Hill Country

At an Independence Day affair in Madison Square Park, the juicy jalapeño-cheese sausage from Kreuz (rhymes with "Friday Night Lights"; $6) was a green-flecked beauty with a spicy attitude; the "Texas black-eyed caviar" ($4) had only their name to commend them. Circled back later for a trio of immense pork spare ribs ($7) whose strikingly pepper-flecked, ruddy exterior concealed pinkish, rubbery meat that I didn't feel obligated to fully clean from the bones.

The brisket — which I finally tackled at Hill Country's restaurant-market — is fantastic. Some reports suggested ordering half lean (lying across the top; $16.75 per pound) and half "moist" (front and center; $18.50 per pound), then mixing the two; next time, the fattier cut will do me very well by itself.

Chipotle deviled eggs ($3.95) tasted of lime, too; baked beans ($9.50 for about a pint) had a burnt molasses tang but precious few burnt ends; corn pudding ($8.50 for about a pint) was a warm, pleasant palate-cleanser. The banana pudding with vanilla wafers ($6) is nice, even if the wafers had been submerged for a spell.

Hill Country
30 West 26th St. (Broadway-Sixth Ave.)
212-255-4544