2019 Texas Monthly BBQ Festival

Pody's BBQ at the 2019 Texas Monthly BBQ Festival in downtown Austin, Texas at the Long Center

The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival celebrated their tenth year in Downtown Austin, Texas, yesterday, November 3rd, 2019 and it could not have been a more beautiful day!

2019 Texas Monthly BBQ Festival downtown Austin Skyline Valentina's tex mex

We were granted two press passes to cover the festival, so we would like to start by thanking Texas Monthly as well as let you know that we were given entry in exchange for our review.

The line looked daunting when we arrived, but went rather swiftly into the queue line and everyone was let in right at 1 p.m. without any delay.

My co-writer and I split up at first so she could get in line for, in our opinion, the most anticipated line of the day (Snow’s BBQ) while I hit the line for Guess Family BBQ since it was close to the entrance. Boy, I’m glad I stopped at Guess when I did because they had our favorite item of the day (which also ‘sold out’ before the event ended) --  A Pimento Cheese Deviled Egg with Brisket Jam!

Guess Family BBQ Texas Monthly BBQ Festival Austin Texas 2019 Pimento Cheese Deviled Egg with Brisket Jam

Our other favorite items of the day were Truth BBQ’s, Snow’s and Pinkerton’s, which featured Spicy Sausage and delectable banana pudding (Pictured below).

Pinkerton's BBQ Texas Monthly BBQ Festival 2019 Long Center Austin Texas

Truth and Snow's BBQ Texas Monthly BBQ Festival Austin Texas 2019 Long Center

A few of the stations ran out of food before we got to them and one, 2M BBQ, ran out just before the first hour inside, so we didn’t get to try every item, but everything went smoothly in each line and we were served within a reasonable amount of time at each venue.

The only disappointment, really, was the long lines at the Bars. They never seemed to move, so we didn’t get a drink to go with our food. Hopefully next year they will have a few more bartenders and have that sorted out. All-in-all, not too shabby for that to be the only complaint!

A tip that we have for anyone who might want to attend the festival next year is that if you want to make sure you get a chance to try every venue and also receive some ‘special’ offerings, you might want to snag a VIP ticket. I noticed that a few of the venues had VIP only items, including Pinkerton’s, ‘Tomahawk Steak,’ which was not available when we arrived, although I heard from a VIP member that it was the best offering of the day. So, that is something to keep in mind if you’re interested in receiving even more than is offered to general-admission-only guests. ​

Again, huge thank you to Texas Monthly, we had a great time and hope to attend again next year! Check out our photos below and we will have a video on our Youtube page shortly!

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