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Lockhart, Texas & (75 % of) The Texas BBQ Trail


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Lockhart, Texas

 The County Seat of Caldwell County, Texas

The Official BBQ Capitol Of the State of Texas

On May 26, 1999 House Resolution #1024 was adopted by the 76th Texas Legislature naming Lockhart the ‘Barbecue Capital of Texas’,

then by the Senate in the Fall of 2003.

Kreuz Market
“Kreuz Market moved from its original location started in 1900 by Charles Kreuz as a meat market and grocery store to its newer, expanded facility a quarter of a mile north of the old location in 1999. Along with the new building came some new items on the Kreuz menu, most notably: pork spare ribs, beans, German potato salad, sauerkraut, and a new jalapeno cheese sausage, but don’t look for any barbecue sauce or forks as they are still missing in action from Kreuz Market to this day!”

Lockhart (TX) Chamber of Commerce Website

This guy was way accommodating, allowing me to shoot whatever wherever just be safe.The rest of the bunch was less then enthused about photography.

We ordered their moistest brisket and a couple links of the jalapeno cheddar sausage. Priced by the pound.

Bread or crackers? White Bread, Wonderbread, ‘Who Knew’?

We are new at this.

Meats wrapped up all together in a brown butcher paper pocket.

Kreuz-style.

Brisket was moist but not, not marbled either.

Sausage was good and spicy, tough skin, dense, moist and tasty contents.

Sides were pricey (as they were everywhere we went, so no fault here). German potato salad in a cup styrofoam container was good, seasoned with dill plus.

All of this went down in a big hall, no forks nor sauce, in a newish facility on the outskirts of town.

A Thumbs Up : We liked our brisket and sausage at Kreuze Market

Lockhart was the site of a victory of the Texans over the Comanche, at the Battle of Plum Creek in 1840.

Lockhart was originally called “Plum Creek” but the name was later changed to Lockhart.

Reportedly named after some surveyor’s assistant the first Anglo to set foot in Caldwell County.

The Beautiful and Architecturally-Intriquing Caldwell County Court House On the Square in Lockhart, Texas The architectural historian and critic Colin Rowe dubbed Lockhart “a “curiously eloquent” example of a Victorian post-frontier American town.”

Like so many frontier towns the town’s economic growth began with the arrival of the railroad in the late 19th century, at which time the town became a regional shipping center for local cotton.

Following the arrival of the railroad, various immigrant groups arrived in Lockhart and set up shop.

Different Side, Different Light

Out and About In Lockhart, Texas
We walked around Lockhart on our way to Black’s BBQ in order to walk off the first bunch of meats and work up a similar appetite for the second bunch. Black’s BBQ
Black’s Barbecue, located in Lockhart, Texas is Texas’ oldest major barbecue restaurant continuously owned by the same family.Find out why the Travel Channel featured Black’s on their Barbecue Paradise show and what’s kept generations of Texans coming back for more.”

Lockhart (TX) Chamber of Commerce Website

On a Side Street Down From the County Court House Square: Black’s Barbeque.

Black’s Format Was Different. A cafeteria line where you served yourself up portion size priced sides on styrofoam plates and then ordered up your meats.

Again with the pricey sides but at least you determine the portion size.

That and a wider variety of sides.

Big Dill Pickles

Once again priced by the pound, laid out on brown butcher paper covered cafeteria trays.

This guy liked the camera and was willing to make eye contact and perform.His buddy wanted in as well.

Who am I not to oblige.

Forks and sauce were allowed at Black’s BBQ.

Ordered up a cut of lean brisket and a cut of fatty brisket.

Huge difference in taste, texture, marbling and density: the fatty cut won out.

This was the moistest cut of brisket of the day.

The lean cut of brisket was very dense with an absence of marbling and a decrease in taste.

On with the sauce which had a local A-1 type taste to it: Good.

The jalapeno cheddar sausage was tasty and moist but a finer grind of meat and a looser pack within the casing.

Good food paired with a Shiner Bock for Curtis Finney.

We enjoyed our meats and our meal at Black’s BBQ

On to Smitty’s Meat Market

Smitty’s Market
Smitty’s Market has been named one of the top five barbecue restaurants in Texas by Texas Monthly Magazine. Nina Schmidt Sells established Smitty’s Market in 1999 in the building that housed her father’s Kreuz Market for more than 50 years. The market sits in the same location where barbecue has been sold in Lockhart since the turn of the last century.”

Lockhart (TX) Chamber of Commerce Website

It took some cajoling but in the end this crew cozied up for some good images.

Can you pick out the pit-master?

These folks were pretty proud of where they worked and the work they did.

Shows doesn’t it?

The signage gave three options: fat, medium and lean.

We ordered up a medium piece of brisket.

The young lady doing the counter service cautioned us that she could not cut apart a brisket to get at a medium piece but she would see.

We had a couple pieces of brisket and some pork ribs.

All of it was moist and tasty.

Sauce was allowed but no forks.

We ate no sides at Smitty’s as we were pretty full.

Again with the brown butcher paper.

Common seating in a well lit cafeteria style dining area at long tables.

The pork ribs were a hit, with or without the sauce.

The ‘medium’ brisket was good and moist and tasty.

Once again we enjoyed the Texas BBQ meats at Smitty’s Market.

Smoking firewood stacked out back of Smitty’s The entrance to Smitty’s Market, out back but probably the more common entrance. Smitty’s Market’s perspective on the Texas town of Lockhart

Somewhere near Rosanky, Texas going home

Brisket on the hoof.

A Timeline of Lockhart Barbecue

Categories: Uncategorized
Posted by bigdawg on February 16, 2017

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