Texas Barbecue

This place out on the Loop road in my Mom's East Texas town has been selling barbecue since 1959. Mom and Dad moved down here in 1989, and this became their favorite barbecue joint.

I never really knew its name before, because my mom and dad always called it "The Good Ole Boy's." Back when my dad was alive, each time we visited, he'd take [The Man I Love] or Our Son with him to go pick up a pound or so of sliced beef. Since making a run for barbecue wasn't an errand for girls, I was never really sure where the place was.

On this trip, I had a craving for barbecue. Mom had to tell me where the Good Ole Boys had moved to, after a shopping mall development displaced them. And of course, she couldn't remember what their real name was - for her, too, they were just the Good Ole Boys.

It's a small town, so I didn't have too much trouble finding them. The place earns brownie points for authenticity because they have a cow on the roof.

In Texas, barbecue means beef, not pork. Mom told me what she wanted me to get. I picked up some barbecued beef brisket by the pound, a couple of sides of beans and cole slaw, and some extra sauce on the side. They had some tasty looking peach and berry cobbler, but we already had some dessert at home. Mom and I had a nice dinner. The beef was good, tender, but with the real taste of smoke. The sauce was nice and tangy. The beans were made with small navy beans, and tasted like the barbecue sauce - as it should be. The cole slaw was a little, bland - but who goes to a barbecue joint for the cole slaw?

The following day Mom and I had a good lunch with barbecue beef sandwiches. She has a good appetite, when the eating is good.