Barbecue has left it’s downmarket reputation behind– it’s now considered very much a specialty. So much that barbecue joints across the state can charge you what they want for a bite of brisket. Never fear: Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn tells us how you can protect your pocket books and still get smoked meat.
On why barbecue prices have gone up:
“It used to be cheap! Also I think people use to order slightly differently than they do these days. I saw a photo on Twitter the other day and it was of four slices of brisket, a sausage link and three ribs… man this just cost me $30! What a rip off! I think some of it too, is when you’re going to order by the pound you’re simply going to order more for yourself.”
On what to order for good but cheap barbecue:
“One of the things to look for is a sausage wrap on any menu. I was driving up I-35 between Austin and Dallas…heading through Waco and went to Vitek’s BBQ. They sell a sausage wrap. It’s as simple as a nice link of smoked sausage on a piece of white bread with some pickles, onions, barbecue sauce or mustard depending on your preference. Pretty much any barbecue joint is going to have a similar item. It might not say sausage wrap on the menu, but pretty much with free bread, free pickles and free onions all you gotta do is order a sausage link. It’s sausage just in the middle of a piece of white bread. You can call it a fold over…they say in South Texas sometimes…Polish tacos.”
On the successful but still cheap Sammy’s Bar-B-Q:
“A place I just reviewed here recently is Sammy’s Bar-B-Q in Dallas. I was amazed at how cheap the prices were there. A three-meat plate there is $12.95 and when you order it you get about a pound of meat. A lot of it is the incredibly high volume they do and the short hours that they have. One of the things they do a really low volume on though is their Friday only special of barracho brisket. They do three of these every Friday and…it’s one of those things when it’s gone it’s gone. But it’s only 9.95 for a plate of some of the most improved brisket in Dallas.”
Listen to the full interview in the player above.
