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

DAY 9 - Memphis to Dallas

We made the seven hour trek from Memphis to Dallas today. Mama D. was a trooper driving five of the seven hours. We arrived around 7pm, but before our trek to Texas we took in a couple more sites in Memphis.

We went to see Sun Studios, a Memphis historic landmark. It's the studio where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and numerous others recorded their first records. We didn’t have time for the studio tour, but we explored around the foyer and gift shop.

After Sun Studios, we took on the chaos that was Rendezvous in Memphis (see review below). Once we finished up there and wiped down our hands and faces from Rendezvous' spectacular ribs we hit the road. Within two hours we were passing through Little Rock and stopped at Sim’S BBQ (see review below). We got it to go since we had just ate. It made for a delicious early dinner.

Little Rock skyline as we drove through

Saturday we are off to Austin, our final big bbq city of the trip. We'll be there for two full days so we'll be logging in some quality Texas bbq reviews.