It's been a year or so since we hit the original Blacks in Lockhart, but it sure as hell wasn't dog meat. It was damned fine cue.
Honestly, for those of us old enough to remember....we are spoiled, living in a golden age of great BBQ. Seriously, what some of the snob crowd is calling "dog meat" is the same as it was 20 years ago, which was and is really good stuff.
The "argument" is about whether you're getting an 8-9 quality, or a 10, maybe. I'm serious, put a perfect slice of brisket from Black's next to one from Barbs, Franklin, Terry Blacks, Leroy and Lewis.....only someone with deep experience with all of them could tell you the difference. Every one of them would be a) glorious, and b) better than 98% of the barbecue that was around even 10-20 years ago. There are probably 20 individual locations within an hour of Austin today that serve a slice of brisket that would be life-changing for anyone who doesn't eat great Texas bbq with any regularity. Instead of shitting on some of them, and boosting the 4-5 that are getting all the buzz today, how about we sit back and marvel at the wealth of options we have? FFS, tonight, I can swing by the Black's location on Gaudalupe and bring home a pound of brisket that will be light years better than ANY cue I could have gotten in the city limits 20 years ago. And that's just the place that's on my way home.