Green Mesquite BBQ & More (10)

1400 Barton Springs Rd., 479-0485

Daily, 10am-11pm

www.greenmesquite.net

Green Mesquite has been a fixture at the corner of South Lamar and Barton Springs Road for nearly 20 years, and they’re still going strong. All of their meats are smoked fresh daily over slow-burning, aromatic mesquite wood and served up with pickles, onions, store-bought white bread, and sides.

You can taste the signature mesquite smoke most noticeably in the beef brisket, which can be ordered lean or marbled. The house sausage is Elgin Hot, and the meat just falls off the bones of the pork ribs. The turkey is a standout – succulent breast meat carved in generous slices – and pulled pork and smoked chicken complete the lineup. The house sauce is on the sweet side, which is perfect to balance the smoky goodness of the meats.

Along with the requisite sides of potato salad, coleslaw, beans, and corn-on-the-cob, Green Mesquite offers Cajun rice, green beans, and fried okra. The greatest of these is the fried okra. Once a staple in these parts, fried okra has grown all too rare and is a welcome option.

Green Mesquite’s menu is quite ambitious (perhaps overly so); in addition to barbecue, a variety of sandwiches, po’boys, burgers, jambalaya, catfish, fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, stuffed baked potatoes, chicken wings, chili, and salads are offered. Pecan pie and homemade cobbler are always on the menu, and out back is a very popular patio and beer garden, which features live bluegrass and blues music on the weekends.

This article appears in March 2 • 2007.

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Kate Thornberry worked in renowned Austin restaurants for 30 years while pursuing a reasonably successful career in music. She began contributing to the Chronicle in 1988 and became a regular contributor to the food section in 2006.