In the June 2008 issue of Texas Monthly, this is what was said about Snow’s BBQ:
THE BEST BARBECUE IN TEXAS IS currently being served at Snow’s BBQ, in Lexington, a small restaurant open only on Saturdays and only from eight in the morning until whenever the meat runs out, usually around noon. Snow’s is remarkable not only for the quality of its meat but for the unlikeliness of its story. No one on staff had heard of it until we received a reader tip following our 2003 barbecue issue. To stumble upon a place this good and this unknown is every pit hound’s dream, and so we feel compelled to offer, as evidence in favor of our judgment, our story of discovery.
Ever since a little impromptu bachelor’s party/BBQ tour last summer where we wandered outside of Lockhart and into Taylor, I’ve had Lexington on my “restaurant to visit” list for awhile. But after hearing pretty crazy accounts of the line (mostly from people who went pretty late), I waited… and waited… until one day when my buddy Jon randomly asked if I wanted to go and try this out on a Saturday morning. Needless to say, I said yes with no hesitation.
8am: Lexington or BUST!!!
So at 8am in the morning, we set out off on our one hour pilgrimage from Austin to Lexington, the Mecca of Texas BBQ (per Texas Monthly). I actually really enjoyed the drive out from Austin. Not only did it only take us about 45 minutes to get there, I especially enjoyed the FM696, a curvy country road that takes you to Lexington off of 290.
The Mecca of Texas BBQ
It was really only about 8:45am when we pulled up to Snow’s. The first impression that I got was “wow, I would never stop here if I was just driving by”. (But to be fair, I’m the type of long distance driver that tries to minimize the number of stop between point a and point b, so I probably wouldn’t stop anywhere anyways, but I digress…)
Was there a line at 8:45am in the morning?? You bet’cha!! But fortunately, we only had to wait about 10 minutes before it was our turn to order. The menu is simple, it’s $8.45/lb for brisket, ribs, pork, and sausage (I don’t remember how much chicken was, but, for reasons unknown to me, I never get BBQ chicken when I order). As you can see above, I (ok, we – me and my buddy Mian) ordered waaaay too much food – 1lb of ribs, 1lb of brisket, 2 sausage links, .5lb of pork, cole slaw, potato salad, beans… I’ve talked to a lot of people who’ve been to Snow’s. And whenever they find out that I’ve never been, they will all, without fail, say these exact words, “What? you’ve never been?? Oh you’ve gotta go!!” So all of this led up to this moment…
The first bite...
That first bite – wow. For a guy that doesn’t normally eat much of a “breakfast”, it was hard to get my appetite going at 9am, but the only words out of my mouth after that first bite?? “Thaaaaat’s craaaazy.”
BEST. BRISKET. EVER. (Handsdown, not even close.)
While I’m not necessarily a Texas BBQ aficionado, I’d like to think I know enough about food in general to understand a little about BBQ. And to appreciate Snow’s brisket, I’ll use Rudy’s (a chain that’s pretty popular in most cities in Texas) to compare just for the sake of having a constant to measure against. If you go (or if anyone takes you) to Rudy’s, you know that the best brisket is the extra most brisket. What most people don’t know, is that the “extra moist” brisket is just the fat cap with most of the fat trimmed off (fat = flavor). The thing with Snow’s brisket is that the whole thing is completely untrimmed. The moisture of the whole piece of meat was unbelievable, the smokey flavor of the brisket was spot on, the “rub crust” wasn’t too thick or overpowering – it was just perfect.
Ribs
After I moved past the brisket, I moved onto the ribs. The ribs were also excellent. Tender, fall-off-the-bone goodness that just kind of melts in your mouth. The sausage was definitely homemade. Without going through heavy processing, as you bite into the sausage you can see the meat crumble in your mouth. The only thing that I did not enjoy was the pork. The shoulder was used here and for whatever reason, it was rather dry and bland. I’ve smoked pork shoulder before and it’s always a fairly moist meat in my experiences.
The potato salad (read, the 1 bite of potato salad I was able to squeeze in) was mighty good. I especially liked that it didn’t feel too rich. I am not a cole slaw fan so I had neither the desire or the room in my stomach to try it (For what it’s worth, I did not eat again that day until 9pm).
Overall, I would probably say that I’d have to agree with Texas Monthly. Of all the BBQ places I’ve been to, the best BBQ in Texas is at Snow’s.
Snow’s BBQ
516 Main Street
Lexington, TX 78947
979.773.4640 (SAT ONLY)
http://snowsbbq.com/
Popularity: 4% [?]
