woohoo!

Everyone has been telling us to go to Lockhart and try some BBQ, since it is the BBQ Capital of the Lone Star State.  We were out at the Natural Bridge Caverns right outside of San Antonio (with a stop next door at the Wildlife Safari) and decided to go the extra hour to have some delicious BBQ.

After some quick review reading on our way, we decided on Black’s BBQ.  Black’s is one of the oldest BBQ restaurants in Texas, continuously owned and operated by the same family.  And, we were intrigued by the fact that during President Lyndon Johnson’s term in the 1960’s, the President asked Black’s BBQ to provide barbecue sausage to be served on the grounds of the U.S. Capital in front of the Smithsonian Institute. The sausage was prepared and flown directly to Washington, D.C. under the guard of the Secret Service.  If this BBQ is good enough to be flown 1400 miles to DC for an event, then it must be worth a try!

The town of Lockhart is very quaint – it reminds me of the Andy Griffith show.  It’s like a town that has been left untouched by modernization and the hustle and bustle of city life.  I almost expected Barney Fife to walk past us.  As we opened the door of Black’s, a nice smoky meat smell greeted us.

First, you go through a narrow hallway and end up right in front of a little buffet line where you pick out your side dishes and garnishes like jalapenos and pickles.  We were surprised to see one of our favorites – deviled eggs! – so we each took one.  I gave myself a generous helping of mac n cheese, and convinced J to take some sweet potato casserole.

the scene

J always asks what the best thing on the menu is… he even did this at Wendy’s.  No, I am not kidding.  Sometimes this results in us getting the real deal (not at Wendy’s… )  We ended up ordering a whole beef rib.  It was a little over a pound of meat, but we wanted to try other things to get a good variety.  So we also ordered two pork ribs and 4 different types of sausage (that was all the flavors they had…)  The staff was nice and they joked with us about our huge tray of meat as we paid.   We had enough food for about  5 or 6 people – but don’t worry we took it home and had it for dinner too!

mmm....beef.

Then, we visited the drink station where we filled up on delicious sweet tea.  And, finally we were ready to eat the meat!  Everything was pretty darn good.  Our favorites were the beef rib and sausages.  The rib was really fatty, but the smoky taste was perfect.  The pork ribs were good, but a little bland – but much improved with a bit of Norma Jean Black’s BBQ sauce.  The sides were divine, with the exception of the deviled eggs.  We didn’t like them, but we may be biased because my secret recipe is the best.

As we finished up, Norma Jean herself came over and chatted with us.  (We’re not special, she visited all the tables)  I thought this was a really nice touch!  The whole experience had a great small town feel to it.  It’s a long drive, but Black’s is definitely worth a visit!

Our rating:

Yummy BBQ, friendly staff. Deviled eggs need work, but everything else was fantastic!  I love Houston, but Pappas Bros. BBQ and Goode Company cannot hold a candle to Black’s!

Black’s BBQ
215 North Main Street
Lockhart, Texas 78644
512.398.2712