Lockhart, Texas BBQ Showdown: Kreuz vs. Smitty's vs. Black's vs. Chisholm Trail

I grew up in North Texas eating BBQ all my life. For a long time I've wanted to head south to Lockhart for a BBQ showdown between their four BBQ palaces that are considered to be the best in the state. So in March I finally freed up a weekend and headed down with a friend for an eating experience I'll never forget. We drove 25 miles southeast of Austin to the little town called Lockhart, the self-proclaimed, "BBQ Capital of Texas." As soon as we got there we started taking on their famous BBQ establishments one-by-one: Kreuz Market, Smitty's Market, Chisholm Trail Bar B Q, and Black's Barbecue.

  
We arrived at Kreuz Market (619 N. Colorado Street - www.kreuzmarket.com) right before they opened. There was already a line out front. I had actually been here before so I knew what to expect. The last meal I had here was absolutely amazing. We walked through the fairly new, large dining hall into the pit room. The smokey smell of meat here is like no other - it had me drooling. I loaded up on 1/4lb beef brisket and a jalepeno cheese sausage. Everything was served on butcher paper. Once I had my meats I went into the next room for some side dishes. (The German potatoes are a MUST.)

Kreuz does not have forks, and does not have BBQ sauce. Once you start eating this stuff sauce won't even cross your mind. The brisket flavor is perfect and sauce would actually take away from the taste. The sausage was my favorite of all the places in Lockhart, so make sure you get some if you stop here.

After a short break we went to Smitty's Market (208 South Commerce Street - www.smittysmarket.com) for a late lunch. There was a long line to get into the building. Most of the people in line seemed to be first-time tourists, not locals. The building Smitty's is in is a historic building with lots of character near the Lockhart town square. I had really high expectations ever since watching Smitty's and Kreuz go head-to-head on Travel Channel's Foodwars.

I got a 1/4lb beef brisket and a sausage. Just like Kreuz, Smitty's does not have forks or BBQ sauce. In this case sauce would have helped because the meat was dry and the flavor was not very good. The sausage fell apart and had a very dry texture. I was really disappointed in this meal. I will definitely pass on Smitty's on my next trip to Lockhart.  

After Smitty's we checked into the hotel for a break before dinner. (Side note: If you go to Smitty's or Kreuz be prepared to smell like BBQ smoke from the pit room. People will know you've been to one of those places after you've eaten there!)

We were planning on eating at Black's for dinner and calling it a trip, but a local said that Chisholm Trail Bar B Q (1323 South Colorado Street - www.chisholmtrailbbq.com) had all the other Lockhart legends beat so we added it to our list. Even if it wasn't as well known at least we could say we went to all four places in Lockhart.

Chisholm has been around since 1978, and it holds its own against the other places. It seemed like it was mostly locals eating there. The decor is fairly run down, and it has a simple cafeteria style line without the fanfare and show of a pitroom.

I stuck with the same winning combo of 1/4lb beef brisket and sausage. There was sauce available that I tried, but I did not care for the taste of it. Overall the food was good, actually very good, but not amazing. That being said it was still better than most BBQ I've had in my life.

After a good night's sleep we hit up Black's Barbecue (215 North Main Street - www.blacksbbq.com). Black's is the oldest BBQ place in Texas still owned by the same family, since 1932. At this point we were sick of BBQ so our hopes weren't very high, but then something magical happened - we ate the first bite.

It was the best brisket I've ever had. It was the saltiest and fattiest of all the Lockhart places we had been. I cleaned the plate and was hungry for more. That's how good it was. There was sauce available, but I did not try it. I did not even think of trying it. I was, "keeping it real" without sauce as the locals would say. At the end of the journey I knew that if I could only stop at one place in Lockhart for BBQ, it would be Black's hands down.

So here's a more complete breakdown of what I thought:

Overall

1. Black’s - 9.5
2. Kreuz - 9.0
3. Chisholm - 6.5
4. Smitty’s - 4.5

Beef Brisket

1. Black’s - salty, juicy, tender. - 9.5
2. Kreuz - close second. great flavor. very juicy. - 9.0
3. Chisholm - good, but not amazing. - 6.5
4. Smitty’s - dry, bad flavor. - 4.5

Sausage

1. Kreuz - juicy, flavorful, amazing. - 9.5
2. Chisholm - good, but not great. - 5.5
3. Black’s - close to Chilsoms. good, not great. - 5.0
4. Smitty’s - tough, bad texture, very average flavor. - 4.5

Sides

1. Black’s - amazing, everything complemented the food perfectly. - 9.0
2. Kreuz - very close second. German potatoes were great. - 8.9
3. Chisholm - very good. close third. - 8.5
4. Smitty’s - very average - 5.0

Bang for the buck

1. Chisholm - very reasonable - 9.0
2. Smitty’s - tie - 6.0
3. Kreuz - tie - 6.0
4. Black’s - bit overpriced - 4.5

Atmosphere

1. Smitty’s - historic building with lots of character. - 9.0
2. Black’s - old building with a cozy feel. - 8.0
3. Kreuz - new and clean. - 6.5
4. Chisholm - a bit rundown - 4.5

Axiom 23: The Inner Hole We All Face

"Illusion is needed to disguise the emptiness within." -Arthur Erickson

When asked what surprised him most about humanity, The Dalai Lama said:

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Someone told me once, "Everyone has a hobby that they're willing to spend more money on than the average person". It made me think of all of the times that I thought someone else's hobby was a waste of time and money. Then I got to thinking about all the things I had spent my time and money on. Would most people consider my hobbies a waste of time and money also?

Maybe so, or maybe not. The more important consideration is why we pursue the things we pursue. It all goes back to that deep feeling of incompleteness. Something that has been described before as an inner-hole we all have. We all find different ways to fill that inner-hole, some productive and some destructive. Hard work, church, golf, alcohol, drugs, video games... how do you fill your inner hole? Where does your free time and money flow to?

Use the inner-hole you have to propel you forward in life. Use that feeling of incompleteness to learn a useful skill, start a business, or donate your time to a worthy cause. Afterwards you will feel more complete than if you pacify your inner-hole with empty purchases, alcohol, and passive entertainment. The inner-hole is the force behind your motivation. To be successful is to understand and manage this force. Without taking control of your inner-desires you will never gain the momentum to accomplish great things.

How to Hire Good People Fast

I've been doing the hiring where I work for a over a year now. What I've learned over the course of this time is that I'm not a big fan of calling a lot of people and scheduling multiple interviews. I don't believe the interview process needs to drag on for weeks or months to find the perfect person. 

There are a lot of articles on how to apply for jobs and write résumés but not many on how to review résumés and hire people. If you're a hiring manager take note of these tips below to help you save time in the hiring process. If you are a job hunter take note on what not to do.

Sidenote: If you're willing to pay $49 AppSumo also has an amazing automatic hiring strategy here.

First, start with an anonymous online job posting. The posting should be thorough and clearly explain the duties of the job. It should list the good benefits as well as the bad. You don't want to misrepresent the job only to have a new hire quit because you were afraid of pointing out the bad parts of the job up front. 

Next, somewhere in the job posting put a trap to see how well the potential applicants can follow instructions. An example is something like, "Please respond by email and attached both your résumé and your desired salary. We will not consider any applicants that do not submit both of these". Sounds easy enough but you'd be surprised how many people will not be able to complete this simple task. My thought is that if they can't complete a simple task before you hire them they won't be able to complete a simple task after you hire them either. Also, by asking them to submit their desired salary up front it helps you eliminate people whose monetary expectations are too far out of line with that of your company.

Next you'll have to go through the résumés and eliminate the bad ones not only by actual résumé content but also by the way it is presented. Let me also state clearly that it is definitely not cool, and it is illegal, to discriminate against someone because of their race, age, sex, sexuality, religion, health, or disability. You should look to disqualify people instead based on erratic behavior, unprofessionalism, inability to follow orders, and sloppy workmanship. 

Below is a list of things I have seen before in real life that would lead me to question a person's candidacy for a job:

• Scanning their résumé in sideways.
• Ending their sentences with no punctuation
• Not capitalizing 'i'. (i really need a job. i hope to hear from you soon.)
• Living over an hour drive away from the job they are applying for.
• Just writing a couple lines that they are interested in the position and for me to give them a call, but not including a résumé of any kind.
• Just including a résumé in a blank email.
• Typing in all pink.
• TYPING REALLY BIG.
• Ending multiple sentences with two periods..
• Having an email address like JaMiEsTePhEnS@aol.com or torturedsoul983@hotmail.com 
• Weird salutations, "Dear Gentlest Sir or Ma'am", "Many Blessings Be With You,".
• Having not worked in 3 years.
• Having worked 5 jobs this year.
• Having just started a new job two months ago.
• Having a 5 page resume.
• Typing everything in an Egyptian font style.
• Having a resume that goes onto a second page by only one line.
• Using profanity. 
• The name of the person that emailed the résumé is different than the person applying. (It conveys that a spouse or family member is job hunting for someone lazy)

The red flags listed above should really eliminate 90% of the applicants leaving just a handful that you can more closely review. My feeling is that when a person is applying for a job they should be on top of their game. If they have multiple errors and are unprofessional right from the beginning just think about how bad they'll be after they work for you for a few months. Focusing on a good hiring process that weeds out bad candidates quickly will help you find stable, sane, professional people for long-term employment.