Rump Steak @ Porter & Rye
At this modern European restaurant and bar, tasty slabs of meat catch your eye as you enter this haven of beef. With their own dry-aged meat and a selection of knives for you to choose from - you just know they take steak seriously here.

Baby Back Pork Ribs @ Opie's Barbecue
About halfway between Austin and Llano, on beautiful Highway 71, Opie’s Barbecue serves slow-smoked BBQ seven days a week. Just inside the door is a holding pit, and when they lift the top and reveal their offering of proteins, just start pointing at what you want and they will snag it for you. Take your tray of selections to the counter, and while they slice it up for you, pick from an array of homemade side items and desserts.

Sausage Rings @ Hays County Bar-B-Que
On the I-35 frontage road in San Marcos, Hays County Bar-B-Que is an easy stop between Austin and San Antonio. The hardworking Hernandez family will take care of you, with an array of meats, slow-smoked in one of several large smokers. You can dine inside, or you could go to the back, where you will find a space unlike any other in Central Texas, with lots of tables, games, a stage and a bus-turned-bar.

BBQ @ Black's Barbecue
According to the friendly folks at Black’s Barbecue, they are the oldest BBQ joint in Texas run by the same family. Long a staple in Lockhart (declared the “BBQ Capital of Texas” by the Texas Legislature), Black’s recently opened a location in Austin near The University of Texas and another (Kent Black’s BBQ) in nearby San Marcos. After you chow down, so long as their staff are not overrun, they will happily take you on a tour of the kitchen/pit.

BBQ @ Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ
Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ, a popular BBQ trailer on bar-and-restaurant-lined West 6th Street, recently moved a few miles south of downtown. A San Antonio native, proprietor Miguel Vidal blends smoked barbecue with Tex-Mex offerings into an array of barbecue tacos served on homemade flour tortillas. Want a brisket taco with salsa and queso? Smoked chicken with pickled onions? Pulled pork on tortillas chips? Not a problem at Valentina’s.

BBQ @ Stiles Switch
Stiles Switch is a popular market-style joint in North-Central Austin. Step up to the counter, and they’ll cut a fresh brisket sample for you to enjoy while you decide what to order. Want just a slice of meat or several pounds? No problem. Pick your meats and/sides, and they will put them on a butcher-paper-covered tray and move you down the counter and on your way to your table. Throw in craft beers on tap, several flat-screen TVs and an outdoor patio, and you have yourself quite the spot to spend a meat-filled afternoon.

Brisket @ Micklethwait Craft Meats
Micklethwait Craft Meats, a tiny trailer serving smoked meats, homemade sides, desserts and bread, sits not far off the interstate at E. 11th St. Like other popular craft-meat trailers, you can expect a line, but Micklethwait’s hours are a tad longer than some, so getting fed isn’t a problem. You can enjoy your meal on a picnic tables and even snag a smoothie from their smoothie-trailer neighbor.

Barbecue  @ La Barbecue
La Barbecue is a very popular, soon-to-be-brick-and-mortar BBQ trailer. The line forms early and gets long but moves efficiently. Hip in person and on social media, la Barbecue, like several other craft joints in town, is open until it sells out. Docked in a food-trailer park on the east side of the interstate downtown, it’s easy to get to. If you’re staying downtown, you can even walk to it. You might be in too much of a meat coma afterward to walk back, but at least you burned some calories getting there.

BBQ @ Franklin Barbecue
What started as a tiny trailer little more than five years ago is now arguably the most famous BBQ joint in the country. Seemingly every major media outlet has profiled owner and pitmaster Aaron Franklin and his brisket, for which people wait in line for hours. Unless you hire someone to wait in line for you (yes, people do this.), clear your schedule, bring some drinks and friends, and make a fun experience out of the wait. If you’re not up for waiting in line, check out their pre-ordering system.

Beef Short Rib  @ IDES at Persillade
Peter Gunn's (sous chef from famous Attica) IDES perennial pop up at Persillade in East Melbourne has become a Melbourne sensation with a theme of "chaos producing harmony." Gunn serves a menu that messes with your mind and perceptions. The melt-in-your-mouth texture of the slow cooked Cape Grim rib cut made us re-examine how beef can be cooked. The salty, roasted celery was soft and comforting. We wanted this dish to never end (and that's not just excitable blogger hyperbole). This signature dish Beef Short Rib won Gunn the title of S. Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year 2015 at Crown for Asia Pacific.