’ve had with them on a poker site.

We here.

Oh yeah. Tonight you'll have a baseline to compare Smitty's and Black's. I hope all three are playing their A game.

Feelings on Kreuz are mixed. I had the lowest expectations for this place and to be honest wasn’t all that impressed. I can think of least 5 places in Houston with better brisket. That being said even 5 years ago those places didn’t exist. If it wasn’t for places like Kreuz and other central Texas bbq joints those new places in Houston wouldn’t exist.

The shoulder clod was by far the most interesting and I’m hoping Smitty’s makes a better version as it doesn’t exist in Houston. Not sure why brisket is the unquestionable king of modern beef bbq.

Didn’t expect to see this in small town Texas.

Damn dude. I'm sorry. That's the saddest looking pile of **** bbq I've ever seen. But I'd chomp that sausage all night long.

If I can make some suggestions:

-- always ask for your brisket "wet". If you get a newb that gives you blank stare, just tell him you want some fatty pieces. If you don't eat fat, you can cut around it, but the meat will be the best of the brisket.
-- don't forget the beef rib at Black's
-- don't just go with beef, pork ribs are often as good as it gets
-- get a little bit of everything available at Smitty's, you won't regret it

Better luck with the rest of the trip. Keep the pics and opinions coming.

Hey “no ragrets”, based on reviews and pictures online I came in with low expectations. I think it will be a good introduction. Also I really made the trip for shoulder clod and I wanted to have one to compare to Smitty’s. Sausage link was really good, I’m contemplating to get a box of 25 links.

Brisket I’m weird I generally will ask for fatty and also some towards the end that tends to have the most bark but has to be well prepared overall tender brisket.

Plan for tomorrow is Smitty’s at opening time for beef bbq. Afterwards heading to the state park to walk off food playing golf or doing a hike. Smitty’s afterwards for the array, shoulder clod, pork ribs, sausage and a bit of brisket if it looks good. Will eat some and take the rest home.

Next week is tofu and no meat, no red meat for at least two weeks.

Not sure what to expect in these times but figured there’d be at least one person waiting to get in.

Not all that impressed, good part was I was the only one in there. As I was getting to leave about five people where getting food.

I’ve definitely had worst but no longer can compete with up and comers like Killeen’s in Houston or Franklin’s in Austin. Should of brought my own pepper grinder.

Ugh. I'm just going to blame it on Covid. The beef rib I got would rival the size of my forearm.

Unfortunately, Lockhart is a tourist mecca, that's just not happening right now. It's far easier to run a restaurant that is always busy, than one where you have no clue how many guests to feed.

I truly hope Smitty's comes through for you.

Back in our day, bbq is Houston didn't deserve a 2nd thought. That has obviously changed now.

Rib was good and well cooked. I make my own which aren’t as well cooked but I do mine with a rib with sea salt, garlic powder and a ton of pepper and I really prefer my rub.


Smitty’s definitely looks the most promising and seems to be the local favorite. I got a pound of shoulder clod and a pound of ribs and a cold jalepeno link. Put them in the cooler and will eat when I get home.

V

Yep, that's Smitty's. Still with the purple-ish butcher paper. I hope you like it. If not, I hope you'll go back when the world is real again.

Thanks for memories.

I see a lot of good bbq, and none of it looks like that.

That purple-ish paper looks like what the plumbers and painters used to cover my floors while they were working.

Da_Nit, thanks for the report and the pics. Seems like what could have been a well-timed trip turnout out to be less than expected and hoped for. Bad luck. That's a bbq area I have been hoping to hit. I hope my timing is good.

Yeah I’m hoping it’s just timing issues and maybe when things are back to normal it’ll be better but not sure. I just think our expectations of BBQ has changed so much in the past 10 years and these classics haven’t kept up. That being said if you do a google search of some great looking shoulder from Kreuz so who knows.

BBQ from Smitty’s. I mean don’t expect shoulder to look like brisket but still. When I asked for shoulder they seemed surprised and I assume at this point they sell 90% brisket to shoulder.

If I’m in the area I may give Smitty’s another shot.

I was not familiar with the shoulder "clod" you were talking about. They didn't serve it back in the day.

However, I absolutely recognize the cartilage vein in your pic. Up north, we call that an arm roast. It's very lean throughout, but when cooked properly (long and slow), it becomes very tender, and has an incredible beef flavor.

It's like a pot roast on steroids.

No it was definitely there, heck they where doing clods before brisket. I think the way it’s labeled at Smitty’s is confusing, they make it sound it’s lean brisket instead of a separate cut.


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