Snow's BBQ — Restaurant in Lexington

In this little community that inhabits no more than 1100 residents you will find a tiny BBQ outlet, opened only on Saturdays that in all its smallness has the biggest name in BBQ today: Snow’s BBQ.

Back in the 90’s founder and owner Kerry Bexley knew that the town of Lexington lacked a local go to place for quality BBQ. In the Lexington community BBQ on Saturday was already a tradition set in stone.

From 2003 till 2008 Kerry and Tootsie were mostly serving their smoked meats to locals and auction visitors. This all changed when Texas Monthly named Snow’s BBQ “Best BBQ in Texas”. This placed the small outlet with blinking lights on the radar of all who loved traditional BBQ.

The locals were all of a sudden joined in line by people from out of state and even from other countries that had read the article, seen the number one position and were very eager to try the best of the best. The line lengthened but the quality remained. Snow’s BBQ managed to keep pole position from 2008 till 2013. From 2013 till 2017 they were passed by Aaron Franklin from Austin but regained their number one status in 2017 and have kept this honor till today.

In the Snow’s BBQ cooking area, you will find two types of BBQ pits. There are the well known offset smokers with their heavy doors and characteristic counterweights used for cooking brisket and pork spareribs. They are found in the back of the cooking area and can be seen in action whilst eating alongside them on the covered patio. The other pits are custom built direct-heat pits that I’ve only seen in Texas. Meat slowly cooks on the grates 30 inches above the bed of hot coals allowing the fat to render out, dripping on the hot coals releasing small bursts of flavor explosions each time a drop of fat hits an ember, sending aromatic arrows right back up to the meat. Because of the distance between meat, fire and the controlled environment due to the lids on the pits, flare ups or grease fires are something Tootsie has no worries about. Temperature control is based purely on Toostie’s experience since the pits don’t have a thermometer.

What makes Snow’s BBQ so special?Texas BBQ on its own is known for its no fuss BBQ. Salt, pepper, meat and fire, that’s it. No sauces or frills to distract or cover up mistakes made in the pit. Ok, Snow’s BBQ adds a fifth element to their BBQ repertoire: a mopping sauce used on some of their meats keeps things moist in their pits. What you will find on their menu covers the BBQ staples found throughout most of Texas these days: brisket, pork spareribs, chicken, turkey breast, two types of sausages and a pork shoulder steak. The pork steak is a signature item rarely seen in other BBQ-restaurants. This two to three inch thick cut from the pork shoulder is seasoned with nothing but salt and coarse ground black pepper and slow smoked over a hot bed of coals.

Every now-and-then it gets mopped with a liquid that only Tootsie knows the exact ingredients of. It is rumored to be made with water, onions, butter, Worcestershire, and mustard. Come to think of it, it is quite remarkable that in beef loving Texas a BBQ joint whose signature item is made of pork reigns the rankings. Regardless of your menu choices, you are guaranteed to sink your teeth in BBQ goodness. The sausages have that perfect snap and smoke infusion, the brisket is moist, tender and bold in flavor, even the challenging turkey breast drips of moisture and subtlety. It’s the fact that each and every item on their menu consistently embodies perfect BBQ that they rightfully carry their claim to provide Texas best all-round BBQ and you should join the line to experience...

Man, this is a tough review, and I feel bad, but I need to be honest.

I think Snow's food is overrated but still very good and above average in many areas. Honestly, this is not a top 10 BBQ joint in TX. It just isn't. Is it a Top 50? For sure. Is it worth a 3-hour wait? Sorry. No. Is it a good experience? Yes. I had a great time with great people and a great environment.

First of all, the wait is for real. We decided to test the arrival time and got there at 8 am. We were about 165. 3hrs later, we were eating.

I will say the staff is spectacular! The people in line from around the world shared a love and passion for BBQ. Everyone was super nice and had great conversations. While in line, there was free beer and water, and they had fire pits along the route to keep the chill at bay.

The atmosphere is the charm here. It is a great cliche small Texas town with a BBQ roadside joint appeal, spectacular staff, a very personable owner and the iconic Ms. Tootsie (who, at 88, shames all of us for her work ethic).

The Food:

Chicken - THE best chicken I've had at any TX BBQ joint. Moist and flavorful and a great balanced seasoning. All too often, chicken is over-smoked and dry. This is chicken perfection, and I am a chicken hater to the core. Chicken is 2nd in my protein hates only to Pork.

Pork Steak - if you dive into my reviews, you will see I have a personal war with this protein. Other than bacon and Pork as a filler blend in sausage… yuck. But Snow's pork steak is pretty good. I'm still not a fan, but I had to try it, and I'm glad I did. It was not dry. It did not have an awful pork chop snap when biting it. It's no bacon, but some of the better Pork I have had in TX BBQ.

Spare Ribs - again, the damn Pork ;) These were fine. It's nothing special but above average.

Sausage - pretty good. This old-school ring style vs links. It's the best old-school ring style I have had in TX BBQ. Unlike some of the places in Lockhart, which, to me, cook too hot and too long and dry their sausage out, this retained a decent amount of moisture without pockets of oily fat. I was not a fan of the grind… it's too large, and I think the casings could be packed a bit tighter. Definitely above avg

Jalapeno Sausage - I have the same complaints about the grind and not being packed tight enough, but the flavor profile of this sausage is one of the better jalapeno sausages I have had in TX BBQ. Honestly, it had much more of a hatch chili flavor than jalapeno and was terrific.

Beans - man, throw in some fat, a bit more garlic, and a touch of jalapeno and cumin puree, and these would be some of the best frijoles ever. For plain pintos, these are near god-level good.

Now, the sad part… the star of the show… the Brisket. I am so sad to say this was a huge miss for me. It's so underwhelming I have to believe this was a bad cut or bad luck. The Brisket I had had very little seasoning and was as dry as a bad pot roast. Zero moisture. Zero fat at all. I would have tossed it if it weren't $30/lb.

I will return in a few weeks to give them another shot at the Brisket to ensure it...

When they say nothing good happens after midnight, they’ve clearly never given up a whole night of sleep for barbecue.

TL;DR Camped out on the front porch of Snow’s BBQ for the holy grail of Texas smoked meats. Got there at 11 p.m., landed second in line, and waited 9 hours for the pit to open. Worth every minute. The chicken was legendary, the pork steak divine, and I left with a belly full of meat and stamp #29 in the TM passport.

Most people head to Lexington on Saturday mornings. I hit the road Friday night, dragging my daughter along for some true BBQ bonding and a shot at being first in line at Snow’s. Spoiler alert: we missed the top spot by 30 minutes. But second place still gets brisket so I wasn’t about to start crying into my folding chair.

Waiting in line culture is its own kind of magic. We talked BBQ lore with fellow die-hards, took cat naps between meat-scented breezes, and watched the stars shift overhead while the smoke never stopped drifting from those hallowed pits. As the night wore on, the rhythm of the pit crew: Kerry, Clay, and the gang, began moving like smoke-slinging ninjas. Around 7 a.m., the legend herself, Ms. Tootsie, rolled in like the pitmaster queen, humble as ever and ready to work. Watching her tend the fire is like witnessing a sacred Texas rite.

At 8 AM sharp, the door swung open like the gates of meat heaven. We ordered brisket, pork ribs, pork steak, jalapeño sausage, and of course Tootsie’s famous chicken. That chicken wasn’t smoked, it was anointed. Moist, tender, with that black pepper crust that would make a preacher cuss.

Brisket: Thick-cut, seasoned beautifully, just a bit dry but still a pleasure to chew. Pork Steak: My first time. Life-changing. I may start a fan club. Jalapeño Sausage: Snappy, I wished it was spicier, but it had enough grease to make your fingers smile. Ribs: Perfectly seasoned, pull-off-the-bone, no teeth needed. Chicken: The real reason I came. The reason I’ll come back. There’s no better bird in the business. My wife requested it by name and I don’t argue with royalty. Sides: Potato salad and coleslaw, classic and well-executed. The banana pudding? As always, a required item in this dad’s BBQ gospel.

We ate what we could, packed up the rest for the Side Dish Queen back home, and snagged a photo with Ms. Tootsie before her fan club could form a line. She’s the real deal. The kind of woman who could teach a brisket how to behave just by looking at it.

Stamp #29 has been burned into the passport and into my heart. Just 21 more to go, and if I have to sleep on a front porch again, so be it. Snow’s isn’t a restaurant. It’s a rite of passage. Kerry has built a meat cathedral from steel pits and years of love. The staff is down to earth and hospitable beyond measure. The picnic tables set the dining ambiance and the free drinks elevate the experience. I’ll be back. Probably in the same hoodie, probably a little earlier next time.

Dad Joke Sign-Off: I told my daughter this was our bonding moment. She told me it was just Stockholm syndrome...