TMBBQ FEST 2014

SAME REVIEW POSTED ON GENERAL LISTING:
Thank Que TM for hosting the greatest food related festival I have EVER been to! SUPER organized, great venue, stellar staff, rocking jams, & of course tons of the best Barbeque from all over Texas in one place for me to sample until my heart was content & my gut simply could not handle any more! Definitely WELL WORTH the $ 80 general admission fee that some folks squawked about! Did they accidentally attend the wrong event?!
What I learned this year:
1. If you really want to pay the extra$ for VIP admission & have the advantage of having one hour early admission, than please do — but it is absolutely not necessary. [Sorry TM, I know you want to make the bucks!] Three hrs is PLENTY of time to see, eat, & drink everything in sight.
2. Park at the Hyatt across the street. $ 6vs$ 9 [sorry Long Center] & the lot fills up quickly & is no fun trying to leave.
3. A few other reviewers mentioned having to wait in line for the GA time at 1pm. There are so many eager beavers & people are terrified that all the food is going to be gone. NOT the case. Show up at about 1:30, walk right in, & get the party started!
4. Right when you walk in there is a huge line of BBQ stands each handing out samples of their best stuff. The samples are rather large & you will fill up quickly. First three stands, maybe 3 people in line in front of me so no wait. Bam, bam, bam! PACE YOURSELF! And, I think sharing is a great idea. There is another complete line of stands when you walk upstairs.
5. Full bars in several locations, most with very long lines. Go inside upstairs & there is no wait what-​so-​ever.
6. Don’t worry too much about the stands running out of food. There are a total of 25 pits representing, some more popular than others (e.g., line for Franklins was about an hour+ — didn’t do it, more on that in a bit & Original Black’s was about 20 mins). City Meat Market ran out of everything but sausage an hour in, but I think they were just un-​prepared. By the time I made my way upstairs, La Barbecue had run out, but it was about 20 minutes before the festival ended — my bad. Unless you are a National Food Eating Champion you will not be able to make your way thrU all 25 joints.
7. There is ample seating throughout; however, you probably won’t feel the need. Part of the adventure is to just walk around, explore, indulge, chat, collect some free swag, etc. Go with the flow!
8. No icky port-​o-​pots! Two restrooms inside building. Cool, clean, & no lines-​even the ladies-​gasp!
9. I took two koozies with over-​the-​neck straps on them. Must have accessory=two free hands! Bring a tote to put all of your goodies in. They supply a small paper sack, but it’s not big enough.
10. At the end of the festival, if vendors have any meat left they won’t sell it to you… but they will GIVE IT YOU!
Where to start? How about where I bee lined it to? Louie Mueller’s out of Taylor, TX. By far The Best Brisket out of all that I tried! Yes, even better than Franklins — remember, I said I’d get to that — I will. The prefect rub, not too salty or peppery, fantastic flavor, great smoke ring, & so melt in my mouth perfection!
Original Black’s was the only place I got a rib from. tear right off the bone perfection. Great Q & some of the nicest folks you will ever meat… I mean meet. Thanks for gifting me a bottle of signature Hot Sauce!
Lockhart Smokehouse cooked up a whole cow head & rack of lamb. What a treat!
Finally onto Franklins. Shamefully, I have never done the get to Franklins at 6 a.m. & stand in line for 7 hrs to get the famous (you have heard of it right?) Q. The festival had ended so we began to leave, I glanced over & saw there were still people standing around Franklins. I told my husband «let’s just walk down & see if they have any scraps left.» WOW! There were actually about a dozen (not 5,000) people in line getting trays of samples-​brisket, pulled pork, & turkey. Could not have been more thrilled! Finally got to try Franklins & waited 3 minutes! How could this get any better? I said the word turkey out loud &…slam! AN ENTIRE SMOKED TURKEY BREAST wrapped in foil pulled right off the heat pit & into my hands! Then we were each given two overflowing containers of both brisket & pulled pork. AND the gal around the corner asked «Would you like that to go?» «Uh huh… yes, please.» We went home w/​just under 7 lbs of Franklins greatness after no wait & absolutely for free! After all of my Q quests I will say Franklin offers superb brisket, moist turkey, & fantastic pulled pork! The best EVER? No. But certainly at the top of the list! I’m probably going to shot walking down the street. No, really, please don’t. Yeah, lil hype surrounding Franklins, but Aaron truly does have the craft down pat & is a truly sweet guy to boot! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
There can’t possibly be anything else to say-​most people who started reading this probably gave up a long time ago– except to say that I will be back next year!