Saturday, February 25, 2012

Augies Barbed Wire Smoke House: San Antonio

Our second barbecue joint was Augies Barbed Wire Smoke House located at 3709 N. St. Mary's Street in San Antonio, TX (phone: 210-735-0088). This was one of the restaurants we went to on our food tour in San Antonio and we liked the small sample we got so much that we went back the next day. After our visit to Texas Pride Barbecue, and then this place, we started to get the idea that there was a little more to the barbecue than the food. It seems that there is a requirement of outlandish tackiness that must somehow set the mood and the stage for the food. Augies does not hold a candle to Texas Pride for tackiness, but most restaurants do not have a large pig perched on a pole out front. 
 It is housed in what seems to be a series of metal manufactured homes/trailers, with wood doors and railings, the obligatory Texas state flag, 
wooden picnic tables under an outside canopy 
and a flaming catering trailer. 
What really jumped out at me was their sausage. 
The sausage at Texas Pride was overcooked, like leather, with much of the juice cooked out of it. This sausage, they said it was beef with jalapeno, was cooked perfectly: warm throughout, but still bursting with juice at the skin and the juices congregating on the surface. 
It had wonderful texture, the jalapeno added a nice kick and it was full of flavor. Some of the best sausage I've ever eaten. Judy got a plate with fatty brisket and sides of mashed potatoes and creamed corn. 
Her sides were the best we had the entire trip. The mashed potatoes were real, very creamy and very flavorful. They were better than most home made mashed potatoes I've had. The creamed corn was also flavorful and untraditional. The brisket was slathered in barbecue sauce. 
This sauce was less sweet and more vinegary, unusual, but good. It had a nice juicy layer of fat and was wonderfully moist and flavorful. Judy was trying to prevent me from sampling pieces with the fat, but I snuck some tastes and it was great. Different in looks and texture from Texas Pride, but equally good. I got a plate with two beef ribs,  two pork ribs, macaroni and cheese and baked beans. 
I was not overly impressed with either sides and left most of them. I had side envy for Judy's mashed potatoes and creamed corn. The beef ribs were decidedly disappointing. I'd heard Texas was great for beef ribs, but these were not. The beef on each rib was not significant, there was very little fat, what beef there was was overcooked, dry and tough, it had originally been coated with some sort of barbecue sauce, and was not much more pleasant than eating beef jerky. 
The pork ribs were pretty good. They were meaty, had some fat to add flavor and were still quite moist. 
They were probably the best pork ribs we had in Texas. 
It was close, but just fell short of my favorite barbecue in Texas. 

2 comments:

  1. Love the plates, just goes to show you that presentation means nothing if the food is good.

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  2. Don't forget that the pig outside used to be a giant hamburger when another restaurant occupied the space. Rather than take it down, Augie's did some creative "repurposing." I loved it. How can you not love the food in a place with a pig like that out front? I have to second your drooling sentiments about my potatoes. I consider myself a mashed potato connoisseur, and those were some of the best I've had. Ever.

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