8 Incredible BBQ Spots in Texas

Tender mesquite-smoked brisket and smoked-pork carnitas fill house-made tortillas at this South Austin food truck, but consider starting with breakfast: one Holyfield taco—­brisket, bacon, potatoes, beans and a fried egg—is enough to rev the motor all day.

Some of the best hot-gut sausages come from this popular truck just east of downtown, and the fatty brisket and beef ribs are not to be missed. Get pork, brisket and sausage together on a bun in the El Sancho Loco sandwich.

Many smoked-meat lovers have found their barbecue epiphany here in the Hill Country. Peppery brisket, homemade beef sausages and the monster beef ribs can affect the mind and soul, as well as fill the stomach.

The oldest barbecue joint in Texas has been serving its famous all-beef hot-gut sausages since 1882. The links are still ground, seasoned and stuffed in the back, and smoked in oak-fired brick pits. Try the lamb ribs if you’re feeling bold.

Lockhart is Texas’ barbecue capital, with three great joints that lend themselves to a combo meal. Go for the sausage at Smitty’s and soak up the history. Black’s helped make the beef rib famous, and Elvis look-alike Roy Perez makes one of Texas’ best smoked pork chops at Kreuz Market.

It’s hard to find a better bite in Texas than the house-made beef links dragged through the signature mustard sauce. Order all three items served—ribs, brisket and ­sausage—­directly from the pit room in back, and bring cash.

It doesn’t look like much, in a converted used-car salesroom alongside an Interstate 35 service road, but it serves some of Texas’ best barbecue. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but snag a giant beef rib over the weekend if there’s one left. House-made sausage, brisket and ribs are all phenomenal as well.

Barbecue is lunch food across Texas, but this place back in Austin is one of the few that serve it for dinner. It’s also hard to find a joint that does the rest of the meal well too, but the smoked jalapeño pimento cheese, smoked beets and smoked banana pudding are delicious divergences. And don’t miss the sausage of the day.