Part 4 of 5This is the 4th installment of my 5 part "Texas BBQ Road Trip 2010". Texas Monthly Magazine listed the top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas and I had the honor/dishonor of attending 5 of the 50 establishments during Memorial Weekend.
I have been making bi-annual trips to Texas every year for the last ten years of my life. Very rarely do I have a negative experience (except when I'm in East Texas of course). Sure, you might have the occasional Asshole-Cop, Drunk-Cowboy, or the random Yankees fan to ruin your day in Texas. However, nothing has ever ruined my day more than the day I ate at Kreuz BBQ.
I have since nicknamed Kreuz (Pronounced "Krites") BBQ to "Crisis" BBQ. Ladies and gentlemen, when Texas Monthly issues their June 2008 magazine to name the top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas and throws Kreuz as top 5...we have a problem. I don't believe they deserves top 50! I will yet again go out on a limb and say I have eaten better BBQ in Louisiana and I will almost believe any New Yorker that says they have had better BBQ in NY than what they have had at Kreuz.I don't know where to begin with this blog entry. Holding back the tears I will attempt to relive such a horrific account. First, I stood in line for over an hour which doesn't bother me if the food is good. When we finally get to the smokers in the back, I see that they have a similar style to City Market in Luling except double the size. You walk to a butcher like chopping block surrounded by smokers and they pull out the meat in front of you and cut what you want...(in my case brisket, sausage, and ribs). You then wait in line to pay for your food and order your drinks (I suggest you buy a 6 pack of water bottles for yourself).
Before you sit down you see signs everywhere that say "NO BBQ SAUCE, NO FORKS, etc..". Now I am one that will support that slogan anytime, but don't serve your customers dry meat and pride yourself on not using sauce. Their brisket was worse than my first attempt at a brisket. It tasted like they had the fat side down, temperature at 350 degrees, and brined it for 2 weeks in salt water. Everything else was over salted. It all makes sense now when you see the long line at the Blue Bell Ice Creme Stand in the middle of the tables. The Blue Bell and Texas factor can't save this sinking ship for a good score.You can read my step-dads review for his similar experience here.
Kreuz Market BBQ will be receiving an 1 out of 5 stars.
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The Worst BBQ Experience Ever—Got Sick Afterwards—Very Arrogant and Flippant Staff!
My Dad and I visited Kreuz BBQ in Lockhart, TX in 4/2011. The place was difficult to find/see from the road despite the overbearing, oversize, and quite touristy new building. The first thing I noticed was the lack of people dinning. We ordered our food at 7:40pm after the cashier assured us that they still were serving and that we could stay as long as we would like even after the closing time of 8pm. It was obvious that the butchers of Hispanics with poor comprehension of English and BBQ lingo desperately wanted us to leave so they could clock out. When we asked for brisket from the fat side we were served a large chunk of charred fat trimming with no meat marbled in between. Of course this was refused. We ended up ordering a few pounds of beef ribs and brisket. We then proceeded to the next room where the sides are ordered. The staff there was angry they had to reopen the registers at 7:45pm and would not advise us on what to order on the menu. We did just drive six hours to try this place and wanted to get it right. We were served the only thing they would serve us which was a bucket of cole slaw. We finally sat down at 7:55pm to eat our BBQ.
When the only other diners left at 8:10pm (a large Hispanic family possibly friends of the employees), we were told in a very rude tone to be gone in five minutes. Three minutes later as we were trying to bag up our $50 of half-eaten BBQ, the lights were turned off, and we were told to GET OUT NOW. The only remaining employee refused to turn the lights back on and called the police. After stumbling through the BBQ house in the dark trying to wipe our hands and grab our meat, THE POLICE MET WITH US IN THE PARKING LOT. This not the typical BBQ experience.
We called the owner the following day, and he told us THAT WE SHOULD NOT NEED MORE THAN FIFTEEN MIN UTES TO EAT. Good BBQ takes time to eat. The owner defended his staff and told us never to come back and that he did not care what we thought. HE SAID HE HAS ENOUGH OTHER CUSTOMERS. HE THEN HUNG UP ON US.
In the end, I have had many better BBQ places in Lockhart, in Texas, and around the country. The brisket was flavorful and tender but had a thick, charred, dry crust. The dry rub used on the ribs was simple and very salty. I am a traditionalist and enjoy the lack of sauce, but when it comes to food like this that could use a little assistance, sauce is a must. As far as the cole slaw, we ate a few bites but could not get past its stench and the taste of spoiled cole slaw. Of course, there was no one to talk to about the expired slaw. In fact, the owner would not hear anything of it the following day and HUNG UP THE PHONE ON AT THIS MENTION. Sure enough, too, my GI system felt the effects of poorly kept slaw about 12 hours after ingestion. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY DANGEROUS.
My Dad and I have traveled all over Texas and the country in pursuit of great BBQ. This place is NOT RECOMMENDED. I have never had an experience in any BBQ place as bad as this one.
Wow! I am sad to hear how bad your experience was at Kreuz Market. It is a shame that you were not able to obtain a more representative portion of their fatty brisket. You would most likely be making a lot more trips to Lockhart even if all other factors had remained the same.
First just let me say the only reason I am posting annonymous is that I don't want my name all over google searches for this kind of thing. Trust me when i tell you that it was a REAL experience.
This last trip to Kreuz was my last. Never again...I will always keep on trucking on to Smitty's or Blacks or Luling City Market.
I don't know who owns or manages this joint but they must leave early because we encountered nothing but a bunch of grumpy old jackasses when we went through about 7pm on a Friday night.
The fact that they NEVER have ribs past 5 or 6pm on whenever I am there is bad enough...and to me, the ribs were the only reason to stop and eat there.
Once we cleared the register for the sides and sat down we thought we might have been locked in there as everyone disappeared. No second soft drink or ice cream...no nobody was around...so we thought until a big old man appeared from the back saying "just a few more minutes".
Kreuz Market sucks in my opinion...but they would just as well spit you out of there if they could...if there was even an ounce of care or appreciation we never saw it. And to think that our 3 carloads spent almost $200 there.
Adios amigos. I'm having my bbq elsewhere from now on.
J.B.
Fort Worth, TX
I was there last week and I second your opinion about the food. The food there is just plain bad. The ribs were dry, overly salty and way too peppery. There was not a hint of smoke in any of their meets. None. They also don't have any sauce, which wouldn't be such a problem if the meat wasn't so dry. Such a disappointment. I will never ever go back.
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