A SERIOUS Foodie..Best BBQ in Austin?

I will be visiting San Marcos/Austin Thursday and friday and have seen this popular BBQ
place on the triple d's with Guy fieri ,Top chef, and Man vs food.I am dying to try this place .Salt L**k.. Is this the best?I have to try it!:

THE SALT LICK Is My FAVORITE!!!!!

HANDS DOWN!!!!!

BUT You HAVE To Go To The ORIGINAL

One Out In Driftwood!!!!


OH YEAH.....AND FYI - It Is BYOB


Bon Appétit

The Salt Lick is great and you can get food there any time they are open. It is well worth the drive. But the best BBQ is Franklin's. The line, hoping they still have food when you get to the counter, is all worth it.

+1 on Franklin's... get in line early.

its BBQ... nothing special

Thanks@ austintatious and @FWR! it's definitely on my to do list..@Happy banana you have me interested a restaurant that runs out of food has to be good!..Xo.Thanks everyone!

Trees underwhelmed by Salt Lick sides, but admittedly their ribs (few kinds) and brisket are consistently excellent, but SL not alone. http://www.opiesbarbecue.com/ also has better home-made sides (butter beans they grow)... Both SL and Opies are far away from central Austin requiring in both cases a very nice drive especially by motorbike...

If you want decent BBQ and stay here in town the two go-to places are

1. Franklin BBQ http://franklinbarbecue.com/ but better be prepared to wait on long line and the inevitable sell-out; and

2. The Green Mesquite. TGM is 1/3 diner, 1/3 outdoor patio/music scene and 1/3 BBQ lover's local paradise. Super close, reasonable cost (with daily specials 7 days a week), good portions... http://www.greenmesquite.net/

There are also a few "carts" (look on E7th Street) that make melt in your mouth spicy pork ribs more likely than not served by the chef/owner who made them.

If you got to SL or Opies BOTH places will allow you to select the individual piece of meat that comes to your table VERSUS ordering straight from menu. This way you can get the piece at level of well-done-ness (end cut versus middle cut, top versus bottom) that you want.

For those vegophiles who choose not to eat their animals, this place has some ass kicking delicious and unique food... https://www.facebook.com/TheVeganNom ... on North Loop at Ave F, 78751

19Trees

Wow! 19trees ...You know your stuff..I would love to get some samples off of those carts! I'm going to have to be miss Anthony Bourdain the short time I'm there.

Nice, quick round up Trees.

Mr Trees is right in the local Austin scene, but if your willing to make a trip, say anywhere within 45 min of Austin you can really expand your taste. Depending on the style you want there are many different locations. You can go East and try the places in Elgin. Good, consistent and a more fair price. You can go South and hit the heart of the Texas BBQ world in Lockhart and Luling. Lockhart has Cruzz, Smitty's, Black's, Chisolm Trail. Blacks is over 100yrs old with the same family! Luling has City Market that does 3 things and does them all good. Brisket, Ribs, Sausage! There sauce is outstanding!

In the end, the choice will be up to you. The places Trees listed and the places outside of Austin I listed are all good. For the most part its so hard to be objective on this cause we all have different taste. But stick to the recommended places. Avoid some of the chain store BBQs like Bill Miller, Rudy's, Pokey Joe's.. There not bad, but you want something more authentic. Oh and since you also said San Marcos, they have Fushack's which is 40yrs old and there is another place down Hunter Rd, that I cant remember the name.

Montana25 You TEXANS know your bbq, definitely not trying chain bbq.. Sorry but since I've been in Texas bill m. Is disgusting..just my opinion.

That's not just your opinion young lady.. That's a fact! Wish I could give you my BBQ competition team name! 2 grand Champion awards and and 7 reserve champs in 4 years! Several 1st, 2nd, 3rd place in multiple categories and have been consistently been in top 10 in all categories for a year now! I aint perfect at it, but I can cook up and always recommend some good burnt dead meat!

Moved to proper Forum.

Spacemtn
AustinModStaff

SL is very good, it's just up to you if you want to drive out to Driftwood. If you decide to go make sure it's during lunch. It can get pretty crowded out there during the evening. The sauce is mustard based. They also sell the sauce and rub for SL in HEB. Enjoy all the meat in the Austin area!

Awesome mustard base that's how we do it back home in Florida.