Biographical information courtesy of the Austin Chronicle.
See below for Austin Chronicle BBQ Links.

Luling City Market

photo by Gerald E. Mcleod

633 East Davis, near US Hwy 183, Luling, 830/875-9019

Mon-Sat, 7am-6pm

The City Market has been open since 1930 (1958 in its current location), and pretty much everybody swears that it hasn't changed much in all those years. But then, why should it? This a truly elegant operation -- beautifully simple in every detail -- a remarkable blend of brilliance and consistency.

Start with the brisket (of course). One of City Market's claims to fame is that they don't have any forks in the restaurant. That's because their brisket is so fall-apart tender you'll want to feel how good it is. These are not the lean, largely uniform slices of meat that come from closely trimmed briskets and long smoking over indirect heat, but the edgier, more idiosyncratic cuts that come from cooking heavily fatted briskets over just enough direct heat to seal in the juices and melt down the fat layer. This yields a stunningly tender inside, with succulent edges that are more or less sauteed in their own juices -- crispy yet still moist. It's a more exacting, less formulaic technique, and these folks have it down as well as anyone.

The meaty pork ribs are generously trimmed and smoked to perfection. Again, careful smoking and nice finishing over high heat gives the rib slabs an exquisite, pull-apart tenderness, and those crunchy yet inexplicably moist edge pieces that are the hallmark of truly great barbecue. The sausage -- the other leg of the holy triumvirate -- is a luscious, coarse-ground concoction, freshly made and dripping with both flavor and grease. (There's chicken as well, but to tell the truth, I've never managed to pull myself away from the more serious meats to give it a try.)

You buy all meats by the pound (or link) in the smokehouse in the back of the dining hall; they're served on butcher paper, with bread, but don't overlook the fixin's -- a surprisingly tasty selection of pickles, peppers, and onions are free on request, but you have to ask.

Side dishes are over at the other counter with the drinks -- and once again, simplicity meets excellence. Don't be put off by the little pre-packaged single-serving Styrofoam containers; these are unusually good, especially the slightly sweet, nicely seasoned potato salad, named "best in the world" in a recent informal taste test.

Then there's the real topper: a marvelous, sweet, peppery-hot orange barbecue sauce, from a family recipe, that's to kill for (or, to be less dramatic, just buy a quart to go).

That's all they do at Luling City Market -- six menu items, if I count right -- but they do each of them so damn well. This could be the perfect barbecue joint. --Nick Barbaro