I stopped by on my way home Saturday afternoon at 3pm. First time visitor and didn't know what to expect. The place was packed and it took 20 minutes to get my take home. I bought 2lbs brisket and one link of sausage. $32 total
Anyway I left it in the packaging they provided and put it in a cooler. We got it out and ate when we got home around 6:30. The brisket was tough\dry and almost like they didn't cook it long enough! So after purposely going thru Lockhart to pick up what was supposed to be top 10 bbq in Texas I ended up with subpar bbq that I could have beaten with some deli bbq from nearly any grocery store.

I like bragging on good places to eat so it is only fair to bash one that was way overrate in my opinion. Maybe they were way busy that day and didn't have enough brisket prepared? I will admit the sausage was great but only got enough to sample.

You need to eat it there. Otherwise, I would expect that from my last visit.

surprised you got brisket that late in the day on a weekend... they usually run out of brisket and only have shoulder clod, which sounds like your description of tough & dry. Kreuz or Black's would have been my choices in Lockhart

I stopped in there a couple weeks back. First timer and it was a Monday so kreuz or smitty's because blacks was closed. Brisket was not well cut from the point end. Not much flavor. I also got a sausage ring which was good - I prefer coarse ground texture like it was. really seemed like the people in the pit area didn't care - they were talking amongst themselves. Don't plan on going back. I'll try blacks or kreuz next time.

On the return trip I stopped at kreuz in bryan. Again at lunch time. Brisket was great. Bark, tender brisket. Sausage had more flavor in comparison to smittys but was a little finer grind. I'll stop there again.

Why do people think Lockhart is the best place for bbq, same beef is cooked all over the state. There's many places in west Texas that have good bbq.

Lockhart just has a lot of "famous" BBQ joints and a lot of people travel thru there heading to/from the coast ... none are in my top 5 ... Kreuz and Black's brisket are maybe top 20 for me, their sausage might bring them back to top 10. 3 places that were in my top 10 are no longer in business mainly due to location and not enough traffic to survive ... Post Mountain BBQ Burnet (closed Fall 2015), Purple Pig BBQ Kingsland (closed Spring 2015) and Big H Georgetown (closed mid 1990s) and I've been searching for replacements but not finding their quality of brisket.

Where in West Texas are you referring bp3?

Took a trip to SA with my wife in March and hit City Market in Luling on the way there - and Smitty's on the way home.

City Market was a disappointment. Brisket from the point tasted like roast beef - dry and not very tender. Ribs were fantastic. Sausage just average.

Smitty's was a bit better but still disappointing. Brisket was fair, ribs were fair, sausage was better than City Market but still what I would call average.

I have been to Black's before and they are worth the trip in my opinion. Brisket was excellent, ribs were very good, and their sausage was very good - I especially liked the shiner bock sausage.

I still plan to try Kreuz - but so far, Black's is the best in town for me.

Blacks has my vote too....

Kreuz for the win in Lockhart. Eaten it all my life. Consistently good although seems to me it was a bit better in the old bldg or maybe it was just the ambiance of that old building.....