BBQ Odyssey Part Dos

The Pit Boss writes sonnets in smoke and fat. Leather hands swing the smoker's handle back, scraping soot from the door each time, creating the strange impression of a snow angel - a smoke angel - guarding the entrance to Eden. 

Giddings City Market

After devouring a belly full of bbq breakfast at Snow's in Lexington, we headed on down to Giddings where we pulled up to City Market about 10 or 10:30. Time for Bar-be-brunch! We definitely didn't devour as much here as we did at Snow's. Only an hour or so had passed. We were quickly learning that we needed to do a better job of pacing ourselves and eat smaller portions if we expected to make it through the day.

This place has atmosphere leaching out of it's soot clogged pores. It's been around since 1941, so like Mueller's in Taylor, it's caked over with the smell of a forest sacrificed on the high alter of brisket and ribs. It has that wonderful kinda-sorta run down look that you find in small towns on Main street. Tons of personality. My dad thought it had an old East Texas look and feel to it. Like the title proclaims, the place is also a working meat market in the front, though the few customers there were not waiting to take home steaks or sliced ham. They awaited the good stuff smoking up in the back. 

First up - The brisket. Excellent rich flavor, very tender and impregnated with a nice mellow smoke flavor from the piles of oak they had stacked up all over. Thought tender it didn't fall apart and was a bit less moist than what I have come to expect from moist brisket but not enough to really quibble over. 

Ribs - Very good with a tasty rub. They didn't slide off the bone but were still tender and very juicy.

Sausage - Seemed like it had more beef in it than pork. The casing was crisp but it wasn't juicy as I like my sausage to be.

Sauce - vinegar base which is what I prefer. Tangy but smooth. 

Overall it was a great place for barbecue. It's not one of the places you see printed up or talked about in the same breath as Franklin's or the places in Lockhart, but I found it to be right up at that level all the same. The whole flavor of the place made the experience. Made for some great pictures too! I can't get enough of old buildings like this. So many artsy opportunities. You might have noticed I didn't take any pics of the food on my plate...that's because, unless it's burned to a crisp, BBQ all looks the same. Does to me anyway. 

The feller seated was a hoot to watch. Such a nice man whose job was to clean the tables. As soon as someone would up and leave, he'd sloooooooowly get up from his chair, grunting and groaning as if giving birth to a boulder, creep over to the table, clean it up, then go back to his chair and squat back down grunting, moaning and gasping and roaring and kvetching all the way back down into the chair. He did this over and over again. It was divine.

 - erstwhile City of Waterloo, 10:00pm, pleasant fall evening, hungry from writing about BBQ