Stubb's

AUSTIN: Stubb’s
801 Red River
Austin, TX 78701
512-480-8341
Open M-W 11-11, Thur-Sun 11-2am
www.stubbsaustin.com/

Stubb's is probably now more well known for live music and the bottled sauce at your local Kroger, and there's a reason. The ribs here are large and meaty, but they're also tough, to salty, devoid of smoke, and poorly rendered. The brisket was a little better with a decent crust that held some smoke flavor, but overall it was dry, and a bit roast-beefy.

Rating *

Rick's Smoke House Barbeque

GARLAND: Rick's Smoke House Barbeque
1417 S Jupiter Rd
Garland, TX 75042
972-276-4353
Open M-F 10:30-5, Sat 10:30-3
www.rickssmokehousebbq.com/

Rick's was a pleasant surprise along a nondescript suburban street nestled among giant faceless office buildings and storage facilities. The food was better than expected, and was the best sampled in this area of DFW. The ribs were smoked perfectly with a great crust, fat well rendered, and smoked flavor throughout the meat. The seasoning was also good, and pleasantly took second fiddle to the smoke. The brisket had a fine smoke line and good crust along with good pull-apart tenderness. The seasoning was lacking, and the crust had good smoke flavor, but bites not blessed with crust lacked that carcinogenic flavor that we craved.

Rating ***