Central Texas

Oldest major BBQ joint in TX continuously owned by the same family. Since '32.

The locals' Lockhart pick. All-you-can-eat buffet on Sundays.

Walk through the kitchen, point at the meat, get it on butcher paper. Mustard sauce in old beer bottles.

Hill Country move: pick your meat off the open pit out front. Mesquite, not oak.

Brockway's African-American culinary heritage meets central-TX smoke.

The pilgrimage. James Beard. The benchmark every other joint is measured against.

Walk-up open pit; pick your meat. The original is in Stephenville.

Cabrito sausage. Family-run since the early 90s.

A north-Austin strip mall hiding one of the state's most thoughtful menus.

A Convention Center landmark in an old ironworks foundry. Big beef ribs and downtown convenience.

Texas-Japanese izakaya. Smoked brisket in tonkotsu broth.

Kareem El-Ghayesh's Egyptian-Texan brisket. Smoked harissa, lamb shoulder, and an Aaron Franklin pedigree.

Since 1900. No forks, no sauce — meat on butcher paper.

The Mueller family's east-side outpost. Smoked beef rib weekly.

"New school BBQ." Beef cheeks, citrus glazes, no apologies.

Aaron Franklin and Tyson Cole's Asian-Texan smokehouse. Smoked oak-pit brisket meets Uchi-grade plating.

Smoke-stained walls, a national monument. Beef ribs the size of a forearm.

Started as a trailer. Sausages — lamb, beet, jalapeño — are the move.

Sweet jalapeño sausage worth a 60-mile detour from Austin.

Original Kreuz building. Walk past the open pit; floor still scorched.

North Lamar standby. Lance Kirkpatrick's brisket has anchored the city's Top 50 lists for a decade.

Vencil's old joint. Two front doors — one historic, both inviting.

The Lockhart Blacks' Austin outpost. Fast, big, cafeteria-style.

BYOB, cash-historic, open-pit theater. Most photographed pit in Texas.

The breakfast-taco-meets-brisket joint. Flour tortillas, smoked carne guisada, refried beans on a foil tray.