Lockhart, Texas

We’re grown-ups so we’re not stupid, right? We know there’s no such thing as “the best” of anything. There’s what I like. And there’s what you like. But no objective “best.”

. . . that being said . . .

I have made it my mission in life to find the best BBQ in Texas (and thus the world). It’s Moby Dick but with brisket, ribs, and sausage. All adult humans have to decide for ourselves what we are on this great big spinning Xmas ornament for. And I have made my choice. I have given myself to a quest that has taken me all over central Texas, which coincidentally is where I live. I am both a barbecue lover and remarkable lazy, which means I’ve put myself in exactly the right place.

One day, maybe in retirement, I’ll go questing further afield. This mission could take me so many places, but it matters to remember where it started.

Lockhart, TX.

I’d had barbecue before Lockhart. And it had been OK. Sometimes more “roast beef” than “barbecue brisket”, but roast beef is good. I didn’t mind. I was naïve; I have long made my apologies to the gods of low-and-slow.

 Lockhart barbecue is life changing.

 More specifically, Smitty’s Market in Lockhart was life changing for me.

Lockhart on my first visit had three great barbecue places. Each one keeping its game sharp because the competition was so intense. And, in this hothouse laboratory seeking falling-off-the-bone perfection, I found Smitty’s to be the best of Lockhart.

Mileage will certainly vary.

Look, it’s just meat. Deliciously slow-cooked, simply seasoned meat. Specifically, brisket. It’s not complicated. But complexity is over-rated. What we have here is the cooking of meat pared down to the essentials. And made transcendentally perfect. A miracle constructed of an unpopular cut of beef, salt and pepper, smoke, and time.

Many – maybe even most – amongst the bbq-noscenti remain remarkably unimpressed. In the ever-increasing number of Best of Texas Barbecue lists that crop up, Lockhart barely gets a mention. And Smitty’s is nowhere. Make of that what you will. But, for me, it was the birth of my barbecue life. And it is the bar by which all other brisket must be judged.

So, if the crunch of the crust sparks something magical but unnamable in your brain . . . if the first hit of beef meat-juice sets off fireworks somewhere deep in the soul you didn’t know you had … if just the smell of smoking meat makes your day a little better . . . then come with me to Lockhart. (You’re driving.) We’ll bow down together to praise our own personal deities. There, in the dark and the smoke; in the heat and the fire; where the air itself can only be breathed by a carnivore. Despite its Other Place look and sound, Smitty’s is unequivocally on the right side of the eternal battle between good and evil.