My father, brother and I just spent the past three days eating at six of the highest rated barbecue establishments in Central Texas, but we still had one final meat-fueled mission: The Salt Lick BBQ. This Hill Country classic is a mandatory stop for my family on any trip to Austin. My father first ate at the Lick in 1969, while he was a grad student at UT and the restaurant was brand new. He passed down his passion for the Salt Lick to my brother and me. This was the first time we all ate there together, and it was a special meal for reasons both nostalgic and flavorful.

As Austin continues to encroach on the Hill Country, The Salt Lick still manages to maintain its charming back-country atmosphere.

Every picnic table was full when we entered this sprawling, low-slung, stone-walled edifice. The crowd was a mix of Hill Country denizens, tourists, and University of Texas students.

Each table featured a cowboy boot filled with fresh flowers.

We sat on the covered patio, which provided more natural light and louder exposure to the revving of Harley-Davidson engines as the parade of motorcycles passed by on Farm Road 1826 outside; the twisting, scenic roads of the Hill Country apparently make for great riding.

The Salt Lick Story appears on the menu. Hisako Roberts and her late husband Thurman named the restaurant because, “A salt lick is something where all the animals congregate. There is something good, something essential about it.” Family reunions spurred sharing of family BBQ recipes, handed down since the Civil War. Their meals were such as success, friends encourage them to start their own restaurant. The stones of the building were quarried from their own ranch. Everything was done by them with their own hands – building and cooking with care and love, a pride in quality and a job done right.”

The Salt Lick’s well-shaped stone pit is up front near the entrance, filled with sausage links, brisket and pork ribs.

A bucket of BBQ sauce sits on the pit’s edge, which the pit men brush on meat while it cooks, creating a caramelized exterior that was most prevalent on brisket. They cook the brisket for 12 hours over oak, the sausage, ribs and chicken for four hours apiece. None of us have ever eaten chicken at The Salt Lick; I’m sure it’s great, since it’s cooked in the same fashion as the other meats, but the idea of adding chicken to an already gluttonous meal is grotesque, even for me.

The Salt Lick offers plates and sandwiches, but to order anything other than the family-style meal will bring shame on you, your family, and future generations.

A family-style meal includes “heaping helpings” of brisket, sausage, pork ribs, German potato salad, cole slaw, pinto beans and a quarter loaf of white bread.

Pickles and onions are available on request, as is a pitcher of the burnt orange barbecue sauce, slightly sweet, but mainly spicy, with flavor that builds with each brush of the tongue.

The plate of meat is refillable upon request at no additional charge. My father remembers a family-style meal at the Lick running about $3 in 1969. It now costs $15.95 per person, but considering how much food we consumed, it was still a serious bargain. The brisket was outstanding, tender enough to cut with a fork.

Since we were able to specify our preferred cut, we each requested coveted burnt ends, the chewy, caramelized crust of beef that’s many times more flavorful and intense than the standard cut. Which is saying a lot, since the standard brisket was still the best we ate all trip.

After two refills of meat, we still mustered enough intestinal fortitude to order two cobblers: blackberry and peach ($4.95 apiece). They weren’t as caramelized as I like, and the crust was a little mushy, but the flavor was still good, especially blackberry.

They also sell a delicious looking pecan pie, many of which lined a counter on the way to our seats, but we skipped that. We also skipped making our cobblers a la mode. Little sacrifices.

Mid-way through our second platter of delicious barbecue, we wondered why The Salt Lick is so under-appreciated. We just sampled several of the top Central Texas barbecue pits, and no restaurant had better brisket than The Salt Lick. There was only one other place with better sausage or ribs. The Salt Lick has become a tourist magnet, with a flood of diners. There’s even a Salt Lick booth at the Austin-Bergstrom Airport food court, and another branch just opened closer to town: Salt Lick 360, which also serves steaks, seafood, and wine. Still, the original location stands strong. Texas Monthly rates the Top 50 Barbecue establishments in the state; in their last round-up, in May 2003, The Salt Lick only garnered Honorable Mention, and it wasn’t for their ‘cue, it was for their atmosphere. Huh?! I know barbecue is the most subjective of foods, but The Salt Lick deserves better.