Cross another one off the list, and an important one at that.
In my quest to dine at all of the Texas Monthly Top 50 barbecue joints, I've been procrastinating checking off Lambert's in Austin. The only reason for the delay is that it's not a pop-in joint. For example, on Wednesday night I called at 6:15 to see if I could reserve a table for three at seven. No such luck on an idle Wednesday night in June.
I was told patio tables were available, so two friends and I headed over there. When we arrived at the downtown Austin restaurant, we found there was a 30-minute wait for patio tables. Again, on a lazy Wednesday evening in early June, Lambert's was booked downstairs, upstairs and on the patio. We ended up waiting way less than 30 minutes as the hostess took us to a nicely shaded table on the patio after about a 10-minute wait.
We proceeded to enjoy fine-dining-esque barbecue to past our hearts' content.
Because my friends knew I was WacoFork blogging, they allowed me to order for the table. The waiter picked up on my intention and brought us our entire order family style. That's why the photo with this blog shows homemade jalapeño sausage, brisket and pulled pork on the same plate. The side in the upper-right corner is the freshest, tastiest fried okra that a person could hope to eat.
Before our plate of meats, fried okra and green chili cheese grits arrived, we started with crab gumbo and boudin balls. Lambert's is chiefly a dressed-up Texas barbecue joint, but it also offers a few Cajun accouterments. It's a fanstastic combination of elements and executive sous chef Reid Guess, who happens to be a friend of Cory's and mine, prepares an enticing set of specials to up the ante on that.
As for the brisket, sausage and pulled pork — and remember that I do not fancy myself a food critic — one of them jumped out at us like crazy. I loved the brisket, the pulled pork was a guilty pleasure, but the homemade jalapeño sausge lit us up. For fear of inadequately describing the unique taste, I'm going to stop short of it. One of these days maybe I will have learned to precisely describe tastes without appearing foolish. Until then, you'll have to take my word for it that you need to try this sausage. And if you want to send me your discription, I'm all for it.
But I feel more comfortable writing about big-picture when it comes to restaurants. I have a media hero, Mike Rhyner of The Ticket in Dallas-Fort Worth, who often uses the phrase "barbecue and all that implies." Lambert's does the barbecue spot on, but they blast off into the stratosphere with the "all that implies." The bar, sides and setting make a case for this being the best barbecue restaurant in the state. It definitely stands apart as a singular upscale barbecue joint on the Texas Top 50 list.
One more bite: My trip to Austin included a stop-in to visit with Brad Brown at SmashBurger in Temple. I enjoyed a Spicy Baja Burger and sweet potato SmashFries while I was there, so it was quite the day of dining for me. In case you missed it last week, SmashBurger will be here soon, maybe before August is out.
