RonnieAdventure #0040 – The Salt Lick BBQ, Hayes County, Texas

After traveling all around the Johnson City area in Texas, we were hungry; so we asked a local cowboy for a recommendation on a good place to eat. Without even pausing, he said: “Salt Lick’s only place to eat in Texas.” We looked at a map and The Salt Lick didn’t appear to be too far from Johnson City, so we decided to take his advice.

After driving for about an hour we still hadn’t found The Salt Lick, so we decided to break the masculine rule and ask someone for directions.

Fortunately, the next cowboy we found was also very helpful. When asked how to find The Sale Lick, he whipped out his GPS, gave us specific directions, and explained that we still had about 20 mile to go. I told him that I was surprised at the distance because it didn’t look that far on the map. He chuckled and said: “Son, ya gatta realize that Rand McNally feller must be from New York City because in his book he puts Rhode Island on one full page and Texas only gets two pages. Why, we have counties in Texas that are larger than the entire state of Rhode Island! Those eastern folks just don’t realize that I can get in my pickup in the morning, drive all day, and still be in Texas.” I knew exactly what he was talking about because I also owned a pickup like that once.

When we arrived at The Salt Lick, we were surprised to find police directing traffic and tour buses lined up to find a place to park. We were tempted to leave because we thought it would take hours to get anything to eat, but then we considered the fact that the next restaurant was in Austin, so we decided to get in line and take our chances.

The receptionist at the main entrance gave us an electronic numbering device and much to our surprise, within about 15 minutes our number came up. We were assigned to Building B, which was a long dining hall that was packed with people sitting at wooden picnic tables. We were seated in an enclosed patio at the far end of the building.

I decided to try the short ribs, which were excellent, the beans were good, but I can’t say too much for the coleslaw and potato salad. It was really cold that night, so after dinner we didn’t walk around the complex or listen to the live country band that was playing in the courtyard.  Anyway, we can now say that we experienced The Salt Lick!