Saw a surprise facebook post from Reid's BBQ Shack (trailer business) today that he would be open today in Temple after a long layoff. Today's sale was for a fundraiser for his daughter's high school bass fishing team.

Robert said he will be opening on Saturdays only at his usual location at W. Adams at Kegley Road in Temple until some time in September. In September and December he will be setting up every Saturday for the youth football games at Belton's Tiger Stadium.

I have really missed Reid's barbecue lately after being a regular customer over the past year or two. He was the co-pitmaster at Miller's in Belton from the time they first opened until a year or so after they made the Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ list a few years ago, and really did most of the cooking there.

Since starting up his own truck business, Reid's barbecue has been consistently producing better smoked meats than the popular Miller's restaurant, especially after Miller's moved to their new location, which is nice, but I feel their brisket and ribs have lost a step. Reid's barbecue has that great oak smoked flavor that Miller's once did before the move. He is also still making the huge full spare "bronto ribs" like Miller's used to offer when they had the best ribs Texas every Friday and Saturday. Miller's switched to the skimpy St. Louis spares with little meat on them. They just don't produce the same buttery sweetness of the oak smoke melded with the rendered sugar cookie fat of the pork.



Today for the fundraiser Reid was only making brisket and chicken, with beans and buttered potatoes offered for sides. I was disappointed he didn't have spare ribs today, but my mouth was watering at the prospect of REAL BARBECUE for a change! The brisket had that familiar special oak flavor that few pitmasters seem to be able to achieve. The slices were mostly lean with some fat, yet still moist, and only a slight touch of the finger needed to partition a perfect bite. I sampled a sizeable plate of legendary pitmaster John Mueller's Black Box a couple of weeks ago. While Mueller's brisket was a bit more juicy and tender and had great beef flavor, it didn't come close to Reid's great smoke flavor. It's a tough call, since both really blow away most of the competition in different ways, but for me it's all about the smoke and Reid has consistently brung it.

Chicken was never one of Reid's strengths, but today's leg quarter was solid, with a really nice mahogany color and slight spiciness. Skin could have been a tad more crisped, as a pull would break off a large chunk. But it was easy to bite through, and the meat had a nice smokiness. It's not quite as good as the chicken Miller's is cooking now. Their meat has a bit more sweetness and a more perfect skin.



The beans were ordinary, a little al dente not up to his former standards. They are normally very good, and I'm not a big bean guy. They were already out of potatoes, but I'm not eating potatoes these days anyway.

Get to Reid's on a Saturday when you can and I guarantee you won't regret it. He should be offering the spare ribs, which are a must, and sometimes other surprises, like pork steak, loin or turkey, depending on what mood he's in. He also conjures up some unique sandwich ideas, as well as the usual chopped or sliced beef.

I didn't get a shot of the trailer today, but here's a past one, the same deal.



He's across the street from the Sonic behind the Laser Wash, which can be hard to see from the road, so look for it. It's next to the whatever it is gymn there that used to be a Take 1 Video store at the intersection of Kegley and W. Adams.

Again, he will be setting up there on Saturdays until some time in September through October, when he will instead be set up at the youth football games at Tiger Field in Belton every Saturday morning.

Anyone going to Meat Fight 1K on Saturday?

http://meatfight.com/page8/index.html

I went to the rusty star last week
Outside China spring

really liked the jalapeo cheese sausage

Wasn't a fan of the potatoe salad.

Dia del DougO said:

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Post your recent reviews and pics of Texas barbecue joints here.

I made a pilgrimage to the bustling central Texas metropolis of Georgetown, TX today to sample the offerings of Back Box Barbecue, featuring the talents of the legendary and controversial pit master, John Mueller.

It's a humble little trailer business in an open lot downtown that just opened a couple of months ago after Mueller's previous barbecue venture was closed last year due to a "difference of opinion" over sales tax issues with the Texas gub'ment. I had never visited any of his Austin ventures.

Me and my compadre arrived in the afternoon after the lunch crowd was gone, not a soul in line. There was plenty of food to choose from. I ordered some moist brisket, a couple of pork spare ribs and a sausage link.




Oh yeah, forgot the squash, a long time John Mueller side specialty that I have wanted to try for a long time. I'm a squash lover from way back, and I was not disappointed. This was no cheapo cheez whiz from a jar just dumped on like bad ballpark nachos, but a real cheddar cheese based sauce melded with the veg. The squash was tender and not mushy. I highly recommend it.


The spare ribs were probably the plate's first prize winner in my book. They had a perfect effortless bite and easy chew, tender but not falling apart, the way great ribs should be. Bold peppery rub was obvious but not mouth-burning. They were full spares, not St. Louis cut, but smaller size, very moist and delicious.

Brisket was perfectly tender and quite moist, full beefy flavor with mild oak smoky flavor and peppery finish. It pulled apart like cotton candy but without shredding. Sausage was top notch, plump and flavorful, not too greasy. i enjoyed the coarse cut of the meat inside the tender casing. The only slight nit was some tiny slightly chewy bits mixed in with the meat, which did not in any way deter its complete annihilation.

I even enjoyed the chunky, spicy sauce, even though I'm not a barbecue saucer. I didn't put it on anything.

I've tasted rivals from each meat category that were on par, but I can't say I've ever had a better complete barbecue meal anywhere.

I suggest hitting this place soon before the lines start getting longer. They're open Thursday through Sunday, I believe.


I'm not as expert on sausage or ribs, but that brisket is artwork.

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Hit up terry blacks on Barton springs for lunch last week when I was in Austin for work. Place Never disappoints

Love all the sides I got , creamed corn, potatoe salad and mac and cheese

The brisket I got was picture worthy but I was hungry and didn't take one. Lots of bark and so good.

Doug does a great job with the photography as well.

You know how the hamburger always looks perfect and succulent on the pictures on the counter, then when they bring you yours it looks like crap.

This brisket lives up to the picture on the counter.

Thanks, but the brisket did all the work in that photo. It was a quick and easy phone pic. Not many can do it like Mueller.

I guess I need to hit Terry Black's again. I went a few months after they first opened. I thought it was very good for an every-day sit-down barbecue joint, but didn't think it was up their with the best in Texas. At the time I thought Stiles Switch had the edge on them. Maybe they upped their game since then.

I couldn't believe they made top 5 in TM and the real Black's, which I consider the benchmark for barbecue brick-and-mortar, didn't even make the top 50 this time. And I was just there in late December, so I know it's still great.

Dia del DougO said:

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I guess I need to hit Terry Black's again. I went a few months after they first opened. I thought it was very good for an every-day sit-down barbecue joint, but didn't think it was up their with the best in Texas. At the time I thought Stiles Switch had the edge on them. Maybe they upped their game since then.

I couldn't believe they made top 5 in TM and the real Black's, which I consider the benchmark for barbecue brick-and-mortar, didn't even make the top 50 this time. And I was just there in late December, so I know it's still great.

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Hey Doug, I was at the real Blacks in late May early June, it is incredible, the brisket was the best, but I see it has competition here.

For Black's not to perpetually get a top 50 mention is joke. I made three top 50 visits last year, none close IMO.

I was a huge fan of Mueller's when his place was open in Austin. The man just has a few demons.

Mueller is bi-polar or something. He's the nicest guy in the world most of the time, but then later he may jump out and stab you.

I'm not sure this even belongs here, but what the heck. Technically, it is barbecue.

I was in Waco today and decided to bite the bullet and try Vitek's, which I haven't been to since the 80s, at least. Didn't want to hit Rudy's again since the last time was unusually bad for them (though it has been solid in the past).

While I was looking over the menu the guy behind the counter suggested their "famous" Gutpack. I told him, I can't do that, I'm trying to keep it low carb." He replied with a laugh, "Everything we have is carbs!"

That's when I knew I was in trouble.

So I just ordered a 1/4 pound of brisket and a couple of spare ribs, which looked decent in the wrapper. I only saw the ribs because somebody ordered some right before me. The meat wasn't openly visible to customers before ordering, and I'm thinking there could be a reason for that.

They superstitiously jammed everything in a Styrofoam box, which took several minutes, even though there was only one guy in front of me when I came in and not that much of a late afternoon post-lunch crowd. I don't know what the hell took them so long. Then I payed and got to me seat and discovered they hadn't even put the brisket in the box. So I went back and informed them of their error.

If I haven't mentioned by now, service was basically dog poop.

Another girl behind the girl I ordered from asked me what I had ordered, which had been written on the box it wasn't placed in, and I tolder her a quarter pound of brisket. She came back with a cup of chopped beef and handed it to me. I'm like, "uh...I didn't mean chopped brisket, just sliced brisket." She said she though I said chopped, but I don't know how one hears chopped out of brisket. Anyway, I finally got all my food. I even got the drink I ordered four times before the cashier finally heard me, and replied, "Oh, you want a drink?"

The serving system is totally backwards. You come in the door, then walk up to the ordering position, then go to the left to the register, and just to the left of that to fill your drink. Then when you get your food you have to reverse field and walk around the line that you were just standing in to give your order to get to the dining room. It's weird and pretty inefficient.

I had hoped the worst was over, but then I opened the box and looked at my food.



This is still just a quick phone shot, but Ansel Adams couldn't have made this brisket look mouth-watering.

It was pretty dry. It had a decent amount of smoky flavor, maybe even strong, but it wasn't the sweet smoke of central Texas post oak. It was mostly lean, not particularly well rendered, and had just enough moister so I didn't choke on it. The bark was almost tasty, so it had that going for it. I save the little piece with the most fat on it for last so I could end on the best possible note. It was, but it still was just edible.

I'm not a sauce guy, rarely use the stuff, but this meat definitely needed some sauce for sufficient lubrication, and I couldn't find any in the dining area. But I was ready to just get it over with anyway, so I didn't venture any further back to the counter.

As for the ribs, they were pretty damn sad. Again, the rub in the bark actually had a decent flavor. But what little meat left on the bones was basically dehydrated. It took about eight seconds to nibble off all the edible part from each rib.



Then there was the slaw. The cabbage was fresh and crispy enough, but I don't know what the hell they use in their dressing. It wasn't mayo based like most. What I was tasting was a bold new experiment the likes of which I have never sampled before. I couldn't identify it, but the best my palate could discern was some combination of Windex and Goo Gone. But it was subtle enough that I was able to eat it all, because I was starving.

Really need to drown my sorrows after the game, so I headed out to Reid's BBQ Shack truck that was over at the Belton football field today for the youth league games.



Reid is the original co-pitmaster for Miller's that got them into the top 50, but his barbecue better than what Miller's serves now in their new pits. It was a stripped down menu for the event thing, which will be every Saturday until their season is over. He only lists sandwiches and nachos on the signage. But I was able to just get some brisket and sausage, took it home to chill.

Man, I really needed that.

He said he will be back out at his former regular spot at W. Adams at Kegley Road behind the Laser Wash in Temple after the youth league season is over. whenever that is. Hopefully, he will return to setting up on weekdays eventually. He's one of the best in central Texas.