South Austin Barbecue Restaurant
ARTZ RIB HOUSE
Boasts "BEST RACK IN TOWN"

According to many Austin residents this barbecue
restaurant serves the best ribs is town. Photo/Kent Wang

Artz Rib House
2330 S. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78704

HOURS: Monday – Saturday, 11 am to 10 pm. Sunday noon to 9 pm.

Bite into Artz ribs and you can't help but smile. Many Austinites would not disagree with this barbecue restaurants claim that they serve the best racks in town.

Artz is owned and operated by Art Blondin and Zenobia Sutton (the Z in Artz) both are well known Austin celebrities.

Art handles a lot of the cooking duties while Zee supervises the dining room and bar. She's one of those folks that make you feel like she's inviting you into her home when she takes you to your red checked tablecloth covered table.

Some people reek of phony friendliness. Not here. I'm convinced Art and Zee consider it a privilege when you select their restaurant.

Artz is a perfect example of what a neighborhood barbecue restaurant should be. Comfortable, clean, laid back with great down home service.

Artz menu transcends that of most Texas barbecue. For instance, the daily specials listed on the blackboard are the best down home cooking in Austin. Best meat loaf I've eaten. Incredible ham steak. Open faced beef sandwich. My friend, that's before we get to the barbecue.

I'll make this real simple. Order the mixed barbecue plate. Your choice of three; country style pork ribs, baby backs, jumbo beef ribs, brisket, chicken and sausage.

Artz chicken is exceptional but I have to recommend what this barbecue restaurant does best – RIBS!! Get the plate with the three rib selections, country style, baby backs and jumbo beef rib.

I could go on forever describing the subtle nuances of each but it would spoil the surprise. Exceptional feast. 'Nuff said.

Now, let's talk sides, soups and burgers. Going to Artz and not ordering the holy trinity of remarkable ribs is tough. In case you're not of the gnawing-on-a-bone kind, check out the old time, kick serious butt charbroiled cheeseburger. One of the best in the city. Order a bowl of tortilla soup and sweet potato pecan pie to go with your burger. The raspberry peach cobbler and French bread pudding with brandy sauce also screams for your attention. Both are unique and very tasty twists on traditional Texas deserts.

You can also buy meat by the pound. The rib feast family pack ($46.99) includes one rack of baby backs, one slab of beef ribs, four country style ribs plus a pint each of potato salad, coleslaw, pinto beans as well as Artz barbecue sauce, pickles, onions and wheat bread. Makes me horny just thinking about it… I mean hungry…

Now there's one more thing you should know about this barbecue restaurant. For some reason there's a VEGGIE BURGER on the menu. A sacrilege. I don't know why. There were two known vegetarians in Texas. One died of hunger, the other of shame. I'll bet this barbecue restaurant doesn't sell many veggie burgers.

Go with Artz ribs, burgers, deserts, chicken and down home daily specials. It's all exceptional in an absolutely homey atmosphere. Artz offers music of the folk, bluegrass variety most nights of the week.

Want a genuine Austin good time? Looking for great
barbecue food in Austin? Go to Artz for dinner, pig out
on ribs, enjoy the show and eat some sweet potato pie.
Pictured above are the Studebackers. Photo/Barbara Lynne

Austin at its best. Art and Zee, you're a local treasure and I love you. Keep it up!

MENU: A lot of hard choices at this barbecue restaurant. So many of my favorites are here, I always eat way to much!

APPETIZERS: include tortilla soup (ask for the recipe, but your's won't be near as good as Artz'), dinner salad and nachos (the one with smoked chicken is really good).

SANDWICHES: sliced brisket, chopped beef, sausage wrap, charbroiled chicken breast (with or without bacon and swiss cheese), grilled club, smoked turkey. Not to mention charbroiled hamburgers, with your choice of cheddar, swiss, bacon, jalapeño, grilled onion (another favorite!) or teriyaki. And we already covered the veggie burger.

ENTREES: Come with potato salad, cole slaw, pinto beans, pickles, onion and bread. Country style pork ribs, baby back ribs, jumbo beef ribs, smoked brisket, smoked chicken, smoked sausage, combo plate, mixed barbecue plate, gilled vegetable plate, grilled shrimp plate.

DESSERTS: Sweet potato pecan pie, banana pudding, raspberry peach cobbler, mousse pie, ice cream, french bread pudding w/brandy sauce.

CATERING: Artz has a private party room that seats up to 60, as well as off-site catering. Give 'em a call, just let them know which menu you need, private party or off-site.

DON'T MISS: The ribs!!

MAIL ORDER: No. Not barbecue anyway. You can order their t-shirt, I think it's the one with Best Racks In Town on it.

LOCATION: From downtown Austin (1st and Congress) it's about three miles south on Lamar Blvd. It will be on your right.

LINK: This opens in a new window, Artz Rib House.

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