The city of Austin's clothing smelled like delicious, delicious barbecue all the live long day on Sunday. The Second Annual Texas Monthly BBQ Festival was stinking up that town something awesome. And if you weren't there to sample brisket, ribs and sausage from over 20 different Texas barbecue joints, you must've been somewhere else bawling your freaking eyes out.
Franklin BBQ shocked exactly nobody and took home the people's choice award for best brisket, Stanley's Famous BBQ won for pork ribs and Louie Mueller Barbecue won best beef ribs and best sausage.
Daniel Vaughn, AKA BBQ Snob, wrote on his awesome barbecue blog that the festival "was bigger and better this year with more attendees and an overall better experience." But, that's not what I heard the barbecue hipster attendees saying.
Barbecue Hipster 1: "Ugh. This line is, like, so much longer than it was last year. I'm tweeting a haiku of that."
Barbecue Hipster 2: "I was at Snow's back when it was still called Sleet's."
Barbecue Hipster 3: (gasp) "Did she just dip that brisket in sauce?" (sigh) (pause) (sigh) (louder sigh)
The festival was great. The weather was perfect, it was all-you-can-stand-to-sample barbecue from some of the best joints in Texas (note that beverages aren't included in your ticket price, so be sure to bring cash for boozes) and everyone there was excited to get completely barbecue-hammered. (One question: Where were Dallas' Lockhart Smokehouse and Pecan Lodge? Barbecue Hipster 4: "Well, they weren't on Texas Monthly's list of best barbecue joints in Texas, sooooo...")
If you can get yourself tickets to the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival next year, definitely do so. And if I see you there, I'll be sure to talk at you about how I was there back in 2011, when this shit was even better.
