The constellation Orion was nonetheless twinkling within the sky after I plunked down a folding chair to assert a spot in line at Snow’s BBQ, in Lexington, about an hour’s drive east of Austin. The joint’s fame has grown partially as a result of Snow’s has gained excessive marks in Texas Month-to-month‘s previous 4 Top 50 barbecue lists. In 2008, the barbecue world was shocked by the primary rating of this beforehand unknown institution.
That was shortly adopted by a New Yorker feature from legendary author Calvin Trillin, however the star energy of beloved pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz surpassed something within the sky after her episode of the Chef’s Table: BBQ collection aired on Netflix, in 2020. Hordes of recent followers arrived to fill their bellies and meet the queen of Texas barbecue, who’s nonetheless tending pits earlier than daybreak at age 89. They’ve created a spillover impact, and two different barbecue joints have opened on this city of simply 1,300 to feed smoked meats to locals and vacationers alike who balk on the lengthy line at Snow’s. I used to be on the town to see how Lexington’s barbecue panorama had reworked, and I used to be stunned to see how nationwide politics performed a task in that transformation.
I turned on my automotive’s brights to navigate the hills and curves of Farm-to-Market Highway 696 within the early morning. As I pulled onto Predominant Road, it appeared eerily quiet, and I questioned if I had managed to sneak up on an unusually calm Saturday. (Snow’s is just open on Saturdays, beginning at 8 a.m. and normally working out of brisket by about 1 p.m.) I parked and walked previous the restaurant constructing to see the dimly lit lot subsequent door lined with dozens of groggy patrons sipping espresso, and even just a few mimosas. At 5:30 a.m., I used to be seventy-eighth in line.
“After I get right here at one or one-thirty, there’s at all times folks in line,” proprietor Kerry Bexley informed me, so these on the entrance of the road had beat me by greater than 4 hours. Bexley palms out numbered tickets or has folks depend off so he can name out numbers for the free raffle. Prizes embrace reductions, barbecue sauce, Snow’s attire, and—probably the most coveted—a leap to the entrance of the road.
Chilly Lone Star beer and a number of other cocktails can be found without cost on the bar, with good ideas anticipated. That’s new since Netflix got here to city, as is the facet constructing with clear restrooms and a merch retailer. There’s additionally a brand new metal constructing behind the property that homes coolers, freezers, and all of the orders of smoked meat Snow’s ships throughout the nation.
For all the extra infrastructure, the expertise of ordering and consuming at Snow’s stays the identical. Bexley and his crew nonetheless slice and weigh every part to order. Patrons take their trays to outside picnic tables that overlook the offset people who smoke manned by pitmaster Clay Cowgill and the metal pits labored by Tomanetz.
The smoked brisket now prices $32 per pound, and the wait is longer than ever, however the payoff of some slices from the fatty finish remains to be price it. I acquired my tray simply after 9 a.m. A chew from the tender pork ribs was a reminder of the traditional Texas savory flavor. And there’s nonetheless no higher pork steak within the state.
Needing to save lots of room to eat at two extra spots, I packed up my leftovers, stated goodbye to the good household from Houston I’d met just a few hours earlier, and headed one block south. That’s the place Elijah and Jacqueline Wright have parked their Pop’s Lickin & Smackin Bar-B-Que truck since 2021. It started functioning as a cellular pit room after the couple constructed a small restaurant constructing subsequent to it, which opened this Could. Pop’s begins serving on Fridays and Sundays at 11 a.m., however on Saturdays, it will get began an hour early to draw those that might need come to city for Snow’s or the livestock public sale down the block. Elijah stated he sees extra new faces on Saturdays, the joint’s busiest day by far.
After I was ordering, the small entrance foyer was stuffed with locals keen to speak as we waited for our orders. They have been there for the brisket sandwich or the specialty baked potato, full of chopped brisket, pulled pork, or smoked sausage. “That’s the primary vendor,” Elijah stated. He and Jacqueline, who collectively make up the complete workers, serve not less than forty diners a day. The menu includes a photograph of Elijah holding a big panful of Senior Stomach Buster potatoes, however they require preordering. The joint is takeout-only, so after ready about twenty minutes for my order, I retired to my automotive with a three-meat platter of juicy smoked sausage, tender and well-seasoned spareribs, and spectacular slices of fatty brisket.
I requested Elijah why he felt assured serving barbecue simply down the road from a celebrated place like Snow’s. “I’ve my very own type, in order that’s why they arrive,” he stated of the native crowd. He attributes the standard of his barbecue to the eye he offers to his hearth. “I’m not a type of to go and take a nap and depart it cooking,” he stated. Elijah additionally credit his spouse’s cooking expertise. “She will just do what I do,” he stated, in order that they share all of the duties within the kitchen, together with frying the fish for the Sunday particular.
My third cease of the day was the Gardner Barbecue meals trailer, out on U.S. 77, throughout from Lexington Excessive Faculty. The enterprise, open on Fridays and Saturdays beginning at 10:30 a.m., is operated by one other native wife-and-husband crew, Lakin and Devon Gardner. Devon was laid off from his job as a land surveyor in close by Rockdale in 2020, and shortly after, he organized a barbecue pop-up in a gasoline station car parking zone. He offered out in 45 minutes and made plans for the trailer, which opened in 2022.
Lakin took my order on the window because the Gardners’ third son, simply two weeks outdated, stored them firm within the trailer. A number of diners waited round on the coated picnic tables, however I used to be the one one consuming there. Thirty minutes after I positioned my order, the couple introduced out two trays of barbecue. The peppery spareribs glistened with barbecue sauce. They have been tender, not like the undercooked pork stomach burnt ends. A black bark on the brisket had a pleasing crunch to it, and Lakin’s batch of gouda mac and cheese was wealthy. Devon makes the sausage, which is an easy, German-style beef-and-garlic hyperlink. He stated the locals don’t purchase the jalapeño-cheese selection he has served up to now.
I requested Devon if he had sampled the opposite two Lexington barbecue joints. He stated he had been to Snow’s just a few occasions and appreciated it. “Kerry over there at Snow’s, he’s worldwide,” Devon stated, including, “One factor he can’t get is the locals, as a result of they don’t wish to stand in line.” He stated that’s one motive he thinks Gardner Barbecue has been profitable.
Devon didn’t have an opinion on Pop’s, or on whether or not or not it competes for patrons. “I don’t get into the politics facet of the barbecue group,” he stated—however he didn’t thoughts displaying his views on nationwide and state politics at his trailer. An indication supporting the reelection of Senator Ted Cruz was posted on the entrance, and a big Trump-Vance flag waved from the screened-in smoker trailer. I requested if these have been displayed to draw the purchasers Devon prefers and dissuade others. “Everyone seems to be welcome,” he stated. “We’re not afraid to assist who we like,” he continued, however stated he understood that “it’s a little dangerous doing that, since you would possibly run into somebody which may see that and drive away.”
It’s unusual in my travels to see candidate flags hanging at barbecue joints. Most homeowners heed the recommendation of Kerry Bexley. “You can’t voice political feedback in any type or trend in enterprise. You simply can’t do it,” he informed me. I hadn’t deliberate to delve this deep into the topic till I noticed a put up on X from Devon Gardner, who’s a white man, utilizing the N-word just lately. From his @DevonRGardner account, he was comfy utilizing it, with an -a ending, not less than fifteen occasions to this point this 12 months. Some, however not all, of the posts have been deleted since I requested him about his use of racist language. One deleted put up learn, “Completely satisfied black historical past month, n—a,” to a person who describes himself as “3% black” in his X bio and in addition routinely makes use of the N-word with an -a ending in his X posts. One other from Gardner, posted in 2014, reads, “Should you sit at dwelling and accumulate a examine then you might be outlined as a n—r. Doesn’t matter when you’re white or black.”
“It’s a factor on X. It’s nothing racial or discriminatory,” Devon informed me after I requested him why he was comfy utilizing such language on an account together with his identify and photograph clearly displayed. “That is the primary time I’ve ever heard it the place it’s an issue, however . . . I acquired Black mates and Black members of the family, and I don’t name them the N-word or something like that, as a result of I’m not a racist individual.” He added, “I can see the way it comes off when you see it on X, however like I stated, no, there’s not a racist bone in my physique. We’ve acquired loads of Black prospects. . . . I’ve by no means refused the proper to service to anyone. That’s not who I’m, and that’s not what I do. . . . And if I used to be gonna be the type of individual to do this, then I’ve no proper being in enterprise.”
I started researching this story hoping to share a enjoyable Saturday itinerary in a small-but-mighty barbecue city in Texas. After studying the racist language utilized by Gardner, I can’t think about returning to his enterprise or recommending it.
There’s room for political discourse within the barbecue group, and I’ve witnessed loads. Like many others, although, I might quite give attention to meals and mates. In Lexington, there are two such barbecue joints, Pop’s and Snow’s, the place you are able to do simply that each Saturday morning.