This will be my only review of Terry Black’s BBQ. Perks of being a subscriber!

I just spent a long weekend in Austin, Texas. I’ve been twice before and have been to Terry Black’s—I think that was my first true BBQ experience back in November 2019. It was actually the first trip Marissa and I took together. And considering we’d never had authentic BBQ before, we didn’t think it’d be weird to order four (4) beef ribs. Thankfully the guy slicing the meat encouraged us take a look at a single beef rib (read: dinosaur bone) before committing to four of them. Nonetheless, it was an epic first BBQ experience. I’ve had my fair share of southern BBQ since, but nothing has topped this.

This time around I was in a group of 12, many of whom are picky eaters. So I was not in charge of arranging our meals, much to my chagrin. But I was promised BBQ would happen, and I was committed to making that happen despite the unfortunately itinerary changes. While the northeast got blanketed with snow and continued running like nothing happened, Austin dealt with an ice storm that brought the city to its knees. And by ice storm I mean half an inch of snow/ice. When I tell you the entire city shut down, I am not exaggerating. Saturday afternoon through Sunday, nearly every business was closed because Austin is not equipped to salt or pave roads—I wish I was joking.

Terry Black’s was one of the handful of restaurants open for business on Sunday, and they were the only BBQ restaurant open. We’d gone to the Michelin star’d Leroy and Lewis the night before, but BBQ late in the day is a fool’s errand—the selection is limited at best. No brisket, no ribs, no beef cheek, no turkey. I will say the tri-tip, the burger, the sausage, the Frito pie, and mostly everything we did have were awesome, but we didn’t get the full BBQ experience. Thank god for Terry Black’s.

With virtually nothing else to do, a smaller group of us ventured over to Terry Black’s around noon. If you’ve ever been to Terry Black’s, waiting on a long line is part of the experience. There was no line. The place was empty. We didn’t feel rushed whatsoever. We had the full menu to choose from. We could sit wherever we wanted. Again, thank god for Terry Black’s. I’ll never have this experience again, a silver lining amidst the chaos and the weather.

We opted for their small family meal which includes 3 lbs of meat (beef ribs excluded) and 5 sides. You pick your sides first: mac & cheese, green beans, potato salad, coleslaw, creamed corn. For the meats: 1 lb brisket, 1 lb pork ribs, ½ lb smoked turkey, ½ lb jalapeño cheddar sausage. And we added a beef rib. And we got banana pudding, obviously. Plus a few drinks, all in ran us somewhere around $230.

Meats
The beef rib was the highlight and it’s not fairly close. I’ve never had a better beef rib. The seasoning and the bark alone could be a dish, but the juicy tender meat is truly special. Not to mention that it’s a gargantuan bone. If you come to Terry Black’s, this is a must—but only get 1.

Pork Ribs rank second for me. Salty, savory, a hint of sweetness, plus a little spice from the rub. They stayed in tact but tore from the bone with minimal effort (ideal, you don’t actually want them to fall off the bone). Terrific.

Turkey third. Wow. I’ve heard aficionados tout turkey as the unsung hero of BBQ. I get it now. For the people who “don’t like turkey,” it’s nothing like Thanksgiving turkey. From here on out if I see smoked turkey available at any BBQ joint, it’s hitting my tray and being happily shoved down my esophagus. This was the biggest surprise of the meal

The brisket and sausage are on the same tier for me. To be honest, the brisket was a bit of a letdown. I view brisket as the crown jewel of BBQ, so maybe my expectations were too high—plus I remember loving this my first go around at Terry Black’s. It was excellent, don’t get me wrong, especially the fattier bites. I loved the jalapeño sausage as well, great snap, great spice, remarkable cook and flavor. Sausage is not a must for me at BBQ, but it’s often a sleeper hit.

Sides
Best to worst, I’d rank them: Potato Salad, Creamed Corn, big tier break, Mac & Cheese, Green Beans, Coleslaw. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them and found myself cycling between the group. But I kept going back to the potato salad and creamed corn. Both are among the best I’ve had. The Banana Pudding was delicious too—I have a high standard for this so it didn’t wow me, but it’s kind of the dessert to get with BBQ in my opinion. Regardless, I need a really good reason not to order banana pudding under any circumstance.

My DMs were flooded with passionate opinions on Terry Black’s. Most people were insanely jealous of my meal, as they should have been. A vocal few were quick to label this iconic establishment as overrated—those people are fools in my opinion. I’m no BBQ expert, it’s not something we have much of in the northeast. Is it the best BBQ in the world? I have no idea. But it’s easily the best BBQ I’ve ever had. It’s goated. It’s elite. Period.