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by Richard Truesdell

When it comes to BBQ, noregion of the United Statestakes this heated subjectmore seriously than cen-tral Texas. Within the three

points of Dallas, Luling, and Llano, youcan find some of the most succulent bar-becue in the U.S.

Although eating meat for breakfast,lunch, and dinner isn’t everyone’s life-long dream, we couldn’t pass up thechance when DaimlerChrysler’s Dodgedivision offered us the world’s fastestpickup, the 500-horsepower 2004 RamSRT-10, to drive the “BBQ Triangle”—itwas a sauce- and smoke-fueled excuseto sample all variations of the classicTexas-style way of cooking.

Hot BBQ,Hotter Truck

photography by the author

At the Wheel of the Ram

SRT-10, Searching for BBQ

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DAY1: Austin to SanAntonio via

Taylor, Lockhart, and LulingBecause of the complex nature of thistrip, we invited some friends along tohelp out—we’d have custody not only ofthe Ram SRT-10, but a Viper SRT-10 aswell, and with two vehicles, we’d needthree drivers. Taking the time to helpwere local automotive author and editorSteve Statham, and Matt Malone, part ofthe marketing group at Boston Acoustics.

While we could’ve saved time drivingto Taylor, northeast of Austin, Steve sug-gested we visit Elgin for a quick sausagesnack at Southside Market. Steve, whoalso judges BBQ contests in his sparetime, told me Southside Market wasacclaimed throughout Texas as havingsome of the very best hot links. He wasright.

We then drove north to Louie Mueller’sin Taylor. We’ve heard that unless theinterior walls of a BBQ joint are stainedwith smoky patina, chances are it’s justnot the real thing. When we steppedinside, we knew right away LouieMueller’s is the real deal. The aroma ofsmoked beef, pork, and chicken will per-meate your clothing, and remain therehours after your departure.

Steve told us to concentrate on thebeef brisket, which was uniformly excel-lent and would serve as a benchmarkagainst which later brisket would bemeasured. The cole slaw, a traditionalside dish in this arena, was also topdrawer—very sweet, not sour.

We had a lot of ground to cover andproceeded south to Lockhart, home tothe second of Texas Monthly’s (www.tex-asmonthly.com) top three BBQ legends,Kreuz Market (pronounced “Kritze’s”).

What it lacked in an authentic look(such as Mueller’s smoky walls), due to arecent move to a more spacious facility,it more than made up for with Texasfriendliness as we received the royaltreatment from its owner, Rick Schmidt,with a guided tour of the smoking pits.

There we sampled smoked prime rib,something not found at many barbecueestablishments, in addition to brisket.

From Lockhart, we continued south toLuling, to City Market. Open for morethan 50 years, it features a primitivesmoking room at the back of the estab-lishment. The menu is Atkins-friendly:pork chops, salty brisket, coarselyground sausage, and ribs.

Next, we headed toward San Antonioto Harmon’s BBQ, for what turned out tobe, even though we were already full,the best chicken on the entire trip. Imentioned to my drive partner that

never in the course of human gluttonyhave so many variations of BBQ beenconsumed in such a short period oftime. He turned to me and smiled.

DAY2: San Antonio toWaco via

Fredericksburg and LlanoTo start day two, we went toFredericksburg, which is probably thebest-known German enclave in Texas.Founded on May 8, 1846, by Germanimmigrants, the city is now a majorGerman-themed tourist attraction.

Fredericksburg lies 38 miles south ofLlano, the last of Texas Monthly’s BigThree of Texas BBQs, so we were per-fectly positioned for a quick sprint northon TX 16. It was here, with the roadclear, that for the first time since leavingAustin, we seriously exercised some ofthe SRT-10’s horsepower. We took fullmeasure of the power of the Viper’s V-10as well.

Arriving in Llano, we sought outCooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que. Assoon as we pulled in the parking lot, weknew we’d arrived at the Holy Grail ofTexas BBQ. While our Ram attracted thetypical crowds of pickup aficionados, mybuddy said, “from the smoky parking lot

next visit to Dallas, I promisedmyself a stop at Sonny Bryan’s assoon as I landed.

On the flight home, I opened mylaptop and downloaded the last ofmy photos. Having upgraded to firstclass, I thought I’d have some privacy,but such was not the case. Sitting nextto me was an attractive blonde, I’d sayabout 30, who seemed quite intent atsneaking a peek at what was on screen.When I pulled up the first of the morn-ing’s photos of the Ram at City Garage,she exclaimed with a thick Texas drawl,“That’s the new Viper truck. I want one.

I have a 2002 Ram Quad Cab.” My God!I’m sitting next to a beautiful, pickup-owning Texan Dodge girl for the nextthree hours. How bad can life be? TT

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For More InformationTexas: www.traveltex.comwww.travel.state.tx.uswww.texastourism.comTexas Monthly Magazine: www.texasmonthly.comDallas: www.dallas.worldweb.comAustin: www.austintexas.orgLockhart: www.lockhart-tx.orgSan Antonio: www.sanantoniocvb.comFredericksburg: www.fbgtx.orgWaco: www.wacocvb.comBBQ Overview: www.chamberbuilders.com/downloads/BBQTrails-2002.pdf

filled with diesel pickups to the outdoorbarbecue pits, Cooper’s screams Texas, ina good way.” Head outside and walk rightup to the pit, where the boys at Cooper’swill pop the hood, and you can pick froma wide variety of meat and chicken.You’d think that after eating BBQ fordays I was getting tired of it. You’reright, but I couldn’t stop eating thebrisket at Cooper’s. It was that goodand the clear standout of the trip.

DAY3:Waco to DallasSince we’d risen at sunrise, we hadplenty of time to squeeze in a visit toSonny Bryan’s Smokehouse, aDallas institution. Not far from LoveField in Dallas, Sonny Bryan’s isfamous for the travelers who stopby before going to the airport topick up an order of signature ribsto eat on their flight. Even thoughwe arrived not long after noon, itwas closed for the day, as traditionsays when they run out of food, there’sno more until they open the next morn-ing. Some equally disappointed folks ina Z3 directed us to a second locationnearby, just a few miles north.

Sonny Bryan’s is classic Texas BBQ dis-tilled into a format that fits in suburbanstrip malls. At Sonny Bryan’s we selecteda sampler of chicken, brisket, and ribswith a side order of creamy macaroni

and cheese. While very tasty, I mustadmit my taste buds were numb, espe-cially after the previous night’s almostcosmic experience at Cooper’s. On my