So, shout out to a legacy joint, legendary to many of us of a certain age: Bert’s BBQ. Have family in town for my father’s memorial. Yesterday was just a family day together, and I figured I’d serve brisket and such for all of us to have a nice dinner and visit. But had too much going on to smoke one myself. Recalled that Bert’s will smoke it for you for $1 a pound. Wife dropped it off on Thursday (and the experience cracked her up - she walked in at 2:00, and two tables of old men stopped talking and just watched her walk in all the way to the counter - it’s such a dude place). Went to pick it up yesterday with the boy….walk in the door, and traveled back in time. The smell was incredible. All the game animals on the wall, all the UT gear and memorabilia, just magical. The boy really took it all in. Two of his best friends from school (two English girls from Surrey and Manchester) are dead-set on a Texas visit this summer. He looked around and grinned and said “I DEFINITELY taking them to lunch here.” The brisket itself: It was pretty damned good. Was it on par with any of the new super-high-end places, like interstellar or Franklin? No. But was it really, really good? Fuck yes it was. A solid B+ at worst. And let’s be clear, if you aren’t an experienced bbq snob, it would be one of the best bites of food you ever had. Man. I lived a coupla blocks from the MLK Bert’s back in the day. I even took dates there.