Bbq

Texas Barbecue

Lockhart and Luling

by Larry Gore

Welcome to the Capitol! The Capitol of Barbecue, that is. You are here, you might be hungry, so go ahead and find out why Lockhart is famous for its barbecue. You don’t get the designation The Barbecue Capitol of Texas without earning it. Historic homes line the entrance to the city from the West. Lockhart is close enough to Austin to be a popular place for Austinites to live and commute to work.

A small town in competition with Lockhart for serving the best barbecue. Luling is the kind of place that you expect Saturday to be, at best, a slow bustle and Sunday to be snoozeville. Not so, this little town has something that draws people from miles around – Barbecue. Luling City Market serves what is probably some of the best barbecue that you are going to find anywhere – and for that the people come. (Perhaps you remember the hit movie, Field of Briskets, with the famous line “if you barbecue it, they will come?”)

Yes, we know you probably pigged out on barbecue in Lockhart but, hey, that was a few miles back. Luling City Market has been serving barbecue here for many years. No discounts, no coupons, no advertising, no door prizes. They do such a booming business simply by offering great food, reasonable prices and enough tables to seat a couple of hundred people at any given time.

Our last visit was about 2 p.m. on a Saturday. Even though the “lunch hour” was over there was probably at least 50 people lined up to give their orders and pick up their food served on butcher paper. At Luling City Market you don’t order a sandwich, or a plate, you just tell them what kinds of meat you want and how much of each. Seating is picnic-style at long tables. If you are not with a group you’ll get the opportunity to meet new people.

Grab a bunch of paper towels (this can get messy) and a bottle of their barbecue sauce and then get serious about your food. There are other barbecue places in Luling but don’t be discouraged if Luling City Market is crowded – it may well be – but this is what you came for, this is the best.