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The BBQ Atlas
Texas barbecue

The Salt Lick BBQ

TexasAustin, United States$$$$

The Atlas Review

The BBQ Atlas

The Salt Lick brings Hill Country barbecue to the gate — no reservation needed, just a boarding pass.

The Salt Lick is a Texas Hill Country barbecue operation that Thurman and Hisako Roberts started in 1967. Their method is deliberate: sear, then slow-cook over coals. This outpost lives beyond security at Austin Airport, open daily from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., serving passengers between now and the last flight of the day.

It is barbecue for people in transit — which means it's barbecue for people who know what they want and don't have time to waste. Order at the counter, eat standing up or find a seat, and move on. No pretense. No queue around the block. Just the thing itself, done the way it's been done since the beginning.

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