It’s official: Kreuz Market in Lockhart now has sauce and forks. It’s the end of an era for the legendary barbecue joint that made its “No Forks, No Sauce” message a big part of its identity. The change came after complaints from newcomers who demanded forks. Since the change, owner Keith Schmidt had to do away with the cups and shirts emblazoned with his establishment’s mantra. And then, he figured he might as well start offering barbecue sauce as well.
Texas Monthly’s Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn says that he just heard the news about Kreuz Market, even though it added sauce and forks more than a year ago.
“You hear so much about Texas barbecue being no sauce, no sauce, no sauce,” Vaughn says. “I would constantly tell people, ‘Well, there’s one place in the state that doesn’t have barbecue sauce and that’s Kreuz Market.’ And I can’t even say that anymore! There is no barbecue joint in Texas that doesn’t serve barbecue sauce.”
Vaughn says this change is mostly the result of barbecue tourism.
“Barbecue folks from outside of Texas just expect that barbecue is going to be served with sauce,” he says.
The sauce Schmidt now serves is his grandma’s own recipe, and it’s and old-fashioned one that doesn’t rely on sugar like today’s store-bought sauces. Vaughn says he likes its flavor, but still prefers no sauce at all.
“When I go to Kreuz Market, I’m all about sausage and pork chops, and there’s nothing that I’m gonna put on that pork chop to make it any better than it already is,” Vaughn says.
Written by Morgan Kuehler.
