Brisket, Pulled Pork and Ribs

Been a long time user of BBQ and in the last several years have included brisket, Texas style. Lockhart, Tx to be specific. Norman in Houston, an age old friend, insisted that although pork ribs were ok, Texas brisket was unparalleled.

Had to try 'his' brisket. So, on one of many trips to Houston for business meetings we journey on a Saturday to Lockhart, about 35 miles South of Austin. Might as well have my PhD son join us since he was in Austin at UT at the time. Now, keep in mind that the trip from Houston to Lockhart is much more than a walk around the block. About 150 miles and 2½ hours one way for a bunch of beef. I knew it was going to be a joy to see son, the doctor, again. The other, well, time would tell.

Dr. Peterson has moved on to other locations but Norman and I still make the trip to Lockhart when I am in Houston. Some Texas brisket is worth almost the amount of talk/bragging a Texan does. Norman and I have tried many brisket type joints in Texas, some good and some not so good. How to keep track of the + and - of not only the Texas BBQ joints but others as yet untried?

The obvious answer to me was to develop a database management program that would not only track the location but also include the type of food the restaurant served and a link to their website, if available. The program is ready for distribution and your use. There are, however, a couple of requirements if you want to participate. And since this is freeware the rules are:

1. This is a list of BBQ joints. Please don't pollute it with ice cream parlors and/or hamburger joints. Just brisket, pulled pork and ribs. Of course, some places also serve some mighty fine chicken but the main thing is Brisket, Pulled Pork and Ribs.
   
   
2. Each entry has a text box for your comments concerning the quality of the restaurant. The raison d'être for sharing the program is for your opinion of those BBQ joints you have visited and/or are familiar with.
   

Your database will be uploaded to my server. Whenever a database is uploaded, I make the changes to a master database and upload it to the server for all to enjoy. Instructions for uploading your database and subsequently downloading the updated database are in the help file of the program under Uploads.

Presently, the database has 102 BBQ restaurants. When you upload the database add a short note, using notepad or Word, of the changes/additions that you made. Zip the two files, restaurants.mdb and your note, named restaurants.zip and upload.

To get started, click here, download the zip file and then install it.

Looking forward to your experiences concerning Brisket, Pulled Pork and Ribs.