A full moon was just beginning its rise in the east as the sun dipped in the west when I turned on FM 183 south of Austin. I was in pursuit of the fabled open pit smoke house called Salt Lick and my directions included, “Open your window and sniff”.

The winds were carrying the aroma of carnivorous delights bathed in smoldering Live Oak wood smoke so I knew I was getting close. As the road dipped around a corner the encroaching dusk gave way to an amazing site. It looked like the landing site from ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ but was actually thousands of lights strung up in the trees around the Salt Lick Barbeque. The property was surrounded by low scrubs growing out of the fencing and other than a hand painted sign and the enveloping cloud of smoke, you might mistake this for a good old-fashioned Southern Baptist revival meeting.

Make no mistake, people in Texas take their meat seriously, almost religiously. It is a place where your very manhood is questioned if you make the mistake of telling someone you are a vegetarian. It is like telling someone you are an Atheist at Christmas dinner with the local Pastor present. A hush falls on the room and sooner or later a soothing woman’s voice says, “Oh Honey you don’t believe that…” while the rest of the room looks on with a mixture of sadness and disdain.

If meat is a religion then the Salt Lick is a temple. The gravel parking lot was full with around 300 vehicles bearing every mode of conveyance and the flow into the lot was being monitored by a Sheriff’s Deputy. I found a spot and followed the long line into the main building. As the rustic screen door creaked open a plume of smoke wafted out, I had arrived.

Inside the sound of happy eaters was overwhelming. There were hundreds of people in this rustic old farm and on my right was the warm smoldering pit. A ring of three foot height stone walls around ten feet in diameter was covered with all manner of meat, Hanging Sausage, brisket, chicken and turkey breast slowly simmering in the smoke of the open flame below.

The location is so far from anything it makes you wonder how they would even get staff let alone customers but the wafting scent carried in the breeze is all the marketing needed. The surrounding farms must be raising “cute girls” because there were dozens of healthy looking young women sporting jeans and Salt Lick T-shirts emblazoned with “You Can Smell Our Pits For Miles” and other catchy slogans.

They scurry about with trays full of platters and are quick with a, “How ya’ll doooin’?” and, “Why Thaaank yuuuu” of the authentic central Texas twang and thousand watt smiles.

I think the word Authentic is very appropriate for this place. There are a lot of chain restaurants like Joe’s Crab Shack or Chilli’s that do the Faux Rustic look with a corporately created and easily replicated look. Places like that are as authentic as a “rebel” in an ‘Ed Hardy’ Shirt. The Salt Lick has Real Rustic done in an entirely organic way, it does not look like someone from branding decided where to hang this or that but instead has that feeling of a place that has been in the same place for a long time.

The field stone walls of the pit are the same ones founder Thurman Robert put in back in 1967 and have been in near continuous use since. Thurman’s son Scott Robert now operates the Salt Lick and has expanded to a second location but when looking for the authentic you have to go to the root.

Today the big contained smokers out back are where the meat starts. Staff fills them with all manner of brisket, sausage and other things the day before they are ready to be served. Before the lines of people get to it each bit is finished on the open flame pit.

Sometimes when a place like this gets popular it begins to loose the quality or the charm as the owners struggle to keep up with demand, but outside on one of the many tree shrouded decks, as a lone guitarist played country music I talked to quite a few regulars who have been coming here for years. Each of them said the quality and consistency of the Lick is still there. One man who was clad in head to toe hunting camouflage and a Winchester baseball hat confirmed that he comes every year when he and his friends come down to hunt. Sometimes they will leave their hunting blinds early just to come back to the Lick before the crowd gets too big.

Inside the platters come heaped with Brisket, sausage and potato salad, they serve it naked or with sauce of your choice. The meat is so tender and juicy it falls apart like thick crepe paper, there is no need for a knife. The dry rub is peppery sweet and is complemented by a citrusy spicy sauce.

Napkins are a must as the heat from the smoker keeps you warm and the air is full of that sweet smelling oak as you slowly tenderize a little bit. The Salt Lick has become a destination for tourists including David Letterman who even spoke about the place in his monologue after he and band leader Paul Shaffer had come by. If you look there are framed articles from Texas Monthly and dozens of other magazines all over the building, many written in German or other languages as the word has spread globally.

In Texas, finding good barbeque is like stubbing your toe in a darkened room full of coffee tables, good is everywhere. Exceptional is another thing, this was a 500-mile pilgrimage from Dallas and back but like many religious experiences it is one that must be done.

The Salt Lick
PO Box 311
Driftwood, TX
512-858-4959