Barbecue in Texas is almost as important as church on Sunday. Drive through any given town in Texas and you are guaranteed to find three things: a Baptist Church, a high school football stadium that rivals many college stadiums, and a barbecue restaurant. Barbecued ribs, hot links, and pulled pork might be on the menu, but the star of Texas barbecue is beef brisket. Coated with a dry rub of brown sugar and other spices, Texas brisket is smoked for hours at a low temperature with mesquite wood or pecan. The result is a smoky tender and delicious meal to rival any fancy steak house.
On our recent journey to Bastrop, Texas for a hiking adventure in Buescher State Park, Chris and I stopped at the Up In Smoke barbecue restaurant in Abbott, Texas. This establishment along Interstate 35 is well advertised on billboards along the highway so it piqued our curiosity – could such a broadly publicized barbecue restaurant be any good?
Up In Smoke is like many barbecue restaurants in Texas – serving meats from a carving station with sides served cafeteria style as you work your way down the line to the cash register. You can choose between several meats including hot links, pulled pork, turkey, ribs, and brisket (of course) on a single or multiple meat plate. Each dish also includes 2 sides and a slice of bread (why not Texas Toast?). Another unusual menu item is the Texas Trash – Frito pie with a twist*. Instead of traditional chili on top of Fritos, Up in Smoke serves Texas Trash as corn chips covered in brisket, beans, sour cream and cheese.
For today’s lunch I tried a barbecue hot link and some brisket with green beans and fried okra. The brisket at Up in Smoke was of good quality and tender. Unfortunately, the brisket was dry and somewhat overcooked. Another element that was missing was the smoky flavor, smoke ring, and bark you would get from long slow preparation over a wood fire. Perhaps the brisket was prepared in an oven – not quite up to the namesake of the restaurant. The sausage was flavorful and well seasoned with a hint of spice without too much bite. This was my favorite part of the meal.
Chris ate the Texas Trash. Intriguing in it’s name, Chris could not pass up the opportunity to sample all of the different flavors and textures included in the dish – crunchy corn chips, savory brisket, creamy pinto beans, and smooth sour cream. The combination, while unusual, was very delicious. The counterpoint between crunchy and smooth, creamy and savory, salty and sweet made for a fantastic lunch. If you stop at Up In Smoke, this is the dish to try.
The sides at Up In Smoke were dutiful – they accompanied the meal but were not inspirational. Fried okra was crispy, but lacked seasoning. The green beans were ok, but nothing dazzling. The barbecue sauce was nondescript.
Overall Up In Smoke was a decent place to stop for a meal along the highway. Not fantastic, but not bad either. If you are looking for quick, accessible barbecue then give Up In Smoke a try. If you are after legendary Texas “cue” there might be other places worth considering in your Texas journey. Robert and Chris give Up In Smoke 3 sausage links out of 5.
*For Non-Texans, Frito pie is Fritos corn chips covered in Chili and topped with cheese.
