In case you missed it: It’s Texas Barbecue Week, as deemed by Texas Monthly. Smokehouses across the state are serving up special plates to benefit culinary historians Foodways Texas.
How, then, to make the best of (what’s left) of Barbecue Week? We asked the man for whom every week is barbecue week: Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn.
How to celebrate barbecue week:
“I think you know that already. You eat barbecue! I just got back from [Micklethwait Craft Meats] – they’re doing a reuben sandwich with smoked pastrami… Barbecue joints all over the state are participating. They have designated one item on their menu as a barbecue week item. Some of them have special items, like a barbecue frito sandwich here at La Barbecue in Austin. At [Miller’s Smokehouse] in Belton they’re doing this big, stuffed sweet potato as well.”
Who barbecue week benefits:
“Whatever you purchase at any of these restaurants that’s designated at their barbecue week item, part of the proceeds goes to benefit Foodways Texas. It is an organization here in Texas that celebrates the culture of Texas food. It also tries to help preserve, through oral histories and video series, the people who make Texas food possible.”
On the top barbecue joints in Texas:
“Number one is still Franklin Barbecue. We named a top four in our latest top 50 which is a couple of years old now… There’s Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Pecan Lodge in Dallas, Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, and Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor. There are plenty of \ historic places in the top 50 but as far as the top four go, it was really places that did everything incredibly well.”
Barbecue for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Why not, it’s barbecue week!
“Find that meat market place that’s open in the morning. Hell yeah! You go out to Snow’s in Lexington on Saturday, eight o’clock in the morning, and you can head over to Louie Mueller for lunch, and come back into town and go to Micklethwait for dinner. When you go into the meat market places, especially ones that open up super early in the morning, you’re generally going to find sausage coming off the pit. So a link of sausage and a Dr. Pepper: that’s a good breakfast for me. Lunch, we may go for the chopped beef sandwich. And then go all out with your Texas Trinity for dinner: brisket, sausage, pork ribs. Officially [Barbecue Week] ends Saturday, but along with me you can celebrate barbecue week all year long.”
