You’ve got to love a town where one of the best places to eat out is at the airport. Austin-Bergstrom International is the airport, and Salt Lick is the barbecue place. AUS is one of three Salt Lick barbecue restaurants in and around Austin. The other two are in Driftwood and Round Rock.
What’s to like about ‘em? Ask some celebs. Sandra Bullock’s take on the barbecue: “It’s the best, I mean the best.” Local Lance Armstrong doesn’t disagree. “The best barbecue is at this place,” he says. No less than David Letterman likes Salt Lick too. “It’s huge,” he says. “Awesome.”
The deal is, local folks think so too. It’s not just a bunch of out-of-towners bestowing their blessing on the barbecue. Our suggestion is the Brisket Plate. They tend to treat beef right down in Austin.
While you have to head a bit out of town to eat at any of Salt Lick’s three locations, you can get some really fancy fare downtown. Located in the historic Schneider Building Lamberts Downtown Barbeque is a nice counterpoint to Salt Lick. Salt Lick is unabashedly authentic. Just great, basic barbecue. Lambert’s is admittedly “fancy.” Start out with spicy deviled eggs. They’re made with smoked paprika, American caviar, cornichons, olives and caperberries. Something lighter? Perhaps the hydroponic Bibb lettuce & avocado.
Time for the main course, and here’s where Lambert’s shines. Order up a mess of country style pork ribs. The rub is the real deal: fennel and coriander rub with a maple glaze. It comes with apple and roasted fennel slaw. That’s from the oak smoked menu. So is this: half a local chicken (note the emphasis on local). The rub reigns here too: achiote and lime is the essence. This dish comes with charred red onion cilantro and salsa verde. It’s sort of an oak-smoked homage to Tex-Mex, a perfect melding of two Austin cuisines.
(Image: pagodabob)
