Monday, April 26, 2010

Where do you go for infamous BBQ?

the salt lick licks
I feel like I should duck by asking that question from Oregon. Because Texas has a foothold on good barbecue, and our visit recently to Tejas recently demonstrated that to me. In fact, upon arriving back in Portland and asking AdRi what she wants to do with our summer, one of the items on her list is to barbecue brisket. I worked very, very hard to contain my excitement about that. Very hard. Because barbecued brisket, cooked low'n'slow on the 'cue, is amazing.

But it's understandable since we recently took a trip to the great state of Tejas and experienced some of that barbecue first hand. We don't mess around. With a tip from Penny to not miss the Salt Lick while in Austin, we took off for an afternoon and ventured outside of Austin for the mecca of all things smoked.

The infamous Salt Lick BBQ
The Salt Lick is legend when it comes to barbecue. There's the original site, where we went, and several offspring around Austin, plus Las Vegas. Hello. Yes, Vegas. You can visit their website here to take it all in if you like. They're pretty big. And you know? It's pretty impressive.

With all of their celebrity quotes and references on their website, you'd think it's possible they're only about the show of it all. But in reality? The majority of folk we saw were bringing in coolers and their own booze, meaning they were local out for a weekend afternoon at their fav' place. The original Salt Lick is dry, meaning if you want a beer to wash down that 'que, you best be bringing it yourself.

But you know what? You can walk right on in to that smoker and see it for yourself. So I did!
Can you spy my silver bag in the photo?
meat on the fire
As I skidded on in, a woman said, "you go girl" and I was determined to shoot that barbecue meat. It was slippery around the pit, and I still couldn't believe they were letting me in beyond the counter to see for myself and take photos. Brisket, steak and sausage all bid for grill time, and I just tried to get the aperture right.

Asking AdRi what she thought, she says, "They have a story and they honor that story. It was nostalgic and like a trip to the wild west. They only accept cash at the original location, but it's still a destination for locals out in the country." I think that sums it up all right there.

We grow 'em big at the Salt Lick
If you're in Austin, you need to take a trip to the historic Salt Lick. If you're not, stay tuned for how our Portland smoked brisket will fare this summer.

See a slideshow of our visit here.

5 comments:

Syd said...

Oh my holy hell! That meat looks amazing!!!

kami said...

One of my faves. I LOVE the Salt Lick. They have the best sides, too.

Liz Crain said...

Yet again -- super jealous. I visited Austin for a week a few years back and that was one of the places that I really wanted to get to that we didn't make it to. Next year's IACP conference is in Austin and if I'm able to go for that you better believe I'm hitting up The Salt Lick. YUM!

LadyConcierge said...

Funny, they were featured on the food network today, also. One of those "best things I ever ate" shows. Looks amazing.

Anonymous said...

Ahh, there are some things I do miss about Texas.