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If you squint and use your fertile imagination, you might think that Lockhart’s Terry Black Grill’s new pit floor is the stage set for your local community theater.
A metal structure covers the apron in front of a stage-like opening in the facade brick wall, which uses sliding steel doors instead of curtains to expose the stage behind. But instead of the mechanical ropes and pulleys typically used to lift backdrops, the space is filled with six Moberg 1,000-gallon offset steel smokers.
Audiences are arguably seated at picnic tables in the building’s front yard, enjoying produce made on stage, in this case, some of the best Central Texas-style barbecue in the state.
In the maintenance room, assistants busily check the temperature of the cuts before pulling and wrapping the brisket. The characters will soon be welcoming guests for a tour and snapping photos that will be shared with friends, family and followers on social media.
You’d think pit crews were hired not only for their sociability, but also for their ability to cook a world-class barbecue.
That’s the state of Texas barbecue today: For many barbecue joints, the entertaining factor is as important as serving the best smoked meat.
Terry Black’s BBQ
215 N. Main, Lockhart; www.terryblacksbbq.com
Lunch and dinner are served daily.
Brilliant Chocolate and BBQ
200 N. Elms, Tomball; www.tejaschocolate.com
Closed on Sunday and Monday.
Of course, this is nothing new in the culinary industry. With the rise of celebrity chefs, restaurant design has shifted to an open kitchen concept, where the chef can perform in front of his or her adoring fans as they sample delicious meals cooked right in front of their eyes.
The same goes for celebrity pit masters.Perhaps the most famous barbecue stage in the world is at Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, a lovely hodgepodge of sheds and sheds covered in various pits and smokers. This is the domain of pit manager Tootsie Tomanentz, who roams the pits every Saturday, with fans standing behind the literal ropes, taking pictures and occasionally posing with Tootsie herself.
Citywide, the barbecue entertainment factor is on full display at Lockhart, where legendary joint Newcomers like Kreuz Market, Smitty’s Market and Black’s Barbecue join the ranks of Terry Black’s, serving locals and tourists alike with ideal Texas BBQ.
Other Texas cities large and small also played an entertaining role in the barbecue.
Unfortunately, this situation is limited to the city of Houston.Due to a quirk of the regulator here Interpreting Building Codes, those towering stage-style pit houses in other cities cannot be built within the city limits. Specifically, if an offset pit is used, it must be covered with bulky and expensive exhaust hoods and fire extinguishers.
Luckily, Greater Houston is big enough that many barbecue joints are located just outside the city limits to build pit rooms that have some entertainment value.
Tomball’s Tejas Chocolate & BBQ is One of the first craft grills In the Houston area, in order to incorporate the entertainment factor into their operations, they installed their original offset smoker, which they called “Black October,” in a small shed next to their outdoor patio.
Owners/Chefs Scott and Greg Moore happily chat with guests about the peculiarities of cooking on that particular pit. In the years that followed, they added more sheds, smokers and friendly staff.
Like Terry Black’s in Lockhart, where the entertainment factor goes hand in hand with great smoked meats, a visit to Tejas’ grilling (and chocolate-making) facility in Tomball remains one of the hottest tickets in town.
jcreid@jcreidtx.com
twitter.com/jcreidtx
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