Bailey's BBQ (Fort Worth)

Nestled in the middle of town, surrounded by high rises and concrete, lies a small red barn serving only sandwich meats, no ribs here. I had the sliced beef and sausage. The beef had a very nice smoke ring, but lacked the flavor. It had no crust and was very dry. The briskest was cooked way too fast, the fat had no time to render. The sauce was not even enough to make this taste Better. The sausage fared better, it had a nice smokey flavor and was very moist. I don't think it was house made, but it worked. The only downside with the sausage is that is tasted like little smokies....very odd.

All in all, If I were downtown in a rush for lunch, I might stop in. 

5/10 Rating

And the secret is.......

SEASONINGS AND RUBS

This goes for all things meat whether its a steak or burger, ribs or brisket, chicken or pork! Everyone is always trying to create their secret mess of spices that will take them over the top, it's okay to try to be creative but for god sakes, there is a line to be crossed. I was talking to a customer and he was telling me about his secret brisket technique. He said he would do his rub of about 20 different spices, let it smoke for 8 hours, pull it out soak it in coffee overnight, through it back on the smoker for 24 hours, take it off again, wrap it in foil, smoke again for another 8. Seriously guy? This sounds ridiculous. With that story being said, here is THE SECRET TO FLAVORFUL MEATS......KEEP IT SIMPLE! For a steak, a little salt and pepper goes a long way, same for ribs! Briskets need flavor but don't over do it, keep it simple as well. When cooking BBQ, It's all about wood, smoke, and time; that's what is going to put you over the top. Here are your friends when doing BBQ: Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Cayenne, Paprika, Time, and Knowing what the hell you are doing. Yeah there are some things to throw into the mix, but for the love of god, don't put peanut butter on my ribs (yes, there is a guy who does this).

-FireMax

Pop's Burgers (Fort Worth)

The Burger

Peppers, Bacon, American Cheese, Lettuce, Onion, Pickles, Mayo

I visited the location on Trail Lake. The outside of the building was pretty neat, it was made of rusted tin and old barn style wood. They had a nice patio with an outdoor bar that is open on weekends. The inside was more of a TCU shrine, it was a bit overboard. The burger I ordered came out in about 20 minutes, they call your name when it is ready. It was a very nice presentation, as you can see. The bun was toasted and it was proportional to the patty. I picked it up for a bit, the first thing I noticed was the juice that poured out of the patty, i'll get to that later. The patty was about a 1/2 pound, and it lacked in seasoning. The veggies were fresh, just was lacking pickles. The bacon was a little chewy but good. It had grilled onions, and I am a lover of them. As I finished the burger, the last bite was probably the best. The bun was soaked in the delightful juice, mixed with the cheese, mayo, and all the rest, perfect. The Patty could have been a little more moist but it was good. All in all it was a pretty good burger. 7/10 rating for me. If the patty would have been properly seasoned, the pickles were present, and the patty would have been just a bit more moist, I would have given this a 9/10.

Smittys VS Kruez Market (Lockhart, TX)

HISTORY

EST. 1900 - In 1999, following a disagreement between the son and daughter of Edgar "Smitty" Schmidt--who bought the market from the Kreuz family in 1948--had a falling out, and the original Kreuz split into two. The brother took the name and started a barn-like new place out on the highway that runs to Austin, which is the barbecue called Kreuz Market today. 

Smitty's Market

 You walk in to the dark pit area filled with smoke, it's so awesome because you swear you were about to get your face ripped off Texas Chainsaw style! We ordered sliced beef, ribs, and sausage, no sides. It's all served on butcher paper as it should be, they offer no forks nor sauce (and you will soon read why this is bad for them.) Okay so we can start with the good, the sausage was DAMN GOOD. It had an awesome smoke flavor, it was so juicy (greasy, whatever). The filling was a nice and flavorful, with a nice texture to the casing. Now we can talk about the OKAY ribs. The ribs of course were pork spares, lean and a little dry. There was a nice sweetness to them that seemed to come out but I sadly didn't get a smoke taste. For the Crust on the ribs, it wasn't there and I swear they were reheated wrong. Here is the BAD....the sliced brisket was so dry. I couldn't figure out if it needed to be smoked longer or if it was from the reheating process. Here is what bothered me the most: The fat was not finished rendering, there was no smoke ring, and there was no smoke flavor..what? If you are going to serve this sort of brisket, please offer sauce so we can drown the slices out.

RATINGS

Sausage-9/10

Ribs-5/10

Brisket-4/10 

Kruez Market

Here, it is about the same. You walk into the pit, order your meats and pay, walk in and order sides and drinks. Once again we ordered the ribs, sliced beef, and sausage. All served on classic butcher paper, and once again no sauce or forks. The good here is going to be the brisket. The brisket was very moist, had a nice smoke ring, fat was nice and rendered, and it had the smoke flavor; no sauce needed. The sausage was about the same, just more pepper was noticed and the meat was more coarse. Here is the bad, and it almost ruins the trip to here...THE RIBS WERE NOT GOOD AT ALL. No smoke flavor, a little tough, and in general the flavor just wasn't there. (Sauce would have came in handy here.)

RATINGS
Sausage-7/10
Ribs-3/10
Brisket-7/10

 THE WINNER: SMITTYS   

all about the sausage and atmosphere

What is a "GOOD" Burger?

I am so sick of everyone trying to make the biggest burger! STOP, nobody cares to be stuffed to the max, just give us a GOOD BURGER!!!! What is a good burger? We will start with the basics, the bun. I want a bun that will hold everything in place, I don't everything falling out all over the place. The bun SHOULD BE TOASTED! I don't care who you are or what you think. I also don't want a stale ass bun either. Then you obviously need a good patty, the more fat, the juicer. I don't care if its 3 pounds or a 1/4 pound, freaking get your sear right. I want a nice sear to A. keep the juice in and B. give it a seasoning crust (yes, don't be 5 guys and use seasoning.) Don't overcook it, don't use random ass seasonings that you think will just put it over the top, keep it simple. I need to have juice running down my hands, I don't care how it's cooked, make it juicy. Then comes toppings, Fresh lettuce (please don't use 5 day old, brown lettuce), Sliced Tomato, Dill Pickle Slices (not a spear on the side), GRILLED ONION (it's the only way), and of course REAL CHEESE. If you have a custom sauce, make sure it works, otherwise don't dare use it. If you don't use grilled onions, at least have the option to add them, along with bacon and mushrooms. If you have a weird ass burger, it better be good, don't just throw something together and hope it's good. Oh, and serve fries that are HOT!

Love Shack (The Dirty Love Burger) Fort Worth

 THE BURGER

    Love sauce, heirloom tomato, curried pickles, wild boar bacon, a quail egg, American cheese, "a 50-50 blend of prime tenderloin and brisket" patty, and a grilled white bun.

I visited on a very slow Tuesday afternoon, no wait. I walk up and am greeted with a "Hey, what do you want?" So the service was already a bummer for me. I ordered the burger, it came out in about 10-15 minutes, a very nice time. The bun was not toasted all the way, so it was soggy but it didn't kill the burger yet. The wild boar bacon was a nice touch, but it wasn't anything special. The quail egg was overcooked and chewy. Now the patty itself was interesting in a bad way. This is claimed to be the holy grail of burgers and well, it just wasn't. The sear was not there, causing the overall meat to be dry. It really was a huge disappointment.