Salt Lick
I just arrived in Austin on my very first ever visit to Texas and I am uber excited to try Texas BBQ. The mecca of American cuisine symbolized the great fire pit. I’ve seen it on tv many times but never in person.
As I landed from the airport, I went directly to my hotel to check in and leave my luggage (I brought a suitcase for the books and barbecue sauce that I’ll be bringing back home ☺) and hopped back on my uber from downtown all the way out to Driftwood.
It was a long 24 mile drive out to Salt Lick but was with the trip as I make my way to the front area and see the infamous blue phone booth that I’ve seen photographed so many times. With this in my vision the aromas that I’m starting to smell is out of this world, and now I am ready for my 1st Texas BBQ platter.
I was met in front by Vanessa, the restaurant manager who gave me a brief tour of the place before heading down to the pit. I saw the pit master, Lupe working his magic with the various meats and methodically raising or lowering the meats or flipping them over to their sides. This was a sight to behold, and I was just blown away by the amount of meat they are currently working on at a single time and the heat that is needed to make their signature smoked meats, a real work of art.
Beef brisket, pork ribs and pork and beef sausages are the rock stars of this fire pit and people come from all over the world to taste these bad boys.
Sometimes on weekends when the weather is nice, they would have close to 90,000 visitors in a single day, that’s how good the food is here.
The beef brisket consists of three parts, the burnt ends which has a nice caramelization to it, the lean part which is where most of the meat is located and the moist part where most of the fat and flavor is found. The pork ribs is smoked to perfection and the sausage is so moist and tender that you wouldn’t know which to pick.
Luckily they have the Thurman’s choice on the menu which will give you a bit of everything including the 3 cuts of brisket with some ribs and sausages served with some beans, coleslaw, bread and pickles. This was the best plate of barbecue I have ever had in my life, and I have never felt this happy before ☺
The salt lick cellar is located on the same property and offers a variety of beers and home-grown wines that you can purchase and bring to the table to enjoy with your meal. The surrounding vineyard compliments the smoke house well as it gives the property a little bit more depth in character in pairing local wines with Texas BBQ.
The restaurant has been open since 1967 and is already considered an institution by both locals and tourists alike who have both been coming here for the food for more than half a century already.
I couldn’t end my meal without having some dessert and luckily the people seated in front of me told me to order the berry and peach cobbler ala mode. This I did and after devouring the cobbler in 2 minutes I had to tell myself why have I never gone to Austin prior to this…
#KULINARYATRAVELS Austin series continues with a trip to East Side King next…