Our two-person research team has expanded to four since we were able to talk longtime We actually passed one of today’s later BBQ destinations on the way to City Market, but we’ve been warned that City Market sells out early (something we’ve already experienced firsthand a la Louie Meuller) so City Market goes to the top of the list for the day. We will not be disappointed again!
Luling is a classic small oil/railroad Texas town: one main street along the tracks, half the storefronts empty and windows full of posters of local high school girls lobbying to be elected “Thump Queen 2008.” (something to do with watermelons). As we pulled into town, we could literally smell the BBQ smoke before we got out of the car (and our windows weren’t down). We interpret this as a positive omen.
The dining room at City Market looks like a community hall or a bingo hall with long picnic tables crowded with locals (we later discover this is standard in the best places). While the dining room is pretty cool, the pit room is completely outta this world. Located in the rear of the restaurant, it’s a small enclosed room of big smokers, big men and big meat (and a big sign instructing us to close the door to keep the smoke in).
Customers go into the pit room to get their meat, then come out to the dining room for sides and drinks. We’re feeling good about ourselves when our order—a half pound of ribs, a half pound of brisket and 2 sausage links—elicits a “good man, good man” to Steve from from the pit master (although that was probably because he thought the order was for Steve alone). After 10 minutes in the pit room, we had to get out the smoke was so thick.
Again, per tradition, the meal was served as big piles of meat on butcher paper. No utensils. In fact, the sign outside the pit room explained “use your fingers, no forks.” On the side were the usual suspects: pickles, sliced raw onion and jalapeno peppers.
Finally, at
It was thinly sliced and incredibly moist, with a hard peppery crust, and not as overwhelmingly smoky as we'd feared given the smokiness in the pit room. Although the ribs were pork, not beef (and our group is comprised of beef purists), they got high ratings.
But the thing that makes City Market worth a special trip is the sausage. It was by far the most amazing sausage any of us had ever had. You haven’t had real sausage until you bite into the link and a burst of flavor fills your mouth and a burst of oil pours out of the casing.
The pile of oil on the butcher paper was a sign that this was not your usual sausage. A course mash of chunky ground meat, cubed fat that had melted away, and the perfect blend of peppery and savory spices marks it as a near perfect link.
City Market didn’t just excel at its meats though. The bottled sauce on the tables was rated best on the trip. A beautiful mustardy, (strangely, a la Carolina Que) piquant BBQ sauce, but not overly spicy.
The most surprising find, though, was the potato salad. Our plan of action for this research was well established. We would get half a pound of brisket, half a pound of ribs and some sausage at every place.
We agreed we would not dilute the meat fest with sides . But fortunately for us, Arnie lobbied hard for potato salad and we gave in. It was a good decision. They completed every bite of it and ended up in a serious discussion about the merits of various styles of potato salad. This one has the perfect mustard/vinegar combination, and finishes as best potato salad of the trip.
The rating: City Market is absolutely, positively worth a special trip.
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