7th annual Houston BBQ Fest tickets on sale

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/7th-annual-houston-barbecue-festival-tickets-50374310920?aff=ebapi

Pre-sale tickets for the April 14, 2019 festival are on sale now.  Looks like the event will be back at the Humble Civic Center, which was a great site last year.  I grabbed my VIP tickets.  We will be 7 for 7!

I wish more BBQ events would provide their previous attendees a pre-sale bargain.

Blues, Bandits, and BBQ 2018, Oak Cliff

https://www.gooakcliff.org/blues-bandits-bbq/

Another fun afternoon at Kidd Springs Park in Oak Cliff with 45 competition BBQ teams and some very good blues bands onstage.

Not all of the 45 teams competed in the People's Choice award, but most did.  For just $25 your blue wristband allowed you to sample from about 35 teams.  Pulled pork sliders and tacos were common, but there was some tasty brisket, sausage, and a few ribs.

Several booths featured pork belly burnt ends and they were one of my favorites at this event.  There also was some nice homemade sausage and a smoked meatball stuffed with cheese that was awesome.  In the end my voting token went to a team with the best pork belly burnt end.  I even went back for a second sample and it was just as good as the first.

The pork belly above may have been the best BBQ bite I had all year long.  That's saying something considering this was our 8th BBQ festival of 2018.  It was served fresh from the pit and the fat turned to gravy when you bit down on it.  Scrumptious.

Smoked lemonade was the most creative item I have seen in awhile.  They slice and smoke the lemons, then make lemonade.  It wasn't bad and you could definitely taste the smoke flavor.

I still feel this event is one of the best bargains on the BBQ circuit.  It's just the right size, not too overcrowded, and at just $25 for 35 BBQ samples it is definitely a deal.

Ruby's BBQ sale at Antones

https://www.antonesnightclub.com/event/1785922?utm_source=MEL&utm_medium=283304

Ruby's closed last year and they are selling some of the memorabilia and art that adorned their walls for many years on Saturday, November 10th from 4 pm to 9 pm at Antones nightclub in Austin.

Smoked Fort Worth 10/13/18

sampled 10/13/18

https://www.facebook.com/SmokedBBQFest/

The Smoked Dallas crew have branched out a few miles west to put on the first Smoked Fort Worth.  With 5 years in Dallas under their belt, they put on a predictably well organized first edition in Cowtown.  The weather forecast was dire, but they made up for it by promising a 100% chance of BBQ.

We drove through a good gully washer headed over to The Stockyards, but when we pulled up in the parking lot the rain stopped.  We had head to toe rain gear but it never rained more than a drip after about 12:30.  Unfortunately, Scott had gotten there earlier (he was 3rd in line) and he got soaked.  Timing is everything!

We cued for the que and they let us in right at 1 pm.  As usual we took our beer boxes and made the rounds, gathering a bunch of boats before sitting down to the tasting.  They had seating inside and tall tables outside and we used both at various times.  Only two lines got long during the VIP golden hour, Black's and Meat Church. Black's had their usual tasty brisket and a peach sausage combo.  Meat Church offered shredded brisket tacos and chicken fried burnt ends.

Overall the BBQ was excellent and my Mrs agreed we didn't have a bad bite all day.  Barrel and Bones was, once again, the only joint to offer a pork rib.  Kudos to them.  There was lots of brisket and sausage, all of it excellent.

Those trying to stand out by being different offered chili (one of them had beans! Oh no!), pastrami, smoked meatloaf, prime rib, burnt end poppers, and Cattleack had their tasty Que-T-Pies.

Heim had their usual bacon burnt ends and upped the game by later adding a tray of home made Mac and Cheese.

Another fun BBQ day and congrats to the Smoked crew for dodging a SECOND major predicted rain event. Personally, I think it was due to me donning all my rain gear.  It works the same way when I am out on a boat fishing.

Smoked Fort Worth coming October 13

Smoked Dallas 2018

https://www.smokedbbqfest.com/

We've been to all of these and they just get better and better.  For awhile it seemed that the fest might be renamed SOAKED Dallas, due to the heavy rains that were predicted.  I don't know if any of the cooks smoked on site this time, but if they did, they deserve Iron Man credit.  It poured Friday night.  Fortunately, the rain ended early Saturday.  We got the VIP tickets, like we always do, and we got there about 12:30 to stand in the short line.  Scott was first in line, we were about 20 back.

At 1 pm we were off to the BBQ races, trying to get through 17 BBQ joints during the golden hour.
We did our usual thing, grabbing 8 or so samples, headed to the VIP seating area, sampled those, then rushed off to grab some more.  Brisket and sausage were offered most often.  Only one rib was seen at the 17 booths.  Several offered brisket tacos, sausage tacos, or sliders.

We didn't have a bad bite all day. BBQ highlights were many, but I especially loved the brisket from Hutchins and Black's,

Sausage from Hutchins and Kreuz,

Louie Mueller's brisket slider,

Heim BBQ's bacon burnt ends and beef rib,

Cattleack's Que T Pie,

and some top notch banana pudding from Flores.

At 2 pm the gates opened to general admission folks and the lines swelled.  It was still easy to wander around and take a few more photos  before we headed out.  Another outstanding day of excellent BBQ at Smoked Dallas #5.  I'm looking forward to their first Fort Worth Fest in a few weeks.

More photos from the fest follow below.

Photos from Smoked Dallas 2018

Thee Pitts Again BBQ, Silverton, Colorado

visited 9/17/18

http://theepittsagain.com/

While on vacation in Colorado we spotted this place in Silverton and decided to give it a try.  This location is only open from May through October, but their main location in Arizona is open year round.  Inside you order at the counter and all the food is prepped in the back and brought out to your table.  I got the 3 meat plate with brisket, ribs, and sausage which was $27 with 1 beer and 1 soft drink. 

The brisket was sliced very thin and there was zero fat on it.  There was no flavor of smoke, rub, or bark and it came across as thinly sliced roast beef.  The sausage was good Italian style sausage but that was the first time I ever got Italian sausage at a BBQ joint.  The ribs were average with no smoke or rub flavor, but tender and moist with good pork flavor.  Overall a good average joint but nothing worth making a special trip for.  Their vinegar based sauce did help the meat.

Fortunately we had a whole Franklin brisket with us which we snacked on for our whole vacation.