If family-style takeout is on the menu, these 3 restaurants have a whole lot to offer

Enter Hill Country, where up to 3,000 pounds of meat can be cooked at a time in one of the restaurant’s three smokers and the side dishes could pass for family heirlooms. The most variety comes by way of the combination ’cue, an assortment of a half chicken, pound of brisket, sausage and spare ribs along with a choice of three sides. Even when I haven’t been the person picking up the order, the restaurant feels close, thanks to the scent of smoke offered up by the bagged feast and later, in the smoke-imbued gnawing. Each element has something to recommend it. I like the snap and the sly heat of the coarse red sausage, from Kreuz Market, the esteemed barbecue joint in Lockhart, Texas. The chicken benefits from a dunk in the coffee-colored house barbecue sauce after it’s removed from the smoker fueled with imported post oak wood; the sheen acquires its zest from chipotle and its fruitiness from peaches. As for the brisket, simply seasoned with black pepper, cayenne and salt, some slices unfold like an accordion when held up — the all-important jiggle factor at play. The sides I’m inclined to repeat balance out the meaty palooza. My pets are the bright and crisp “confetti” slaw; the chunky, skin-on, pickle-sharpened potato salad; and the peppery collard greens, each bite weighty with bacon. Those who like their drinks on the sweet side might appreciate the margaritas, sent out in plastic pints.