After lunch at Gonzales Food Market, we headed east on Hwy. 90. The next official stop was going to be City Market in Schulenburg, but we hoped to find a joint or two on the 41 mile drive over.

We talked about having a cold Shiner beer in the town of Shiner, of course. This was the first decent sized town on the route, but we came up empty. The brewery was closed and we didn't find a bar open. Onward to Hallettsville and Novosad BBQ & Sausage Market, a joint I had heard of but didn't know much about.

Another classic small town setting, with historic courthouse. Lots of deer trophies on the walls along with a classic three-sided meat counter and well-worn butcher block, all good signs to the BBQ daytripper.

The lunch rush was over as we joined three other guys in the dining room, sitting down at a table adorned with a red hot chili pepper tablecloth. The joint was classic 1970s Texana decor, taking you back to the glory days of Novosad BBQ, which was selected as one of the top 50 BBQ joints in the state by Texas Monthly magazine in 1997.

I could tell by looking at the meat choices that we may not have hit them at a peak time to eat. We tried the ribs, which had good taste but were dry, and the sausage, which was better but still a little dried out. Both had probably been off the pit for a while.

We were soon joined by a group of 11 guys from New York, who pulled up in an RV they had rented for the weekend after flying into Austin. They were on their eighth stop of the day, their third day on tour, and this was their second annual Texas BBQ trip.

They had started with a group of 12, but lost one along the way. Not sure exactly what happened to that guy, but our BBQ journeys have convinced us that you can indeed overdose on meat. I've been meat drunk more than once, it's just part of the life of a BBQ posse member. Always think portion control when on a BBQ tour!

We nibbled a little more on our ribs and sausage, took a deep breath and loaded up, heading north toward our fourth stop in Schulenburg......

Novosad BBQ & Sausage Market, 105 South La Grange Street, Hallettsville, TX, (361) 798-2770. Open Tues-Sat 8am-3pm.

Photos by Jeff Haynes & Chris Wilkins




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