CENTEX ADV: Quest for the HOLY SMOKE!

Having worked in the BBQ business since I was in jr high, I have taken it upon myself to bring forth this thread for sole purpose of locating and rating great Que. Ol man Weaver took me under his wing when I was a strappin young lad in the 8th grade. Weaver ran the best Q place in Gatesville for years until his health forced him to give it up. At the time, just figured him for some old fart trying to augment retirement serving up greasy smoked grub. He had an old pitt he pulled behind a 67 Ford truck that would be my first truck(He gave me the truck for cutting fire wood for him.) His joint was first by the schools and he had large following of school kids at lunch. Forget your lunch money, not a problem Weaver NEVER let go hungry. It would be years later that I learned that ol' man had been an investment banker and had annual interest income in the 6 digits!!! He dressed plain, lived in a one room appartment and drove a 60s Buick Skylark. He taught me how to cook Que. Some say I make the best, one things for sure it ain't bad. Mr. Weaver died a number of years ago due complications from asthma, I wish I could have been there, he died alone...he was like a grandfather to me. Fast FORWARD....in more recent years I have catered for thousands, judged BBQ cookoffs, served as pitt boss, and built many pitts...SO NOW FOR THE RULZZ:

We will search out and Judge BRISKET, RIBS, SAUSAGE, and PORK BUTT!

CHICKEN IS NOT Q!!! if someone rates a chicken, may they be tarred and feathered

Ratings are 1-10 with 10 being best! Remember we are rating the fare not necessarily the decor! Some of the best ribs I have ever had was from an old Colored man in east Texas cooking off a 55gallon drum beside the road under a tent Never seen him again but DAMN they were good!
There will be one overall rating per meat, I am not going to judge this like a cookoff. Smoke rings are nice, but taste is what we are after!!!!
Feel free to offer additional comments in the end. Make each place a separate post with the name, address, GPS Coods(just kidding unless u ride a BMW... ), and importantly when they are open....nothing sux worse than driving 200 miles for Que and then find the place is closed

Eventually, I would like to us compose our own TOP 50 list, cause Texas Monthly does not know SHIT!

1) BRISKET: Brisket should not be tough, if I want tough, I will buy Jerky!!! Personally I think brisket needs to be juicy and fall apart when ya cut it, but I understand the logistics of serving that

2) RIBS: The RIB is like the holy meat of man! Smoked to perfection with out bitterness, ready to fall off the bone with just the right seasonings to make your mouth water for days after when you think about it .

3) SAUSAGE: SAUSAGE is very subjective. Some is dry, some is busting with juice, some spicy, some plain. Depending on what is ground into and how its cased decides how it needs to be cooked. Typically, I prefer mine spicy, juicy and not cooked into oblivion:eek1

4) PORK BUTT: Many have no clue what a delicacy this can be. DONE WELL< IT kicks Briskets ass! Done poorly don't waste time even eating it
Pork Butt needs to be tender and juicy with just enough smoke you realice this is not just a pork chop


With that, let the rides and ratings roll in (helpful to point out which serve beer )

I am starting with my favorite place, The Loco Coyote near Glen Rose on CR1004

The front of the place....who is that idiot???

1) Brisket: Brisket is a 7 on an avg of several trips, never bad just was better a couple of times The brisket sandwitch with Rings is killer



2) RIBS: OMG!!!!!!!9.5!!!!!!! Best commercial rib I have had period!
The following pic doe no JUSTICE to these ribs


3) SAUSAGE: It is good, but is outclassed by other selections...I rate it a 6
Sorry no sausage pics

4) NO PORK BUTT!

COMMENTS: What can I say??? Everything... I could rave about this place for pages...Everything here is good! They have Steaks, Awsome burgers, Shrimp, Catfish, kickass chickenfried steak!, and the BEST ONION RINGS I HAVE EVER EATEN!!!! I am now thoroughly drooling on my desk like a rabid dog ....Oh and they have BEER Prices are reasonable for the portions we get. My wife and I often split what ever we order and usually still have a doggy bag!

OPEN: Only only THUR- Sunday for supper. Lunch on Sat and Sun only!

After all the hype Texas Monthly made about Snow's being number 1 BBQ in Texas, I felt morally obligated as a Texan to validate this claim Oh , the things I do for my fellow inmates After a blustery ride to Snow's I met Dahveed, Agman, RLCANON, and GL1800 to test the Q.

Already anticipating this thread, I ordered a 1/4 pound of each of the selected items along with a Dr Pepper coming to a total $14.34:eek1

1) BRISKET: Moist kinda bland, not bad, but not the best by a long shot!!! Rating 6...this might be generous

2)RIBS: Very disappointed, I love ribs and I only ate 1, yes I threw a rib away:eek1 It was dry and charred! Rib rating 3

3) SAUSAGE: Sausage was good, nothing spectacular but would eat again... Rating 6.5

4) PORK BUTT: I normally don't eat Pork Butt out much cause most places cannot fix it for shit. However, this must be where Snow's shines. It was the best pork butt I have eaten outside of a cookoff or home cook
RATING FOR PB....drum rolllll...........9

Comments: ITs alright place to eat, beats the heck out of chain BBQ. I would not venture way out of my way to get there. Would only PB and Sausage next time...Sauce is ok.

Hours: Saturday only from 8am until they sell out. I got there at 8:45 and already crowded

Pics from Snow's...

The Pitt area....

the Centex ADV CRew

J & Ms is in my back yard so I have ate there quite a bit through the years. Food in general is ok with it sometimes being exceptional depending on who's cooking that day.

BRISKET: ITs ok, beats most chain restaurants...RATING: 5.5

RIBS: The owner can make some damn good ribs if he was the one that prepared them, somedays they fall woefully short....RATING: 5.5

SAUSAGE: Make their own in house, a course ground sausage, pretty tasty. RATING: 6.5

NO PORK BUTT

COMMENTS: Its an OK stop if you are passing through. Other items on menu are pretty good, my wife likes the fish there. Steaks are cooked on a griddle rather than flame broiled so that is a downer. GOT THOSE DAMN FAKE FRIES DAN!

OPEN everyday but Monday for lunch and supper.

well crap. oser oser

I will watch for those "non-fake " fries just for you

Bunk House BBQ of Clifton and Meridian,Tx. This is an OK place to eat and like a lot of other BBQ shacks it depends on the day.

Brisket, every time I've tried their brisket it has been a little on the dry side so I would have to give it a 5 rating

Ribs, there again it depends on the day. When they're good they are an 8.5, but when it's a dry and charred day, then it's a 4.5 to 5 rating

Sausage, their sausage is bought from someone else, but it's not to bad, so I would have to give it a 7 rating.

Pork Butt, they don't have

They also have burgers and CF steak, but it's an option at best.

Southside Meat Market in Elgin: 8.5

No brisket, ribs, or pork butt??? Not ate there yet, will have to try it

Apologies; I've lived in Italy the last three years and except for Southside's sausage, I haven't had any other meat shipped over to me. It's kind of expensive. I used to get two pounds of suasage and a pound of brisket bits and ends from Southside every time I went there. You can also buy their sausage uncooocked from the in-house meat market.

I'll temper that with knowledge of the best goat and bush meat joints across Ghana and Tanzania.

NOW THATS A POST I WANT Care to rate the bush meat

with fries!!

he wrapped up all my favorite thing in one sentance

bush

meat

joints

Loco Coyote
Ranch House BBQ
Hard 8 Stephenville only
Salt Lick BBQ
These are all within 15 minutes to 3 hours away on great roads. Eat your heart out those not in Texas. Anything else is just imitation BBQ. What the hell is pork butt??

Fototex, pork butt is a cut off the fat end of a non-cured ham. Used to be poor mans brisket. We judge it pretty regular at BBQ cookoffs but not as many Q stands have it. Good stuff when done right. Salt Lick is on my short list of targets to go to next

Thanks GhostRider for the info. I just prefer Beef when eating BBQ, except when it is pork ribs. Need to try Pork Butt sometime, just have not seen it much where i eat BBQ.
You need to try the Salt Lick, one of my favorites. Classic location. Great BBQ. Great ride to it. Perfect ADV meet site???? Most could make it a day run.

I am up for it sometime in near future... I am thinking this weekend would be wildflower nirvana...whats Salt Lick's address?

Near Driftwood, Texas...generally West of Austin by 30-35 miles...south of 290. They put out a damned good feed, the atmosphere is great, and the servings are certainly adequate. They would have to rank somewhere near the top of anyone's rating system.

I agree completely. Definitely one of my favorites too. I have mentioned it more than once to Ghostrider. Great riding in the area and the BBQ would make a 100 mile straight seem like the best ride ever.:dg

Is this on the destination list for the weekend?