Amen. Salt Lick is unbeatable for atmosphere (although Iron Works comes close), but their brisket is useless, I think their ribs are weakly flavored, and even dessert is usually too syrupy. There are two things that I think Salt Lick wins at, though. One is their sauce, which is pretty non-traditional for Texas sauce. The other is their sausage, which is hard to beat.

Rudy's and Black's are my favorites, followed closely by Franklin's and Iron Works. Rudy's is just consistently good all around, although I stick to the north Austin location — others have been disappointing. Their brisket is actually very high quality and their creamed corn is heavenly. As for Black's, it would be my other go-to joint if it were anywhere near Austin. Their sausage is the only one I know that rivals that of Salt Lick; their brisket rivals Rudy's easily, beats Mueller's considerably, and is almost as good as Franklin's, in my opinion. Their ribs almost rival those of Iron Works, and that's saying something, although the comparison is closer for the pork ribs — I don't think anyone else comes even close to the beef ribs at Iron Works.