Zeitgeist - September 30, 2025

This week, the Wall Street Journal published a 2,000-word story about a family BBQ "feud" in Lockhart, Texas. In detailing the row between two branches of the Black family, the WSJ somehow fails to even mention the town's actual century-long BBQ succession drama that involves a German family, their 1999 split, and literally carrying hot coals across town to maintain "continuity of smoke" at the new location.

Fewer than 48 hours before the Journal published their article, I was sitting at one of the picnic-style tables inside Smitty's Market on Commerce Street in Lockhart. My friend (and Panoptica parent co. Perscient's CEO) Rusty and I were with our colleagues Ben and Lockhart resident Jessica and a few "friends of the firm" from out of town (state) at the first stop of our Lockhart BBQ tour, enjoying brisket, turkey, sausage and pork ribs while Rusty explained why Smitty's had to be our launch pad on this late-September Saturday. Smitty's, Rusty explained, was the original site of Kreuz Market, and the building we were sitting in was probably the oldest commercial building in town. The Kreuz family had bought the place from its 1875 founder, a guy named Swearingen (Jesse, not Al, for you Deadwood degens!) in 1900 and they operated it as Kreuz Market until 1948, when they sold it to longtime employee Edgar A. "Smitty" Schmidt, who kept the flame burning until he retired and sold it to his sons Rick and Don in 1984. The didn't occur until 1999, when Rick moved Kreuz Market across town and made sure to bring over some hot coals from the original Post Oak pits so he could still legitimately claim to have served BBQ for a century! Meanwhile, Rick's sister Nina, who had inherited the original building, but not the business, rebranded the original location as Smitty's, after her (and Rick's) dad. You got all that?!? Naturally, both Smitty's and Kreuz Markets tout themselves as the longest-running BBQ joints in Lockhart, although, it must be pointed out, with a lot less public drama than the Blacks.

Our next stop was Terry Black's, and on the way over, Rusty and Jessica filled us in on the story that you can basically follow by reading the competing claims memorialized on the large roadside signs along the half-mile of Highway 183 that separates the two, and that you can now also read about in the Journal. I get why they chose this story to write about – the successful family business and a bitter split is a clean, familiar narrative. But to us, the whole thing sounded far less interesting and historically important than the Kreuz / Smitty’s saga, more like some manufactured drama, and a long way from the story we had come to dig into, literally - the one that involves meat (beef and pork, primarily), fat, salt and heat. And when I say literally dig into, I mean it - you are expected to use your hands to eat this BBQ, so get ready to get messy, or just get comfortable with being silently mocked. Here's what you absolutely need to know about Terry Black's, and which you won't find in the WSJ: make sure to get there early on the weekend so you can get a beef rib before they're all gone, because, holy cow, that is some tasty beef! I have always been kind of a "brisket or bust" guy when it comes to BBQ beef, but after that visit to Terry Black's, I have a new appreciation for those Flintstone style monster beef ribs.

These first two stops were all about "old school" BBQ, but we got a taste of the "new school" at our third stop, Barb'sBQ (owned and operated by Chuck, not Barb). What is new school BBQ? Well, it's a classic tale of newfangled techniques from some young gun hotshot upstarts (more variety in terms of cuts of meats; seasoning that goes beyond salt; a mix of woods instead of just Post Oak; and maybe a little more variety with the sides) that riles up the old-timers . . . probably because even they would have to admit that some of these kids can really do the 'cue. We had to send an advance scout ahead to save us a spot in line at Barb's, and even so, we had to wait half an hour to get our trays. The good news: free Lone Star beers for line-waiters. The bad news: we missed out on the beef rib by one spot in line!! The "new school" gang, including Evan LeRoy in Austin and Chuck in Lockhart, is really popular because yes, the food is awesome, but they also get written up by regional and national magazines like Texas Monthly and Bon Appetit and win awards. Chuck has an awesome story of her own - she was born Teresa Charnichart in Brownsville, Texas, which is as Mexico as you can get while still being in the U.S., and she worked front-of-house at the legendary Franklin Barbecue while a student at UT. She infuses South Texas and Mexican flavors into her BBQ with unique rubs and serves sides like green spaghetti, a Rio Grande Valley inspired dish, which was a cilantro-peppery surprise and upgrade over the standard mac and cheese pasta side option. We could taste an almost Asian - Texan fusion in the pork ribs, which were the best of the day. Also, the lamb chops. Yeah, that's new school for you, lamb chops!

We ran out of room in our digestive tracts before we could get to our scheduled final stop at Kreuz Market, where Rusty says you can get the best brisket in town. Instead, we enjoyed the remnants of our Barb'sBQ with some cold beers including the McConauhaze from Twisted X Brewing Co. in Dripping Springs on the back patio at Load Off Fanny's down the street, which doesn't have a Fanny, but does have, coincidentally, a Barb. We debated whether Matthew had formally OK'd the beer, but figured he would have been fine with it and maybe asked for a case of it as a tribute. At this point, we thought we were finished, but the last thing I remember clearly is Jessica luring us into a local music shop called Fiddler's Green, which is also, allegedly, the site of a speakeasy called The Case Room.

I try to tell my kids not to compare or rank things all the time, but I have to share that by unanimous consensus, the number one single item we had all day was the beef rib from Terry Black's. I think I dreamed about it last night.

There's a lot of construction going on in Lockhart, and really anywhere within shouting distance of the no-longer-weird, no-longer-simple university town that is now AUSTIN^TM, and all that construction has taken a toll on the local businesses. Our visits, especially the pop-in at the Fiddler's Green, mattered to their proprietors, and they were appreciated. So if you're around Austin anytime soon, go to Lockhart and taste for yourself. And if you're not, find another town or city with debates over who does "it" best, and do your own taste-test! Real America is still out there. It's always been great, and messy -- and weirder than the version that makes it to print.

Further Reading and Watching

WSJ on the Black “family feud”: https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/texas-barbecue-blacks-family-feud-790243bd

1993 Pace Picante Sauce ad, just because whenever you mention New Yorkers talking about Texas food, this is what Texans think about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S828Y7Eais

Garden and Gun on Chuck Charnichart: https://gardenandgun.com/feature/meet-the-young-texas-pitmaster-cooking-up-a-dynamic-future-for-barbecue/