Finger Licking Good News

TMBBQ Fest lineup includes best barbecue joints in Texas, plus how to snag tickets

Louie Mueller Barbecue sausage ribs chicken brisket

Louie Mueller Barbecue is just one of the famed joints taking part in this year's festival.

If your idea of a perfect day is to spend it eating as much barbecue as you possibly can from the best joints in the world, then Texas Monthly has the festival for you. On Tuesday, July 29, tickets for the fifth TMBBQ Fest go on sale, giving Texans a chance to sample food from the most respected pitmasters in the state.

Inspired by TM's incredibly popular "50 Best BBQ Joints" list, this year's festival will be held on September 14 on the City Terrace at The Long Center.

VIP tickets are priced at $145 and regular admission tickets are $80. While all ticket holders will get the chance to sample the famous fare, VIP tickets do score you an extra hour in the barbecue extravaganza, two free drink tickets, a commemorative shirt and The Q Card, which is basically like a rewards card for barbecue lovers. Entry for kids ages 5 and under is $10. This is presumably since children are small and can't eat as much, but we know a few pre-schoolers who can put away their weight in ribs.

The 25 meat masters confirmed for this year's festival include Franklin Barbecue, Snow's BBQ, Cranky Frank’s Barbeque Company, Black's Barbecue and Louie Mueller Barbecue, just to name a few. And once the meat sweats kick in, never fear. Many of the vendors will also offer side dishes and desserts — and a cash bar is also available. Tickets go on sale at 10 am Tuesday and can be purchased here.

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Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.