Smitty's and Black's in one hour

Many of my auto racing and driving instructor friends are also BBQ fiends. As we travel across the country driving at events, we try all sorts of local BBQ to see what is out there..

Today, we made a run to Lockhart, TX in our street cars to sample the two establishments that are open Sundays, Smitty's Market and Black's BBQ. The delicious Kreuz' is sadly not open one of them.

First, the group. Jeff Bailey on his Triumph Sprint ST, Doug Robertson on a Ducati ST3, Lee Papayoti in his vintage 911, Kerry Bonner in his Porsche GT2, Randy Posejpal in his Porsche GT3RS, I took the C6, of course, with Hugh Brasier riding since his GT2 has worn tires. A friend of Hugh's, Brian and his wife, came along in their GT2 also. (they are vegetarians, BTW)

Second, the route. We took some of our favorite local roads through New Ulm, 1291 from Frelsburg to Fayetteville, up 77 out of La Grange to 153 toward Bueschur State Park and down on 535 through Rosanky we got to Lockhart and parked at Smitty's Market. I put some shots in our photo section showing my meal and some interiors.

Caveat: My favorite Texas BBQ is from Louie Mueller's in Taylor. After 30 years of visiting there, I have never failed to get a superb meal. The Mueller brisket is amazing as is the beef ribs and sausage.

Now, at Smitty's the brisket was almost as good as Mueller's. The smoke ring was deep and perfect looking, the fatty side was moist and the meat was quite good. The pork ribs... holy jay-sus. I have never had pork ribs so succulent and flavorful... anywhere... ever. The meat fell off the bone and was just smoky enough and had a woodsy, mild sweetness that defies adjectives. The hot link was what I refer to as "loose pack" and had a nice taste although I found it too loose for me to give it top billing. It was just real good, not great.

The 9 of us then walked the three blocks to Black's BBQ to give them a try. We all knew it was not going to match up to Smitty's, but when in Rome... I'll keep this short: I went there so you don't have to go. I ordered a pork rib, a 1/4 pound of loose brisket and a half link of original sausage. The picture of my plate tells all.

We drove back in the reverse of our drive out fighting a meat coma all the way. A sunny day for the most part, I had the top down on the Corvette, no speeding tickets, great friends, and some great Q.