Kreuz BBQ in Lockhart TX

I made a trip to both Kreuz's and Blacks and have to say that I thought Blacks was better. The meat seemed to be more tender and had more flavor. Plus it was on a smaller scale which I liked as well

Somewhere in that area (Taylor, New Braun, Elgin etc), circa 1987. I had some great bbq at a place which was an old grocery. There were still coolers around the room with old fashioned locking handles etc. The pit was in the center of the room and the roof had been cut to let the smoke out. Usual service on brown paper with white bread, whole loaf I think. Where was I? Is the place still there? Help?

WW-
You sure it wasn't an old GYM????? Smoked to black on all sides ? Louie Muellers Fits part of your description (the smoker location and set-up). That's in Taylor, and is still doing fine. Look for my Roadfood business card on the east wall with about 500 others.

This is an old thread, I see. But I thought I'd post a few links to reports of some recent barbecue trips in Central Texas.

This report discusses meals at the Lockhart trio of Black's, Kreuz Market, and Smitty's, as well as City Market in Luling:
http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4

This one discusses meals in Elgin (i.e., the sausage capital of Texas) at Southside Market, Meyer's, and Cross-town, as well as Louie Mueller's in Taylor:
http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8

This one discusses meals at Inman's Ranch House, Peete Mesquite, Opie's, and RO's Outpost, in Spicewood and Marble Falls:
http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9

This one discusses meals in Llano at Brothers BBQ, Inman's Kitchen, and Cooper's:
http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17

Scot

We were told it was a market. There were still old wood faced, heavy hardware coolers (ice boxes even maybe) around the room. Otherwise it was certainly smoke colored. Have to go down and explore again someday. If only I could get someone to pay me to go like that time.

quote:

Originally posted by Scott -- DFW

This is an old thread, I see. But I thought I'd post a few links to reports of some recent barbecue trips in Central Texas.

This report discusses meals at the Lockhart trio of Black's, Kreuz Market, and Smitty's, as well as City Market in Luling:
http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4

This one discusses meals in Elgin (i.e., the sausage capital of Texas) at Southside Market, Meyer's, and Cross-town, as well as Louie Mueller's in Taylor:
http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8

This one discusses meals at Inman's Ranch House, Peete Mesquite, Opie's, and RO's Outpost, in Spicewood and Marble Falls:
http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9

This one discusses meals in Llano at Brothers BBQ, Inman's Kitchen, and Cooper's:
http://www.dallasfood.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17

Scott

Scott you do a great job. Next time i will wear a bib so I don't ruin another shirt. My wife and I have to get to Texas

Wilewil,

Did the place you went to look anything like this?

From how you described it, my guess (like Al's) was that you were at Louie Mueller's in Taylor, which is definitely still there.

If that doesn't look like the place, here are some more questions to help narrow it down. Was it brighter or darker inside? Were the pits steel or brick? Was the dining area in the same room as the pits or were they separated by a door and wall? Was it a large or small place?

Scott

It seems like Lockhart comes up as a topic often, but this thread has been dormant for over a year. Yikes.

I could barely make it out of the Austin airport without grabbing a sandwich from the Salt Lick outpost there, but I am glad I waited and hopped in the car and pointed south.

I made my way to Kreuz's Market today, and did a full write-up on my blog, which you are all welcome to read here:

http://styok.blogspot.com/2006/03/styok-about-bbq-mecca.html

This is the best I could do for a tease picture:

Stevekoe,that thing looks scary...is the bite fatal?

Steve,
Nice write-up on your site. The photo thing will improve with practice, Hang in there! Did you get an unusually fatty piece of Brisket, or did it seem that all the Brisket was that 'untrimmed'?

We are looking forward to our next ride down that way to reacquaint ourselves with some of the great Texas BBQ places.

They don't even offer sauce on the side? That you can add if you want?

sheesh.

Doc -- Fatal? Nahhh....but, it had a little peppery kick. It was a good rub, I assure you.

Mayor -- My photo taking skills are improving, but, I am also getting better at taking duplicates! I need to get out of the old film mentality, where burning an extra pic means paying for extra developing and depriving you of a pic down the road. With the digital, as long as I don't use all the space on the card, I am good -- and I have yet to come near doing that. The photo of the rib above was after three tries.

From what I saw, the guy just hacked off about three slices of brisket from the hunk of meat that they had. I suppose it is possible that it was just not properly trimmed, but the fattiness made enjoying this particular cut a little difficult. My recommendation, as long as the cost is the same, is to get the shoulder, and maybe get one slice of the brisket, if you need to add a little flavoring to the leaner stuff.

TJ -- come on now, kid. This meat doesn't NEED sauce. I did see some bottles around the place, but I think it was Texas Pete's -- not BBQ sauce. My gut says that there is no BBQ sauce there, and that sign is no joke!

Enjoy,
Steve

sauce on brisket??!!!
brisket is the mt. everest of the pitmasters art. no two are ever the same.
when i turn my brisket in at competitions after 16 hours of cooking the last thing i am going to do is cover up the fine taste with some sauce
good brisket stands alone
oh i feel much better now
jack

Great write-up, Steve!

We were talking about his trip at lunch today, and I was surprised he didn't order any sausage. Well, it turns out he's not a "sausage guy". However, for anyone that likes sausage, be sure and get some when you visit Kreuz's. I think their links are the best in central Texas.

Steve's right about the beef shoulder. I always get the shoulder and some sausage.

I agree. I loved the sausage there. Great flavor. The brisket was wonderful.

I can't wait to go back soon.

Great write up.

Great article stevekoe!! Really enjoyed the writeup and especially the pictures of the door and the sign, great! I've had a ton of people talk about their twice smoked sausage, I'll make it there one day.

I finally made it all the way down to Lockhart (from Bastrop) to go to Kreuz. Actually, I swung by there on the way back from Seguin, but for the purpose of going to Kreuz. I must say, it was a major disappointment.

The brisket was somewhat tasty, but it had been cooked too quickly and was not nearly tender or moist as it should have been. Good brisket will have a black crust on the outside. The lack of such indicated it wasn’t cooked properly.

The sausage was mealy and had a funny taste to it, and the casing was nearly impenetrable. The ribs were very flavorful and tender, just like they oughta be. However, they would have been much better without so much cracked pepper on them, which overpowered the taste.

I had been to Smitty’s about a year ago, and it was pretty decent. The sausage there was very tasty, but dangerous. My first bite into the link sent a geyser of juice across the table and onto one of our out of state visitors. Many people over the years have told me to keep my mouth shut for one reason or another. I should have heeded that advice on that occasion.

The brisket at Smitty’s was tasty as well. However, it really baffled me why they cut the meat with the grain rather than across it, especially on the fatty section. Other than that flaw, and the fact they did not have any ribs, it was an overall pleasant experience.

I still want to try Black’s, and may go back to Smitty’s, but I will never go back to Kreuz. One chance was all they will get.

ttt for bobojay

Your guys are crazy - way too much time on your hands or way too much sauce on your fingers. I'm going to Dallas this Sat (1/27) for a week - I don't have a lot of free time from my convention - but any suggestions for BBQ in the Dallas/Grapevine/Ft. Worth area would be great. I know about Sonny Bryants -

Have you ever been to NC or VA for BBQ? I've got my favorites if anyone is coming this way.

Deagle,
Welcome to Roadfood, where ALL versions of BBQ are tested,tasted, and bragged on a lot more than some other items! (ok, except Hot Dogs !!)
You need to realize that the differences in BBQ region to region make testing the Que from one place to another a real adventure.
We have enjoyed Que in almost every state we visit, from Alaska to Florida. BBQ can be 'lumped' into several types, but even then there are individual subsets within regions..like the difference between Eastern and Western North Carolina. We like it all, but like some better than others.
Why do you say "too much free time on your hands"? I worked for 34 years to get to the point where I can wander around tasting BBQ all over this great country (and other places too). Beef, Pork, Poultry, Mutton, Other critters, They all cook up just fine, and are worth trying before you label them as Not Measuring Up. Take some time to test the various Texas locations, You may find something you like.

II have never had a chance to eat at any of the places you all have mentioned.I do recall reading some years ago there was a family feud in the family over Kreuz's market when the old man died,the daughter got the market and the brothers set up their own place,but I don't recall the name of it in Lockhart.

Feud or no feud, we'll be there in two weeks.

I appreciate Steve shooting a photo of one of my old RailFan, Mayor of Cajon, Business Cards. It is still readable, but a bit smoke stained! We may have to add a New ROADFOOD.COM card when we stop in at Louis Muellers BBQ THREE WEEKS FROM TOMORROW !

Just three weeks? I got to get on my weight reduction plan now. Looking forward to Kreuz. I am not a great sausage fan but I sure do enjoy their brisket.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Paul,
Take a look at the report that Scott-DFW did (link is on this page further up) for the Lockhart BBQ Places. That Prime Rib looks "Out of this World"!!!!! I am going to have to bring in some plastic utensils for that !!

After hearing about the place for more than 20 years, I finally made it to Kreuz's Market. Have to say it was quite a disappointment. Now I like and appreciate the unctuous marbled richness of good brisket, but what I received at Kreuz was literally mostly fat. And I was surprised, given the overall smokiness of the joint, that there was no evident smoke ring in the brisket. Further, their vaunted sausage was mushy, underspiced and remarkably tasteless.

Hopefully I just caught them on a bad day. Fortunately, a trip up the road to Black's yielded some pretty good ribs (but another sausage disappointment). I also liked the smaller scale of Black's better than the sale barn-sized Kreuz'.

Surprisingly, the best of the weekend was the former Southside Market (now under a new name -- something Iron Works) in downtown Austin.

One never knows, do one?

quote:

Originally posted by rjb

After hearing about the place for more than 20 years, I finally made it to Kreuz's Market. Have to say it was quite a disappointment. Now I like and appreciate the unctuous marbled richness of good brisket, but what I received at Kreuz was literally mostly fat. And I was surprised, given the overall smokiness of the joint, that there was no evident smoke ring in the brisket. Further, their vaunted sausage was mushy, underspiced and remarkably tasteless.

Hopefully I just caught them on a bad day. Fortunately, a trip up the road to Black's yielded some pretty good ribs (but another sausage disappointment). I also liked the smaller scale of Black's better than the sale barn-sized Kreuz'.

Surprisingly, the best of the weekend was the former Southside Market (now under a new name -- something Iron Works) in downtown Austin.

One never knows, do one?

You're right about the fatty brisket. If you want the lean sliced beef you need to order the shoulder clod.

joe