Further Adventures in Barbecue

The Dining Companion and I have now visited just about all of, what are considered to be, the top BBQ spots around. At this point we're at the "varying degrees of good" phase. All of the barbecue we've had recently has been good; some has even been great. At the top level of the smoked meat game, clearly, these people know what they're about. First up is la Barbecue in Austin, TX. la Barbecue is located in a food truck park in Austin, TX and is another BBQ place with a Mueller family association.

We got in line about an hour before they started serving which put us about twelve people back. Not too bad and gave me a chance to take a look around GoodLife Food Park.

I'd also like to point out that GoodLife Food Park is pet friendly.  

Once la Barbecue started serving the line moved fairly quickly.

We placed our order and had our food in no time.

Frito Pie, pickles, Turkey, Brisket, onions, Sausage and bread

 Everything was great. The turkey and brisket were cooked perfectly with just the right amount of smoke flavor. The sausage is course ground and home made with a perfect balance of  seasoning. The Frito Pie with its shredded beef and pork topping was a delicious add on.

Overall la Barbecue does smoked meat on par with all of the other big hitters in this category.

I stopped by one of the other food trucks at GoodLife too, Hey Cupcake. I got a sampler of their mini cupcakes. Just the right thing to cap off our visit.

Next up is Black's Barbecue in Lockhart, TX. For those of you who may not know, Lockhart is one of the main BBQ towns in Texas. It is home to many of the most visited and written about barbecue joints in the state. Old school places that have been around for what seems like forever. We chose Black's as our Lockhart stop. Black's has been around for something like 80 years and has been in the same family all that time.

 

I looked over the menu and placed our order.

On this stop we got our barbecue to go. 

Sadly, that means I don't have any pretty pictures of the food we bought to show you.
These shots will have to do...

 

The good stuff is in the bag!

Once again, all of the smoked meats we had from Black's were really good. They also had something on their menu we hadn't seen before, a smoked pork chop. We had to try it and I'm glad we did. The thick cut, bone in pork chop was cooked to perfection. The smoking process brought out all of the pork's great flavor without drying it out. I'd definitely have it again.

Until we get to Memphis, I think this closes the current chapter on the Great BBQ Adventure. If something new and exciting happens in the world of barbecue we'll check it out and I'll be sure to mention it here.

Happy dining!

The Friendly Spot - San Antonio, Texas

Ice houses are a south Texas tradition that dates back to the 1920's. Ice houses served their obvious function, selling ice, but also served as early convenience stores and gathering places. The 7-Eleven chain grew out of the ice house culture. A bit  from Wikipedia:

Texas Ice Houses

In Texas, former ice houses are a cultural tradition. Ice merchants diversified to sell groceries and cold beer, serving as early convenience stores and local gathering places. The widespread US 7-Eleven convenience store chain developed from ice houses operated by the Southland ice manufacturing company in Dallas and San Antonio in the 1930s, which were first known as Tote'm stores.Today many Texas ice houses have converted into open-air bars. In the region of Central Texas, Southeast Texas, especially the Houston area, and the Texas Hill Country in particular, the word "icehouse" has become a colloquialism for an establishment that derives the majority of its income from the sale of cold beer, especially such locally produced labels as Shiner Bock, Pearl, and Lone Star.

There may be ice house bars in other parts of the country but I've only seen this particular style in south Texas.

From a sign at The Friendly Spot:

 

 

After walking past this place countless times on previous visits, we finally stopped in at The Friendly Spot on our recent trip to San Antonio. The Friendly Spot is a neighborhood bar, a locals place. It's kid and pet friendly; really a place for the whole family. Oh yeah, and they sell beer too, lots of beer. Not only beer, food as well and other cold libations. One of the drink specials the day we were there was, what turned out to be, a really decent Rum Punch. 

The Friendly Spot has both a regular menu and a brunch/weekend menu. While we didn't eat here, the regular menu has what I think of as beer friendly foods and the brunch/weekend menu has the breakfast options covered. 

Today's ice houses are mostly open air bars. There may be a covered patio area or even an inside space but for the most part the main bar is open to or in the out-of-

doors.

Lot's of seating, a play area for the kids (beyond the big tree) water bowls for the doggies. A nice way to spend an afternoon.

There is another bar area as well. The back bar that's, well, in the back behind the main bar area. There's a covered seating area back there with ceiling fans and TV's.

I came away from our visit to The Friendly Spot thinking about how nice it would be if every neighborhood had a great spot like this.

Not too far from The Friendly Spot is another ice house in the same neighborhood. (How lucky are the people who live here?) It's B & D Ice BBQ and Draft. Similar set up but on a smaller scale. We stopped in for a beer and had to give their version of Frito Pie a try.

The Frito Pie features BBQ in the place of chili

B & D has a nice patio with plenty of umbrella covered seating and an inside bar as well. This place has been around for 50 years but closed in 2010. It just re-opened recently and is back with cold beers and decent BBQ.

These two great bars were both within walking distance to where we were staying. There are a ton of things to do and places to see in the King Williams and Southtown area of San Antonio. If you're planning a visit you can't go wrong spending at least some of your time there. The River Walk is great and I love it but it's nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle.

Happy dining!  

Frito Pie

There are a few things you should know about Texas. First, everything is bigger in Texas. Second, the barbecue. And third but not least, turns out one of my favorite snacks is from Texas, Fritos Corn Chips. Fritos were born in the 1930's in San Antonio, TX. I can only imagine that not too much later we got the best way to eat a Frito known to mankind, the Frito Pie.

Some of you may be familiar with the version of Frito Pie that involves a small bag of Fritos, a scoop of chili and a handful of cheese. That is the version I got when I ordered it at Fox Brothers BBQ in Atlanta. Not bad at all.

Fox Brother's BBQ Frito Pie

I recently had the chance to try a local Texas version of this wonderful dish. I was having lunch at a place called Kelley's Country Cookin'. That bit right there should tell you all you need to know about Kelley's. There's a section on the menu called J.W.'s Chili Favorites. Two things stood out: the Texas Special for the Real Texan (how could a person NOT order that?) and Kelley's Chili Pie. What follows may not be pretty, may seem way over the top and unhealthful in the extreme. Yes, yes, it's all of those things but, oh my is it good. So, so good, and awful and wonderful. A plate full of guilt and hard arteries and awesomeness.

Kelley's Chili Pie

Texas Special for the Real Texan

A big plate of delicious

In case I haven't made it clear, I love this stuff. Really. It's a guilty pleasure I just can't quit. So, while I can't in good conscience tell you to, you know, go out and try it, let me state for the record that if you do, IF you do, you won't be sorry. At least not right away.

Happy dining!