Sausage So Good, Texans Drive Across The State For This Legendary BBQ Joint
Smitty’s Market in Lockhart has been serving barbecue since 1924, and its legendary house-made sausage rings are worth the drive from anywhere in Texas.
Smoked over post oak in massive brick pits, the links come in regular or jalapeño and are best enjoyed market-style on butcher paper with simple sides like potato salad, beans, and Big Red.
As part of Lockhart’s “Barbecue Capital of Texas” tradition, Smitty’s remains a pilgrimage spot for anyone serious about sausage.
6. Sausage Worth The Journey
Nothing makes Texans hit the highway faster than Smitty’s famous sausage rings. Available in Regular or kick-it-up-a-notch Jalapeño, these handcrafted beauties snap when you bite them, releasing juicy flavors that’ll make your taste buds do the Texas two-step.
Cut fresh at the pit and sold by weight, they’re the crown jewels of Central Texas barbecue. Seasoned pit masters monitor every link, ensuring perfect smoky goodness in each bite.
5. Walk-Through Pit Room Experience
Imagine entering barbecue heaven through clouds of aromatic post oak smoke! At Smitty’s, you literally walk through the pit room to place your order, where massive brick pits have been smoking meats since before your grandparents were born.
The floor is slick with decades of rendered fat. Heat from the pits warms your face while the intoxicating smell of smoking meat permanently embeds itself in your clothes – the best souvenir ever!
4. No-Frills Market Style
Forget fancy plates and unnecessary utensils! Smitty’s serves barbecue the authentic Central Texas way, on sheets of butcher paper with only a plastic knife for company. Ask nicely and you’ll get saltines or white bread.
Thin, tangy hot sauce sits in squeeze bottles, ready to complement, never overpower, that smoky meat flavor. Bare-bones service keeps attention where it belongs, on seriously good barbecue.
3. Beyond Sausage Selections
Sausage may steal the spotlight, but Smitty’s supporting cast deserves standing ovations too. Brisket develops a perfect black bark that seals in juicy tenderness. Pork ribs fall off the bone with minimal encouragement.
Shoulder clod offers leaner beef for the health-conscious carnivore. Weekend warriors score bonus points with special Saturday and Sunday chicken. Everything gets the same post oak treatment, creating a smoky family of flavours in perfect harmony.
2. Schmidt Family Legacy
How many restaurants can claim almost a century of continuous barbecue heritage? After a famous family split at Kreuz Market in 1999, Nina Schmidt Sells kept the fires burning in the original building by opening Smitty’s.
Her son John Fullilove now tends the pits, maintaining traditions passed through generations. Family recipes and techniques remain largely unchanged – proof that barbecue perfection needs no modern improvements. The Schmidt name continues to define Texas barbecue excellence.
1. Authentic Barbecue Atmosphere
Forget fancy renovations and Instagram-ready decor! Smitty’s embraces well-worn character with decades-old smoke-stained walls and simple communal tables.
Ceiling fans spin lazily overhead, barely stirring the hallowed air. The dining room buzzes with meat-focused conversation and the occasional “mmm” of barbecue bliss. You might share a table with locals who’ve come weekly for decades or tourists on a first Texas barbecue pilgrimage. Everyone feels equal before great sausage.
