Hill Country

Last night I finally went to Hill Country. I had heard about this place from a Texan friend who went to Kreuz Market, the barbecue joint in Lockhart, Texas that Hill Country is modeled after. The cafeteria-style ordering scheme looks interesting but I had the pleasure of being there with a private party, so we had the whole basement to ourselves for most of the evening and an endless flow of food and drinks being served to us. During cocktail hour, we had mini pulled-pork sandwiches, chicken quesadillas and smoky chipotle deviled eggs. I was a bit disappointed by the deviled eggs which were neither smoky nor spicy and underseasoned in my opinion.

Dinner consisted of campfire baked beans, mac & cheese, cole slaw, green bean casserole (with cream of mushroom & fried onions), moist brisket, lean brisket, pork ribs, roast chicken, Blue Bell ice cream (imported from Texas) and Red Velvet cupcakes. It was a feast. I have to admit that I'm not a BBQ scholar, so I don't know off-hand which states produce dry rub, wet & saucy, tangy sauce or sweet sauce BBQ. I really have to make it a point to learn that some day. Hill Country is all about the dry rub, so the meats are dry but sweet BBQ sauce and hot sauce are on the tables for you to concoct your own desired sauce mixture.

My favorites were the green bean casserole, moist brisket and red velvet cupcakes. I don't think anything I ate was less than good, but other than those three dishes, nothing else really stood out for me as being excellent. I think I need to go back there to give it another chance because, in general, I don't trust that food prepared en masse for large groups is ever representative of its potential goodness and I'm dying to try a few other things on the menu (e.g., boneless prime rib, white shoepeg corn pudding and bourbon pecan pie).