The Salt Lick Barbecue Restaurant is Located on Owner's Ranch

There is no better example of true Southern hospitality than the folks at The Salt Lick Barbecue Restaurant in Driftwood, Texas. The Salt Lick is located on the ranch where the owner, Thurman Roberts, Sr. was born, just outside of Austin, Texas. The working ranch has been in the Roberts' family for generations, and regular family reunions were held since the Civil War, allowing family members to share family recipes and good cooking. The food was so good and the location was so perfect, that friends and family suggested they open a restaurant. Thurman Roberts, Sr., and his wife Hisako T. Roberts opened The Salt Lick on the ranch in 1969, and since then, the fame of the food has spread worldwide.

The Salt Lick is special because the cooks still use one of the few open pit BBQ's left in Central Texas. The restaurant was built from stones that were quarried from the ranch. The owners with their own caring and loving hands built everything in the restaurant. When you walk through the wooded Pecan and Oak area and see the open pit, then sit at the outdoor picnic tables on the ranch, you can't help but feel like you have been invited to Grandma's in the Texas Hill Country. The aroma of the pit begins to make your mouth water and you cannot wait to dig in to dinner. The experience explains why the owners named their business The Salt Lick. They say, "a Salt Lick is something where all the animals congregate. There is something good, something essential about it."

The Salt Lick was one of few restaurants chosen to represent Austin to the world when officials were building Austin's new international airport. Shortly after international guests experienced the Roberts' Southern ranch hospitality, The Salt Lick began their mail order catalog business. The Austin Chronicle has consistently named The Salt Lick Best Barbecue in their Best of Austin features. When writers from People Magazine went in search of barbecue bliss, they landed at The Salt Lick where they proclaimed, "the pork ribs served throughout Texas were never less than wonderful; the best to be had are here at The Salt Lick."

The food at The Salt lick can be served family style ($15.95/person) and we would not want it any other way, just like Grandma's country house. The Family Style meal comes with loads of brisket, sausage, and ribs, potato salad, cole slaw, beans, bread, pickles, and onions. You can also get plates or sandwiches if you do not have a big group ($5.59-$9.95). The county is dry, but you can bring your own beer to The Salt Lick. The restaurant takes cash only, no credit cards or checks.

The Salt Lick has facilities to serve up to 2,000 people. You can dine indoors or outdoors, and there are rooms for private parties. The recently added Pavilion down the road is a popular setting for weddings. The Salt Lick has hosted reunions, small conventions, holiday parties, and they will even hook up their traveling smoker and come directly to your location. You can also have your BBQ order shipped right to your kitchen.

My favorite items are the pork ribs and the brisket. The potato salad and cole slaw are also very good. You can have tea, coffee or soft drinks with your meal. What I always hold out for is the dessert, and oh my....The Salt Lick has the best blackberry and peach cobbler I have EVER eaten! You can choose the Pecan Pie ala mode if the cobblers don't do it for you. Whatever the choice at The Salt Lick, you will leave the ranch knowing you have just eaten some of the best food in Texas.

The Salt Lick is located at 18001 FM 1826 in Driftwood, Texas.
(512) 858-4959 or (512) 894-3117