Cartwright's Bar-B-Q

490A Highway 71 West, Bastrop, TX - (512) 321-7719

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Posted By Michael Stern on 4/23/2009 2:09:00 PM

While most of Texas’s best barbecue parlors are secret-seeming, stark in décor, and spare of menu, Cartwright’s is located on a broad commercial highway; it is fun; and it offers a wide choice of smoked meats to eat. It is what we’d call a family-style barbecue, which is to say it is more like a normal restaurant than a meat speakeasy.

The hum of traffic along Highway 71 recedes as you enter a big, wide-open eatery, much less disheveled on the inside than it appears from the outside. Hanging from the dining room’s tin roof are antique bikes; and while the smoke pit is modern and sanitary-looking stainless steel, the air still has that alluring beefy/smoky smell that defines good eats hereabouts. Service is cafeteria style; and you pay for everything you select, including white bread by the slice or loaf and hot peppers.

Buy your food by the pound, plate, or sandwich. Of the several meats available, the one you must try is sausage. It’s Cartwright’s own, and it has a light snap to its skin and luscious insides that virtually melt on the tongue. Ribs are infused with smoke flavor and easy to gnaw down to the totally bare bone. The thick-sliced brisket can be a little dry, but is tasty nonetheless. Pork loin, while not as assertive as beef, has a smoky sweetness that is impossible not to like. We are particularly fond of the Pork Boss Hog Plate – a full pound of ribs with a choice of such side dishes as macaroni salad, pinto beans, and cole slaw.

To drink, there are many kinds of soft drink, ice tea, and lemonade; but the locally favored beverage is that supersweet soda pop known as Big Red.

Scorecard

Overall: One of the Best - Worth a Trip

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"You smell brisket off the pit the moment you open the door to Cartwright's. Of course, it is cut to order and here piled into a bun for a sandwich. Pickles and onions come on the side, and sauce is available at each table."
Michael Stern

"Supremely casual, Cartwright's features checked tablecloths and helter-skelter decor of Texas memorabilia, old advertising, and miscellaneous nick-nacks."
Michael Stern

"What you see as you exit..."
Michael Stern

"Get in before closing time and you'll be able to enjoy what's inside."
L

"Bastrop boasts that is the most colorful small town in Texas. This safe from olden days stands by the entrance to Cartwright's. (There is another branch of the BBQ on Highway 290 in Austin.)"
Michael Stern

"They've refurbished their sign for better visibility from the highway."
L

"Cartwright's patchwork sign is deliberately dilapidated. The inside is extremely colorful, too."
Michael Stern

"No off-the-beaten-path Texas barbecue, Cartwright's is located on a busy highway and is a big, comfortable place with plenty of parking."
Michael Stern