My Kim won’t be jealous that I was in the company of two winsome women during my inaugural visit to Terry Black’s BBQ. She might, however, be unhappy if I were to come home perfumed by post oak, a sure sign I had been enjoying Texas barbecue without her. Post oak is the wood many of the Lone Star State’s best barbecue restaurants smoke to give their meats inimitable flavors and aromas. Okay, she might also be jealous that I polished off a monsterous beef rib, the type of which tipped over Fred Flintstone’s granite automobile. It would have been more than enough for her and The Dude to share with me, but hey, how often do you get to visit Lockhart, Texas, the legislature decreed “Capital of Texas Barbecue.”
My trip to the San Antonio area was meant to be a solitary adventure, an opportunity for me to visit some of my old haunts. I would have been perfectly happy to spend time alone. Then Melinda Martinez came into my life. We met while standing in a long queue in front of Burnt Bean, a 2024 finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef – Texas” honor. We shared a table and sampled off one another’s plates, a sure sign that a friendship was developing. We had such a great time that we made plans to meet the following day at Terry Black’s BBQ in her hometown of Lockhart, Texas.
For any barbecue aficionado, visiting Lockhart is akin to a Catholic making a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain…or to Bologna, Italy if you’re a foodie. It’s something every barbecue addict needs to do at least once in their lifetime. Melinda grew up in Lockhart. Despite a lifetime of being enswathed by hazy smoke plumes emanating from a quadrumvirate of the country’s best barbecue joints, Melinda has never tired of the fragrant post oak perfumed air. Wisps of aromatic meats still call like a siren’s song. As we strolled through Lockhart after our meal, those aromas beckoned. Even as full as we were, we were tempted to eat even more. It’s a wonder Melinda doesn’t weigh six-hundred pounds.
With a population of around 15,000 Lockhart is certainly no megalopolis. In fact, if you’re pushing the 85mph speed limit permitted on much of TX-130, you might just miss it. That would be a cardinal sin. Around Lockhart, there’s no consensus as to which of its hallowed and heralded barbecue joints is the best. Each of the grizzled long-timers–Black’s Barbecue, Chisholm Trail Barbeque, Kreuz Market and Smitty’s Market–has its proponents. Each has earned accolades and honors galore. As two newcomers–Barb’s BQ and Terry Black’s BBQ–have recently shown, Lockhart has room for more barbecue–provided interlopers can smoke meat imbued with magic.
It’s hard to think of Terry Black’s BBQ as a newcomer since Mike Black is a descendent of the family that has continuously owned Black’s BBQ in Lockhart since 1932. According to Terry Black’s BBQ blog, the Black family wasn’t exactly Ward and June Cleaver’s clan. Family discord and distrust resulted in Mike Black going his own way, naming his own enterprise for his father Terry. Terry Black’s inaugural restaurant opened not in Lockhart, but in Austin, itself a hotbed of high-quality craft barbecue joints. In 2017, Texas Monthly named Terry Black’s a Top 50 BBQ joint in Texas, completely omitting the original Black’s BBQ. Five years later, Terry Black’s BBQ made a triumphant return to Lockhart.
UPDATE: In November, 2024, Terry Black’s BBQ was named a “MICHELIN Recommended Restaurant” awarded to “restaurants that meet the high standards of the Michelin Guide, embodying Texas food culture with a worldwide standard.” ‘”Recommended” restaurants may not be worthy of MICHELIN stars, but the Guide wants to give a shout out to still-solid destinations.
Though we enjoyed Burnt Bean, Melinda assured me that Terry Black’s was even better. That’s not hometown pride she stressed. I met her and her best friend Linda Vargas at noon. Watching the two of them interact reminded me of an Aristotle aphorism “Friends hold a mirror up to each other; through that mirror, they can see each other in ways that would not otherwise be accessible to them, and it is this mirroring that helps them improve themselves as persons.” My lovely companions end one another’s sentences, share a smiliar wit and warmth and generally made me feel welcome, like one of them. They’re fun and funny, two great reasons to make a return trip to Lockhart.
The Platas, Bruce and Loren, my own friends who are like brothers and I share a passion for beef ribs. Many of the beef ribs we’ve had are overly fatty and cost as much as a McLaren Artura Spider. At Terry Black’s the beef rib resembled a dinosaur bone covered by a roast. It was absolutely humongous, much more than any one gastronome should be able to eat. I did my best while also trying to pawn some off on Melinda and Linda. Frankly, we didn’t need to order anything else. The beef rib was not only delicious, it was big enough for a family of four. Tender, moist and encrusted by a salt and pepper rub, it’s a beef rib I’ll dream about for months. My two sides–cream corn and pinto beans–were worthy accompaniment, albeit too much for me to finish. Melinda and Linda have strong maternal instincts or they must think I look like I’m starving. They filled a large styrofoam container with pork ribs, beans and corn they couldn’t finish.
Since 2014, the Black family has launched locations in Austin, Waco and Lockhart. Future family projects include boutique hotels, event venues, a winery, several new restaurant concepts, and more! I hope some of them are in Lockhart, my new favorite place in Texas.
Terry Black’s BBQ
900 North Colorado Street
Lockhart, Texas
(512) 668-4617
Website | Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 16 September 2024
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$$
BEST BET: Beef Rib, Pinto Beans, Cream Corn, Big Red Soda, Pork Ribs
REVIEW #1418
Best in Lockhart, which is really saying something…I’ve been lucky enough to eat at all of the Lockhart BBQ over the years and Terry Black’s is the new champ.
Can’t wait to see what you think of 2M! Also outstanding.
On a road trip to visit a couple of very elderly relatives in Kerrville and Pearland (just South of Houston) a few years ago, I ate at two BBQ joints in Lockhart which were only a few blocks apart. Even though I was in the land of beef, I always prefer pork and they were both excellent in that regard. The only thing in Lockhart I missed was collard greens which is part of my BBQ Holy Trinity: pork, black-eyed peas, and the collard greens. Also, too many BBQ places lack cornbread. I think Powdrell’s used to make it like a pancake which minimized errant crumbs. Thank you.
So many barbecue joints in Texas serve slices of white bread with barbecue plates. I believe Terry Black’s did have cornbread, but I didn’t try it. In Texas, beef (particularly brisket) is king, but most barbecue joints serve delicious pork, too.