Black's Barbecue

Posted By Michael Stern on January 11, 2010 10:07 PM

Most barbecue restaurants in central Texas sell little more than meat, bread, and beans, but at Black’s, you can stroll through the cafeteria line and choose hard-boiled eggs stuck on toothpicks, little garden salads in bowls, and fruit cobbler for dessert. You can even have the man behind the counter put your meat into a sandwich and your sandwich on a plate – a “deluxe” presentation unheard of in more traditional barbecues where meat is sold by the pound and accompanied by stacks of white bread or saltines. Furthermore, Black’s dining room actually has décor – another smoke-pit oddity – in the form of game trophies and pictures of the high school football team on its knotty pine walls.

All these tiny luxuries, nice though they may be, have no bearing on the superiority of Black’s pork ribs, the meat of which pulls from the bone in flavor-dripping strips, sausage rings that burst with flavor, and brisket slices bisected by an ethereal ribbon of translucent fat that leeches succulence into every smoky fiber of the meat. Black’s has been one of Lockhart’s great smoke houses since 1932; and if you want to know why Texas barbecue inspires rapture, here is the place that will make you understand.

Black’s will ship ribs, sausage and brisket overnight to most places in the U.S. Although the cost of sending them is nearly as much as the meat itself, when the craving for great barbecue strikes, this is a good emergency source to know about.

ribs

Brisket

Sausage Ring

Barbecue Potato

BBQ Beef Sandwich

Chili

Posted By Paul Kloss on March 24, 2003 7:39 PM

On a recent visit to Austin, I made the pilgrimage to the BBQ Capital of Texas, Lockhart (just 1/2 hour south). Kreuz Market was closed (it was Sun) but that just made the decision to patronize Black's all the easier.

As Michael Stern points out, this place distinguishes itself with sides. Many are classic picnic-style selections: potato salad, macaroni salad etc. I had spoonfuls of both these sides. They were tasty but not superlative. On the other hand, the warm sides were something special. In particular the pinto beans were among the best I've tasted with a flavor that seemed like they used a hollowed out pig for a cauldron. Unbelievable!

As for the meat portion, the pork ribs were tasty. They fell off the bone and had a lot of hearty rib tip meat. If I have one complaint, the ribs were quite salty. On the plus side, this gave them an aromatic "hammy" flavor.

Filled with hearty pig meat, I didn't try the deserts even though the cobbler looked good.