Austinites, Where is the best BBQ in Town?

[AirKuhl]

Salt Lick for the cool overall experience. The BBQ is good enough to not be distracting and is better than what most people are used to if they aren't locals. It's where we always took out of town guests for the most fun experience. Don't judge them by the crappy BBQ in the airport location.

Rudy's is a fine standby, always consistently good. As is Iron Works.

Kreuz's used to be the best but not the same since the big family rift. Still very good though, as is Black's nearby.

Southside Market for the Elgin sausage. An Elgin hot wrapped in a piece of wonder bread with a squirt of BBQ sauce is the perfect snack in my world.

County Line is scenic out on the lake and the smoked prime rib is pretty good. The BBQ is meh.

Stubb's is decent if overpriced. Go for the music, the BBQ is secondary.


Now about the meat:

Louie Mueller in Taylor for ribs and brisket. One of my faves.

And the overall winner is Cooper's out in Llano. Something about those direct heat mesquite pits that shouldn't work but does.

I can't comment of some of the newer trendy places and food trucks as they came after I left. The good news is that central Texas is ground zero for Texas style BBQ. I wouldn't stress, even the worst would probably be considered excellent elsewhere.

[eauboy]

Franklin's is supposed to be fantastic, but you have to wait in line for hours:
Franklin Barbecue

Snow's in Lexington is excellent, but they are only open on Saturdays:
Snow's BBQ, LLC. - Best BBQ in Texas - Lexington, Texas

I'm a fan of Smitty's in Lockhart:
Smitty's Market

Here's a good resource for researching:
Texas Monthly: BBQ

Going to Lockhart is not a bad idea; it's ground zero for Texas BBQ.

[billybek]

Thank you gentlemen for the feedback on this.
I hope to be able to hit a few different locations while I am in town.
It will probably become a new obsession trying to come fractionally close to reproducing this taste when I get home!

[billybek]

I wasn't able to get out as much as I would have liked to while I was in Austin. I was at the NISOD conference and it kept me surprisingly busy.
I was able to get to Stubb's on the first night and found it to be a good experience but found the smoke a bit too creosote like. Maybe it was a little too early in the afternoon, but no bark on the ribs or brisket.
The pulled pork there was my favorite followed by the brisket.
Also went to the Boiling Pot (fun and tasty)(should post the before and after photos!), Manuels (Very good but small portions) and had a pretty good burger at Champions right by the convention center.

Austin is a pretty cool city and the quality of the music in the bars completely blew me away. I saw the Eric Tessimer band at Friends on 6th and was amazed by the guys skills. Not what I would call easy listening music by far but amazing live! I was out the night before last and lost the crowd of people I was with and listened to about 4 or 5 different bands and I can't say a bad thing about any of them.... Was a very cool experience.

Nice weather, no flying insects and pretty decent people.
Forgot beer.... I kind of like Shiner Bock. First beer I tried there and drank it most of the week!

Thanks for your help, I hope to be able to put your advice to better use next year!