Sauce Taken Off The Menu At Lockhart Smokehouse

Sunday afternoon, Eater stopped by Lockhart Smokehouse over in Oak Cliff's Bishop Arts District for a birthday celebration, but secretly all we could think was: what's this gonna be like now that "No Forks! No Sauce! No Kidding!" is a thing of the past? What we found: forks and kidding, but no sauce.

Originally founded by meat purists earlier this year, Lockhart took a powerful stance against condiments and cutlery, and when Daniel Vaughn of Full Custom Gospel BBQ found not one, not two, not three, but four different sauces on offer during a visit a few weeks ago, he caused a tiny uproar in the local barbeque community. Still, he brought back photo proof of two tomato-based, one mustard-based, and one ranch-style sauce.

Though we hoped to top our multi-pounds of brisket, ribs and jalapeno sausage with a little foreign flavor, we were shot down mightily by pitmaster Tim McLaughlin, who was chopping meat behind the counter. The sauce was a one-time thing, he said, for Father's Day pulled pork sandwiches, so stop asking. He--jokingly, we think--added that because of all the sauce-related hullabaloo, they might bring it back intermittently, just to screw with Dallas foodies. Forks, however, are still available for those willing to donate $1 to a local educational charity.

· Lockhart Smokehouse Starts Serving Sauce [-E-]
· Lockhart Smokehouse Caves, Serves Sauce [Full Custom Gospel BBQ]