sampled 11/3/16
I have been wanting to sample this place since tasting their food at several BBQ festivals and my lucky brisket win finally gave me an excuse for a road trip to do just that. My Mrs tagged along for this adventure and we arrived at the trailer early at around 10:30. We were surprised to be the only folks waiting for their 11 am opening. However the threat of rain might have kept a few folks away. We even noticed that the line at Franklin BBQ, just down the street, was only about 100 people as we drove past. The threat became real a bit later as a pretty good downpour hit the area before we finished our meal.
As the 11 am hour approached a few more folks showed up and I think there were about 5 of us in line when the window finally opened. I ordered a half pound of brisket from the fatty end, 3 pork ribs, a whole beef rib, a hot link, and a jalapeno sausage link. Here's the plate full of happiness that arrived after a few minutes. More folks trickled by for the next hour but the line never got to be more than 6 or 8 people long.
The brisket burnt end was tender, moist, and amazing. Smoke flavor was deep and the fat melted in my mouth. There was just a tiny bit of crunch from the bark. The other two brisket slices were just as nice. That's the reward for getting the first slices of the first brisket of the day. The beef rib fell into the same category. While they don't have the sweet sauce finish Pecan Lodge has, this was a mighty fine beef rib. Every bite was tender, moist, and flavorful, with just a bit of crunchy bark. The pork ribs pulled away from the bone just a bit too easily but had great flavor, moisture, and tenderness. The hot link and jalapeno sausage were both a beefy coarse ground variety with different spice mixes. I loved them both. I'm not ready to say they have surpassed Kreuz jalapeno cheddar as my new favorite sausage, but, dang, they were right up there. I dug those sausages so much I got a couple of extra of each to take home in the cooler. We also sampled the home made moon pies and they got a huge thumbs up, too.
Overall this was an outstanding meal and alone would have been worth a 400 mile round trip. However I also got a whole brisket out of the deal! Life is good. Then my buddy Dave showed up with a whole Franklin brisket so we went home with two whole briskets. Life is very, very good!
I will go out on a limb and predict right now that Micklethwait Craft Meats will make the new Texas Monthly top 50 due out next summer. It's not much of a limb, based on what we ate today.
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