DAY 10 - Dallas to Austin

Since we got into Dallas late Friday night we decided to hang around “Big D” for breakfast and a brief drive around downtown on Saturday morning. We hit an uptown breakfast spot recommended by a friend called Bread Winners – www.breadwinnerscafe.com. We sat on the patio with Zena and Zuma and enjoyed the beautiful Texas weather; it was 72 degrees in Dallas and it’s now a balmy 81 degrees in Austin. After we finished breakfast we realized it was the first time we had a full breakfast since our first day in Gallup, NM. We’ve hit non-bbq places along the way, but this was the first breakfast spot in nearly nine days.

The Dallas skyline

After breakfast we did a quick drive by the JFK site (literally we drove by and I was able to snap one picture of the grassy knoll).

Our one pic of the infamous grassy knoll

Along the three hour drive to Austin we stopped at a great little Antique shop. It was mostly for Mom, but once we got inside I was the one having a blast. They had all kinds of fun knick-knacks, the best of which was an original tin He-Man lunch box (no site of the thermos). I’ll be rolling to work in style now.

My new He-Man lunch box

We pulled into Austin around 2:30pm and checked into the Driskill Hotel in the heart of town. Once settled we headed off to Ironworks BBQ (see review below) for delicious pork AND beef ribs.

The Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX

The beautiful Austin sunset

We cruised Austin after dinner checking out the Capital building, 6^th street and the South Congress area, aka “SoCo.” Sixth Street was like a combination of Hollywood Blvd and Melrose – it had restaurants, bars, tattoo shops, souvenir stores, boutique shops and a unique crowd.

Texas state capital building in Austin - Daytime

Texas state capital building in Austin - Nighttime

The famous 6th St. in downtown Austin felt like a combination of Hollywood Blvd. and Melrose

On Sunday we plan to walk along the river, grab lunch at Stubb’s BBQ, do some more Austin sightseeing, perhaps some shopping and then round it out with dinner outside of town at one of Austin’s more famous bbq joints, the Salt Lick.

THE REVIEW - Ironworks BBQ, Austin, TX

We did Kansas City and Memphis, now it’s time to do Texas. Our first spot was Ironworks BBQ - www.ironworksbbq.com – in Austin and it was a great start to our Texas bbq experience. Ironworks is an Austin staple that’s been around since 1978. The smoke pit and bbq smell immediately hit your nostrils when you walked in. The place had a great bbq feel with a more ranch-style atmosphere; it looked like an indoor picnic area complete with picnic style tables and tablecloths. It was an order-at-the-counter joint where we got a great view of the bbq pit. Although the sides and sauce were sub-par, the ribs – both beef and pork – we’re amazing. If this is how Texas bbq is going to be we're in for a great time.

Mama D. outside Ironworks BBQ in Austin, TX.

The inside of Ironworks had a picnic area, ranch-style bbq feel

The smoke pit at Ironworks - loads of ribs and brisket slowly cooking over a charcoal pit

Video footage of our feast at Ironworks BBQ in Austin, TX

Sauce – 2.5 – No sweet or spice, pretty down the middle in flavor. It had a vinegar undertone that dominated the taste buds.

Sides – 2 – They served Texas-style beans, which are bigger (everything is bigger in Texas, right) than beans in the Midwest and south. None the less, they were standard in taste. Pretty bland in fact. Same goes for the potato salad; standard in taste, nothing unique.

Standard potato salad and Texas-style beans

Slabs – 4.5 – Ironworks’ 4.5 rating goes for both the beef and pork ribs. The beef ribs were long and meaty and cooked with a tasty dry rub. Sauce wasn’t necessary because the crusty skin and flavorful meat did the trick. The pork ribs were stellar as well – like the beef ribs they were cooked with a dry rub that resulted in a delicious crusty skin that sort of snapped when you bit through it. They were the meatiest we’ve had and the meat was tender and delicious, almost buttery.

Check out the meat on the beef ribs at Ironworks

Me enjoying Ironworks' delicious beef ribs - looks like I have a huge mustache

Ironworks pork ribs were the meatiest we've had

Steaks – 3.5 – The brisket was served in slices. It had a wonderful glazed crusty skin and the meat was moist, but not juicy like we prefer. It had nice flavor, but needed sauce to make it really good.

Ironworks sampler platter came with a beef rib, brisket and sausage (I ordered an extra beef rib so we'd have one for each pup)

Sandwiches – Didn’t order a sandwich or pulled pork