Smitty's Market

Any BBQ joint that you walk in and have to dodge the fire has to be good. And this is the view back through the door to the back parking lot:

When I passed that wall, the heat surprised the hell out of me. It was awesome. The fire boxes are to the left of the fire, and the heat draw the smoke in from the fire and over the meat. The other side has an identical fire outside an identical box, drawing the smoke toward the center like this one, and up through the smokestack that's visible from the street. As you walk up to the boxes the old guy behind the counter with ham-fists asks grumpily what you want. I would too, if I worked in an oven. They seemed to specialize in sausage, but they had beef shoulder, pork chops, brisket, and ribs as well. I ordered all of the above, plus slaw and beans, my usual for BBQ.

The slaw was finely chopped and creamy. Bland. Could use a hit of horseradish, for some zip. The beans, though, are probably the best I've had aside from my mother's. Like hers, you can actually taste the beans. They're not hidden by an overdose of pepper and spices that are so prominent that they even change the color of the beans. It has salt pork and a few scattered onions, peppers, and tomatoes, but they're complimentary, not overpowering.

The sauce was a bit reddish and tomatoey, with a vinegar twinge. Not too much of either though, and I like the sauce.

The beef shoulder was moist and well smoked with a great, simple flavor. The brisket was tough and fatty though. disappointing. Whereas the sauce was a good compliment to the shouder, it was a requirement for the brisket. The pork chop was excellent. It was a little drier but not quite as well smoked as those at Kreuz Market, although the meat on the other side of the ribs was deeply smoked and the best part. The rest was almost a dry pork tenderloin, but that was perfect. The ribs were amazing. Perfectly smoked and almost falling off the bone, sauce would have actually hurt them. I'd say they were almost as good as City Market. Almost. The sausage wasn't quite as dry as I like, but I'm not a sausage fan so I'm probably too quick to judge on that one. The casing was slightly crisp and the sausage tasted good, I just wish sausage didn't feel like I was chewing on fat. This was a bit porky-tasting for my taste as well, I actually prefer more spices in sausage and less on everything else.

Hearing that this was the site of the original Kreuz Market made a lot of sense. The Kreuz ovens were far too clean and new to have dated back as long as the business does, and these look far older than the 1999 est. date. The similarity in meats offered makes sense too, what with the father owning Kreuz, and the daughter owning Smitty's. Hard to pick a winner, and I can't wait to get back to either, or both, of these places.



208 South Commerce
Lockhart, Texas 78644
512.398.9344
Mon. - Fri. 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 7:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.