62 replies to this topic

[chefrodrigo]

Day1
The day of the Holy Trinity. Starting in Austin with a plate of migas at Mi Madres. We both used to live down the street from this place.



After a quick trip to central market we hit the road to College Station with a quick stop in Elgin for some meat at Crosstown bbq. The sausage was good but we plan on hitting Southside Market on the way home for a comparison.



As you can see Elgin is a pretty live spot



After lunch we needed a break so we sat on the porch at Duddley's in College Station with several chuggers of Shiner Bock(which ain't what it used to be).



And to finish the Holy Trinity we went to the County Inn in Sommerville for a chicken fried steak and one of the finest I've ever had.





We'll be back with updates on day2.

Rodney/Kyle

[chefrodrigo]

I forgot to mention something about the Country Inn. The extra small steak starts at 1 1/4 lbs. and goes up to the large sirloin at 3 3/4 lbs.

[foodie52]

I LOVE your photos!

How come we haven't gotten to meet you guys?

[ExtraMSG]

I haven't even met them and live in the same town. I'm eagerly awaiting your next batch!

[chefrodrigo]

I LOVE your photos!

How come we haven't gotten to meet you guys?

We'll be back in Austin next week so we'll find you at CM.

[chefrodrigo]

We started the day with a proper breakfast after way too many chuggers of Shiner Bock. Menudo at our favorite Mexican restaurant Tampico in Bryan.



For lunch we stayed in Bryan and went to a great soul food restaurant named Shannons Cafe. We had some really nice beef tips and stewed pork ribs.



For dinner we drove out to Rockdale for bbq at No Teeth BBQ. You people from Austin need to make the drive out there. Wallace Brandyburg makes some fine brisket and ribs smoked over mesquite. Make sure you have some of his special hot sauce and when he tells you its hot believe him. Also ask him how he got his name.




Tomorrow we head to Laredo to stay away from the crowds at the food festival. We are going to beat you bus people to Luling and Gonzales though.

More updates to come.

Rodney/Kyle

[Jaymes]

For dinner we drove out to Rockdale for bbq at No Teeth BBQ. You people from Austin need to make the drive out there. Wallace Brandyburg makes some fine brisket and ribs smoked over mesquite. Make sure you have some of his special hot sauce and when he tells you its hot believe him. Also ask him how he got his name.

Is that "You need no teeth to eat my beef" Wallace?

In Laredo, eat at El Rincon.

[franktex]

If you get tired of the Shiner Bock, by all means try Texas Oldest Microbrewery, Saint Arnold Brewing Company. CMkt carries it.
(shamelss plug)

[chefrodrigo]

In Laredo, eat at El Rincon.

Hey Jaymes,
Its funny you should mention that. We're staying with some friends in Encinal and that is exactly where they plan on taking us.

Rodney

[chefrodrigo]

DAY 3
We spent most of the day driving. Fortunately we were driving thru Luling and Gonzales to get to Laredo.

You know that you are surrounded by greatness the minute you step in the door at Luling City Market. We tried to order a reasonable amount, we failed, since we knew that we would be eating again in 30 minutes.

Sorry but the camera was running out of batteries and we were working against the clock. I guess we'll just have to go back.


Luling City Market- Brisket, Pork Ribs and Sausage.
We didn't talk much during this meal. It was definitely the best meal of the trip so far.

After Luling we drove to Gonzales which is about 30 miles from Luling. We went to the Gonzales Food Market for some of their "Come and Take It" sausage. When we were standing in line we noticed they also had lamb spare ribs which is becoming one of our favorites. The sausage was a little spicier and a little more fat content than Luling. We weren't complaining.



After Gonzales we drove thru some flash flooding and hail on the road to Laredo. We met our friends, Sean and Donna, in Encinal and then headed across the border for some drinks and snacks. More to come on Day 4.

Rodney/Kyle

[chefrodrigo]

DAY 5

We spent the day in Nuevo Laredo and started off with a snack at La Unica with tostadas and flautas. That's the only choices they have.



Then we wandered around some markets and supermarkets. We had a few drinks and then started to get ready for dinner at El Rincon. Jaymes you were right on about this place.


Here is a shot from the entrance


This was the parillada for 2 + cabrito al pastor. The parillada itself came with grilled beef ribs, sweetbreads, chicken, skirt steak, and chorizo. Our mostly vegetarian friend Sean really enjoyed the sweetbreads.

Today we start heading north to get back to bbq territory. First stop Pleasonton just south of San Antonio. More updates to come.

Rodney/Kyle

[fifi]

First question... How does a "mostly vegetarian" friend deal with this romp?

Second question... What started this odyssey? Tell us a story.

[Mudpuppie]

First question... How does a "mostly vegetarian" friend deal with this romp?

This vegetarian is positively drooling over the BBQ pics.

[chefrodrigo]

First question... How does a "mostly vegetarian" friend deal with this romp?

Second question... What started this odyssey? Tell us a story.

Question1- Sean is always looking for excuses to eat meat and is easily corruptible. He only had to deal with us for 2 days.

Question2- We are going to be starting a business in Portland next month and this is the last chance we'll have to get out of town and do this for a long time. We've been wanting to do a bbq tour for a while. There will be more of a story to tell at the end of the trip.

[chefrodrigo]

Today was another day of mostly travelling. We left Laredo on our way back to Bryan and stopped in Pleasonton, just south of San Antonio, on the way.
Pleasonton is the home of McBees BBQ and it was right up there with some of the better stuff we've had. The brisket really stood out here with a nice dark crust and very tender meat. We had our first pork chops here to. They were good but were cooked individually and not as a whole roast and we prefer it the other way.
The sausage had a really nice squirt when the lady cut it for us.


Beef brisket, sausage, pork chops, and pork ribs


They also had some nice old pits

Tomorrow we head back to Austin. Next week we hit some of the big ones.

More to come
Rodney/Kyle

[chefrodrigo]

We started making our way back to Austin from Bryan and made our way thru Taylor to stop at Louie Mueller's. Mueller's was one of the top 5 in Texas Monthly.




You get a choice of lean or moist brisket and we took moist. We also ordered 2 links of regular sausage and 2 links of jalapeno sausage. The brisket was tender, smokey, and had a nice crust but didn't stand out above some others. Never the less it was a fine piece of beef. The clear winner of the day was the jalapeno sausage. It had a great jalapeno flavor but was not overly spicy. We went back for some ribs but, unfortunately, they were having an off day.




Our next stop is Smitty's in Lockhart. This will be our first time at Smitty's and we are definitely looking forward to it.

More updates to come

Rodney/Kyle

[Jaymes]

At Smitty's: Park in the back parking lot and walk in through the back door. That's how all the "reglers" do it. And tour the building. It's like the holy temple of smoked meat in Texas.

Oh, and while you're in Lockhart, in addition to Smitty's and Kreuz's, be sure to try the brisket at Black's.

Edited by Jaymes, 06 April 2004 - 08:41 AM.

[guero]

chefrodrigo promised me that those sweetbreads at Rincón del Viejo were wheat gluten! No wonder they were so good.

-Sean (now slightly less than mostly vegetarian)

[chefrodrigo]

Today we had the best bbq of the trip so far at Smitty's in Lockhart.



We ordered fat brisket, pork chops, and sausage. Everything was perfect. The brisket had the perfect texture. The pork chops were smokey, tender, and juicy. The sausage was as good as any on the trip so far.



Due to gorging ourselves at Smitty's and since we used to always eat at Kreuz we decided to just have the one meal.

Tomorrow we head to Coopers in Mason. We'll see about Llano on the way home.

Rodney/Kyle

[Mabelline]

Those are too beautiful. Texas is always in my mind's eye when I smoke anything.I am with fifi wholeheartedly about the CFS; that nearly made me plan a trip to Texas...I'm glad you got that photo of the menu as well, for most people do not believe it when you tell them about the size of a Texas steak. Believe it!
If you are going to indulge and fall off the veggiewagon, sweetbreads are an excellent temptation

Edited by Mabelline, 06 April 2004 - 06:10 PM.

[foodie52]

Hang on...Cooper's is in Llano, right? Or are there two?

I vote for this THREAD to be the BEST of egullet, hands down. The photos are exquisite.

Who do we tell about this>???????

[Chad]

Motherf*er! I thought I was a barbecue fanatic. Grew up in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina & Georgia -- I can tell what kind of barbecue you like just by the way you order your tea. But, damn, you guys are serious. I'll even let slide the delusion that hot cow in any way constitutes barbecue. This road trip is the most vicarious fun I've had since I first saw Deep Throat on Super8 projected against a bedsheet.

Carry on, boys. The rest of us will ride drag and take notes.

Chad

[Chris Cognac]

Man that was amazing to read and look at. I can only imagine how good it tasted!

[eem]

The photos are exquisite.

I agree! I have to tell you, I drove chefrodrigo to the airport for Texas & was sulking the whole way knowing what feasts lay in store for him & Kyle without me (boo hoo). After about 3 days of looking at their photos, I was calling him a motherf*er too. I have since broke down and yes have bought an unplanned for ticket to join them for the tail end of their BBQ trail.
Yippy!

[Raynickben]

Question2- We are going to be starting a business in Portland next month and this is the last chance we'll have to get out of town and do this for a long time.  We've been wanting to do a bbq tour for a while.  There will be more of a story to tell at the end of the trip.

Me thinks you may be opening a BBQ joint in Portland? Lord knows they need one.

Thanks for the great pictures and for making me very hungry

[chefrodrigo]

Hang on...Cooper's is in Llano, right? Or are there two?

I vote for this THREAD to be the BEST of egullet, hands down. The photos are exquisite.

Who do we tell about this>???????

Hey Foodie
There are 2 Coopers and according to the last Texas Monthly top 50 the one in Mason has moved ahead of the one in Llano. I believe it might have something to do with G Dubya saying the Llano Coopers was his favorite bbq. Sales go up and quality goes down. Texas Monthly said that with the meals they had there recently it almost didn't even make the top 50.

See you soon
Rodney

[chefrodrigo]

The photos are exquisite.

I agree! I have to tell you, I drove chefrodrigo to the airport for Texas & was sulking the whole way knowing what feasts lay in store for him & Kyle without me (boo hoo). After about 3 days of looking at their photos, I was calling him a motherf*er too. I have since broke down and yes have bought an unplanned for ticket to join them for the tail end of their BBQ trail.
Yippy!

Yippy indeed.
You have a real treat waiting for you when you arrive. Don't have any of those yummy plane treats.

See you tomorrow
r

[chefrodrigo]

chefrodrigo promised me that those sweetbreads at Rincón del Viejo were wheat gluten! No wonder they were so good.

-Sean (now slightly less than mostly vegetarian)

I still promise. Oh how I love Mexican wheat gluten.

[Mabelline]

The Mexican Tofu rocks, too! I'm now awaiting your posts with a mental fork in hand. My only complaint is maybe youall aren't hungry enough!! More pictures,more meat, more indulgence!!

[eem]

You have a real treat waiting for you when you arrive. 

My mouth is gushing!