Updated Review: Brack's Backyard - Spicewood, TX

UPDATE September 2023

We first visited Brack's in February of 2023, and that review follows below. I've been back several times since then, and the pizza seems to get better each time. The wonderful Via 313 (cited below) has opened a branch in nearby Bee Cave, but Brack's Detroit pizza is even better. In February, I wasn't ready to dub Brack's as the Best Pizza in Texas, but now it seems obvious.

Detroit style. From https://bracksbackyard.com/

The pizzas are made in a very large trailer, but the A/C could not keep up with the 2023 summer heat in Texas, so the pizza making was shut down for a few months. Robert and Tracy used that time to add some lovely tables to their covered al fresco dining area and also perfect a new variety of pizza. What they call "Cracker Thin" is similar in construction to an East Coast "bar pie" or the "Midwestern Party Cut" or the "Chicago Thin" style.

Cracker Thin pizza at Brack's

The iconic versions of this style can be found at Vito and Nick's on the south side of Chicago, Lee's Tavern in Staten Island, Rubino's in Columbus Ohio, and Lucca Grill in Bloomington Illinois. Well, the "Cracker Thin" at Brack's beats them all. Robert worked hard to perfect the dough, and it shows. That thin crust has a perfect texture and a wonderful buttery flavor.

New service counter made from a retired trash truck

Like every pizza he makes, it's topped with superb cheese and in our case, some wonderful "spicy cup" pepperoni. I came for the Detroit pizza (we ordered one Detroit and one Cracker Thin pie), but I couldn't stop eating this wonderful thin pizza.

Beer on tap!

The New York style is temporarily off the menu (hard to get the dough right in the heat) but will return. There are a few other places that make two kinds of pizza very well, but I have never visited a pizzeria that has nailed three styles.

Prices have crept up a little since the opening, but are still quite modest for pizza of this superior standard. Even better, there's beer! We sampled all four of the craft beers made on site, and I was smitten with the $6 pint of Smash Pale Ale, which packed a lot of citrus and hoppy notes without the usual overpowering bitterness. There are also a few externally-made draft beers for $7.

Brilliant delectable bites

I'm grateful for the surprisingly excellent pizza options in the Hill Country west of Austin; Lefty's, Baldinucci, Sorellina, Pieous, Toss, 'Zza, and Via 313 are making some superb pies. But unequivocally, Brack's Backyard is the best pizza I've had in Texas.

Undercarriage of the perfect cracker thin crust

Original Review, February 2023

What is the best pizza in Texas? That's a tough call. Who has tried all the legit contenders in such a big state? I sure haven't (yet), but this review is the 34th Texas pizza I've evaluated, including places in Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and even a branch of a fine Dallas Neapolitan pizzeria.

Photo from https://bracksbackyard.com/

With that as background, there is a brand-new contender for the Best Pizza [that I've had] in Texas, and it's located in the sleepy outpost of Spicewood, a full hour west of Austin.

Trailer and patio at Brack's in Spicewood, TX

Brack's Backyard is located about a half mile off Route 71, occupying a sprawling space in open country. The pizzas are made in a large trailer adjacent to a covered patio nestled in among the live oak trees. Surrounded by a collection of old trucks, it's an idyllic spot for dining al fresco. The owners tell me that there are plans to break ground soon on an indoor dining room.

New York style pizza with mushrooms

Brack's has three pizza styles on the menu. One style includes the "Starters," a choice of Garlic Cheesy Bread or Tomato Pie; both are made with a Detroit pizza base with either cheese or tomato sauce. I didn't sample these, but they sound great and are only $7 each.

Detroit style with spicy cup pepperoni, "extra crispy" 

The other two pizza offerings are a thin crust New York style 12" (priced from $12 to $17) and an 8" x 10" Detroit style pan-baked pizza ($12 to $18). Given the modest prices, I ordered one of each even though I was planning it as dinner for two people.

At home, after re-heating

Let's begin with the New York pie; I ordered the basic cheese pizza with fresh mushrooms as a topping. I'm going to label this one as "sneaky good" because by most measures, including its appearance, it is a conventional round pizza. 

Great hole structure at the cornicione

Its shape was perfectly circular, as though the dough had been formed by a machine (it surely wasn't). It had a familiar golden color to the crust, and it was covered with a generous layer of mozzarella. It was especially fresh and tasty, even though I took it home in the box and reheated it for dinner about three hours later.

Underside reveals it was baked on a screen

At the cornicione, the artistry behind this pie became more obvious. It was crackly crispy on top and bottom, but the outer edges revealed a beautiful hole structure that is the hallmark of great dough. We ate half this pizza one night and then finished it a few nights later, and it was still great. Conventional construction, but made with terrific dough, high grade mozzarella, and sporting the extra umami of fresh mushrooms.

Conventional look, wonderful taste

If you're looking for some local comparisons to this New York pie, it would be Toss in Bee Cave or Lake Travis Pizza in Lakeway. All three places are elevating a familiar style of pizza by using superior ingredients and technique.

Looks burnt but it wasn't; tasted wonderful

Brack's uses the same dough for the Detroit pizza but employs a different proofing method. Some Chicago style pizzerias use a "universal Chicago dough" to make both deep dish and thin tavern style pies, often with compromises on both styles. Here, I'm happy to report, both styles are served well by the house-made dough.

The edges were spectacular

The star performer in my eyes (and palate) was the Detroit style pizza. I was intrigued by the authentic "Detroiter" which features a layer of flat pepperoni under the cheese and "spicy cup" pepperoni riding on top, but I'm not yet converted to the Chicago and Detroit habit of burying meat ingredients where they don't get the benefit of oven crisping. I ordered a cheese pizza with spicy cup as the topping.

Underside of the Detroit pizza

For those not familiar with "spicy cup," this natural-casing pepperoni is a variety "that Adam Kuban, former Serious Eats managing editor and proprietor of Margot's Pizza, refers to as 'crispy grease chalices,' for the way in which they cup up and fry around the edges, their interiors glistening with pools of rendered pepperoni fat." (source: www.seriouseats.com/spicy-spring-sicilian-pizza-recipe).

Spicy cup, aka "Cup n' Char" pepperoni

I chose the "extra crispy" option and opted to have it unsliced (I ordered both pies unsliced, which makes heating up at home a lot easier). It was indeed extra crisp and did not taste a bit burnt even though it looked a tad scorched. 

Ethereal, pillowy interior

The crust of this pizza was a pillowy dream. It was thick and dense yet light, soft but substantial. And just brilliantly crisp on the bottom, and off-the-chart crispy/crunchy along the edges where (as with all Detroit pizza), the cheese gets caramelized in the blue steel pan used for baking a Detroit pizza.

The Grande Mozzarella cheese (same as the NY pizza) was excellent, but here it was a role player because the twin racing stripes of red sauce on top were astounding. It was thick, dense, and jam-packed full of tomato flavor. I rarely get excited about the sauce on any pizza, but this was other-worldly.

View from the street entrance

Each bite included the magnificent crunch of the crust bottom, the al dente perfection of the fluffy and slightly chewy center, the richness of the premium mozzarella, the zing of the generously applied tomato sauce, and the crispy-chewy umami kick from the spicy cup pepperoni. Pizza Perfection.

This pizza was THAT GOOD even after sitting in a box for three hours before my gentle 10-minute oven re-heat (on a perforated pan, 350 degrees).

Owners Tracey and Robert

In my nearly four years in Texas, I've felt blessed to be about 30 minutes away from the wonderful Detroit pizzas at Via 313. During my time in Pennsylvania, I had several occasions to eat the even-better Detroit pizzas lovingly made by my pizza hero Norma Knepp at her once-a-week pizza operation (she has since retired from regular pizza making).

Here in Spicewood Texas, I've finally found a Detroit pizza that can stand proudly next to those sublime pizzas by Norma (who won the Caputo Cup for her New York style pie). This is an amazing pizza, it's priced well below other pizzas of such high quality, and the owners are a nice couple who plan to expand their operation to include the craft beer they are brewing.

I'm going back soon, eager to try some less traditional takes on the Detroit pizza, such as the Báhn Mi ($16, with hoisin sauce base, Brack's pulled pork, Grandé mozzarella, pickled onion, carrot and radish slaw, fresh jalapeño, cilantro and sriracha mayo) and the Smokehouse Legend ($18, with Brack's brisket, pulled pork, smoked sausage, bacon, fresh jalapeños, red onions, and BBQ sauce drizzle).

Yellow Submarine bus among the vintage collection

Best pizza I've had in Texas? Until now, the top contenders were the superb Detroit style pies at Via 313 in Austin, the hybrid Neapolitan at Playland Pizza (San Antonio), and the Roman style pizza at Baldinucci in Westlake. Brack's stands with any of them, but it's too close to crown a king!

We're living in a pizza renaissance, and Brack's is a prime example. It's among the very best not just in Texas, but anywhere. And it's the best value, hands down.

Brack's Backyard
500 CR 413, Spicewood, TX

830-250-7453