franktex

And their hot sauces are excellent-especially the green one. Definitely has a nice kick to it. I have a 'Reggie by my house(!st/Stassney), and for $6, it's plenty for two. FM

Since beer is food, make sure he gets over to Saint Arnold Brewery on Saturdays at 1pm for the tours and beer tasting! FM

I'd recommend Budro's on the RW. You should also venture out of the downtown area for some great Tex-Mex at Blanco Cafe, and a visit to Blue Star Brewing near town. That part of town(S. Alamo St.) is very walkable, and has many great restaurants. Guajillos' is also very good. The Mercado is always worth a visit, and the Broadway Central Market is my favorite of all of the Central Markets. FM

I believe Lola's the Nubian Queen is just down the street from Sam's!

They are going to build one on 290 also-I saw the sign a couple days ago. Seems like it was between Brenham and Giddings, which, btw, is home to one of my faves, the Giddings Meat Market, on 290 @ Hwy 77. Also, I stopped in Mikeska's on I-10 in Columbus a few weeks ago, expecting the usual dried brisket, and was pleasantly surprised to have some of the best brisket I have had in a long time. Maybe it was an anomaly, but it was excellent. Perfect smoke ring(1/4"), and even the ends were moist and tender. I couldn't believe it. I will try it again soon just to make sure.

Thnaks again for the coverage! I threaten to go this every year, and every year it sneaks up on me, but I think I am going for sure next June. Just the thought of having BBQ from all over the country in one place is pretty cool, but it sure looks crowded. We do take our BBQ for granted here in Texas sometimes. I Here's a slide show, from Jason Perlow's blog of yesterday's activities: http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/

First of all, you probably won't recognize the place. There's cranes all over downtown, erecting tons of high rise residential buildings to house God knows who. The Intel building is nearly gone (it got blowed up real good!), and The Austin Motel is now part of the up-scale SOCO (South Congress, just in case). But never fear, Guero's is still there, along with a few new places nearby: Home Slice Pizza-gets rave reviews Woodland-form the folks that brought you Starlight; Enoteca (next to, and owned by Vespaio)-Italian deli/lunch/dinner spot-excellent. Farm-to-Market-cool little 'convenience store' with so much more. Lots of food/beer/wines. Mars-might be open in their new digs by then. Continental Club-Thursday happy hour with The Mother Truckers-awesome!! And that's just walking distance!

One of my favorites is Chef2Chef. It's sort of a forum, but I've browsed all 600+ pages, and found some great, unique recipes, posted by real chefs. http://forums.chef2chef.net/ubbthreads.php?Cat=1 Frank

These ribs are one of my favorite ways to cook them: (from The Rib Book) Middle Eastern Ribs with Pomegranate Glaze 2 sides pork ribs(I prefer St. Louis cut) 2 tb. white sesame seeds 1 tsp. orange zest for garnish Glaze 1 cup Pomegranate syrup/molasses 1/4 cup oyster sauce 2 tb. honey 1 tb. ground coriander 2 tsp. red pepper flakes 2 tb. minced ginger 1/4 cup minced green onion 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro Remove the membrane from ribs. Toast sesame seeds and set aside. Combine glaze ingredients and marinate ribs in this overnight(in a baggie). These can be grilled or roasted in the oven, which I like best. An oven at 325 for an hour and a half or so should do fine. These will blow your mind!! Serve with Trumps Grenache/Shiraz blend-it don't get no better than that! (Oh yeah, sprinkle them with the sesame seeds & orange zest, then eat)

I don't think Grapevine will hurt too much, as they open Grapevine #2 on Monday in RRk (they are owned by Majestic out of DFW, and have a third store planned down south). Spec's defintley has some stuff that neither Whole Foods or Central Market has-more hot sauces than Tears of Joy, cheeses, 4 kinds of truffle creme, balsamics, etc. And with the cash price on everything, they will probably hurt any Twins in the area. I understand the next Spec's on Brodie will be twice as big(of course, I suspect that will also be the warehouse for their on-premise business). FM

Hey Chris- Unfortunately I missed the Houston episode, but a couple friends saw it, and said you were sipping on a cold Saint Arnold at Goode Co.-is that true? I work for them here in Austin-always great to have 'product placement' on a great TV show! Cheers! Frank

Here's one that sounds similar: http://www.nakedsunfish.com/static/Food/Food/Grd_Shrp.htm

Hey Chris, Did you mention a while back that you might be hitting Houston or Austin? By all means, keep me posted! Frank M

You had me at the yeast rolls!! Mmmmmm! FM

Enjoyed the show Chris, and I appreciate the fact that you read post, and I think most here do to. Looking forward to the rest of the season! FM

That would be The Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival, and we'd love to have you. I'm with a local craft brewery and we have had a big presence (for a small brewery!) there for 7 or 8 years-I think you will like it a lot. Especially the Thursday event at a wild game ranch. Hope to see you there Chris! FM

Some good, meaty BEEF ribs!!!! (My dog Sandy especially likes these too!) FM

And David and Crew looked like they'd been there before-really good stuff. I've actually had his grilled watermelon, although it was served with sashimi, and it worked for me. Looking forward to seeing your show Chris-if it ever gets to Austin, we've got some real treats here! Frank

This Sunday's episode willl feature Bobby Flay and Austin's David Bull, from The Driskill Hotel, in battle WIld Boar, with EGulleter Chris Cognac on the judging panel. Here's a story from today's Austin American-Statesman: http://www.austin360.com/food_drink/conten.../4ironchef.html

Heck, my mom used to add a can of Cream of Mushroom soup to the pan after browning the chops, then doctored it up, and it was pretty good!

Damn Tony-hope you can get out of there as fast as possible, show or no show! There's a plate of brisket, ribs, and sausage and a cold beer with your name on it when you do!! Frank in Austin, TX (I hope you remembered to pack your flak jacket!)

I get a kick every year out of the folks up in NYC when they have the annual Big Block BBQ event, which was held last weekend, where hundreds and hundreds of New Yorkers line up for hours and hours to get some good ol' Texas (and elsewhere) bbq. Here's a discussion thread along with some great photos from this past weekend. BBQ teams included Salt Lick and Southside Market. It reminds me of how lucky we are wto have so many good bbq joints nearby: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=81480&st=30

There's a lot of things that should be 'under the radar', and this is one of them. If you have people over to your house,(to do whatever-a tupperware party, bbq, garage sale, etc), and you want to sell tamales, by all means do it. I'll buy one!

I had some awesome Chiliquiles a local chain in Houston (Taqueria Arandas)not long ago. Being a native Texan (and they are a native Tex-Mex dish), I had really never had Chiliquiles until I read Robb Walsh's, History of Tex Mex Cookbook (excellent read, btw). I love them.

Glad to see somebody else around here that recognizes that Shiner Bock isn't a REAL Bock. ← But at least Zeigenbock is! ) (not!)