CHRISTINE LECLAIR

The Salt Lick
18001 FM 1826
Driftwood, Texas 78619
(512) 858-4959
www.saltlickbbq.com

“When I started working here, I hadn’t eaten here. I hadn’t been here before that. I just came in—had to get a job. So, I thought I want somewhere close. I’m tired of driving for an hour across town to get to work. So, I wanted somewhere close and this was the closest place to home out here…then, it was only open four days a week; it was only open Thursday through Sunday. It was kind of a weekend job, but it worked out well.” – Christine LeClair

In 1988, after ten years in the insurance industry, Christine LeClair became a member of the wait staff at The Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas. Twenty years later she still enjoys the flexible hours, the generous tips, and the laid-back atmosphere at the restaurant, but relishes the off days when she can spend time with her grandchildren. Since 1988, LeClair has witnessed several changes in the employees’ uniforms, major expansion of the dining areas, growth in on-site catering, and a general explosion in the popularity of The Salt Lick. Still, she maintains that the best way to serve her customers is essentially unchanged—you must be flexible, courteous, and honest.

Listen to this 2-minute audio clip of Christine LeClair talking about the different roles women have at the Salt Lick. [Windows Media Player required. Go here to download the player for free.]

NOTE: What follows is a portion of the original interview that has been edited for length. To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here.

EDITED TRANSCRIPT

Subject: Christine LeClair
Date: June 8, 2007
Location: The Salt Lick – Driftwood, TX
Fieldwork Director: Dr. Elizabeth Engelhardt
Fieldwork Team: Melanie Haupt and Carly Kocurek

Produced in association with the American Studies Department at The University of Texas at Austin and the Central Texas Barbecue Association.

---

Melanie Haupt: OK, so now we’re recording. Could you state your full name and date of birth for the record?

Christine LeClair: Christine LeClair. One, three, fifty-six.

Okay. And I am Melanie Haupt. And—in the interest of full disclosure—I know—I worked with Kris here at the Salt Lick in 1989 and 1990. So—um—so, how long have you worked at the Salt Lick, Kris?

Nineteen years.

Nineteen years. Wow.

Give or take [Laughs].

And how has the Salt Lick changed during that time?
Mostly it has just grown, really expanded a lot, done a lot more catering, a lot more offsite expanding and buildings, and serving a lot more people.

---

OK. So, we were talking about the uniforms, and they are a lot more comfortable now and I also noted the buildings are all air-conditioned now. And how has that, kind of—changed the way you work? Is that—?

It’s definitely made it a lot cooler. I think we get a lot more customers during the summer—because there is some. I mean the main restaurant still has the open-air atmosphere even though there is air-conditioning blowing. So, it can still be hot at times, especially if it gets crowded—or during the day—but most of the people expect it.

---

So tell me about—you said you were getting a lot more customers. How has the— how has the clientele changed, if at all, as the Salt Lick has grown over the years?

I don’t think the clientele has changed that much. We’re getting more people from out of state, out of country—than we have ever had, but—I mean—we’re getting more clients—or customers—all around. So, to me, it’s natural to get more from out of state and out of the country. But, we do get a lot of visitors, and we get a lot of repeat business too. So—

Well, I’m living proof that you guys get a lot of repeat business [Laughs]. Well, and I guess I wonder, when you have people coming in from different states, different regions, different countries, do you notice difference in the way that you’re treated as a member of the service industry—as a female member of the service industry?

No, uh-uh. I think they—you know—they’re glad to be here, glad for some good barbecue, looking forward to some good barbecue. We might have a little bit of a problem because they don’t realize you have to bring your own alcohol.  Since it’s B.Y.O.B, any alcohol you want, you have to bring. But that’s usually—the most that first time customers’ aggravation is no alcohol.

---

Do you find there’s much difference between the way that the men work and the way the women work here at Salt Lick?

I think there’s differences just like there is in the outside world. You know at home, the men do things a little differently than the women do. So, I find us the same here. The men don’t like rolling silverware, but other than that [Laughs].  But, they’ll carry the bus totes for you.

---

And when we were here for dinner a couple of weekends ago, I noticed that there was a woman at the meat table, as well—which is something that you never usually see.

Rosio cutting the meat?

Yeah. She was cutting the sausage, if I remember correctly—and you rarely see a woman working the pit. And, so I’m kind of wondering, is she kind of like the exception to the rule here?

When she started out washing dishes and then when she was ready to transfer up and move on—try something else—she said she wanted to do that. And they said, “OK”—and that’s where she stayed. She pretty much cuts the meat and that’s it. She doesn’t mix any—most women move up and start doing the coleslaw and the potato salad, mixing it and stuff, or making the desserts, and she didn’t want that.

Yeah, yeah. She seemed just as—I mean, she seemed fast and efficient, and she was holding her own, so—like I would expect a woman to [Laughs]. Now are the—now, when I started the Salt Lick, I was a drink girl, and then I worked as a host, and then I went on to wait tables very briefly. Is it still drink girl? Or is it—do they have—?

It’s nearly always a drink girl. Every once in a while we’ll have a guy do it if we’re shorthanded or something, but we still call them the drink girl [Laughs]. But they don’t always start out a drink girl. They start out—it depends on where the manager wants them. Sometimes you start out as a hostess, or drinks, or dessert. Now we have a dessert person who does the desserts.

---

Yeah, so, you said you grew up in central Texas? I’m sorry we’re kind of boggled around here, as things kind of resurface in my brain. Did you grow up kind of having any of the other, kind of, long standing barbecue places?

No. No, mother cooked. Mother was a stay at home mom so we ate at home for ninety-nine percent of my life. So, we rarely went out. She only worked two or three years of our growing up life, I guess. So—and then we only got to eat out on Fridays [Laughs]. So, she cooked and it was the same thing. She could cook a roast, but that’s about it [Laughs].

Wow. And, so when was the first time you ate at the Salt Lick? Was it when you started working here?

Right. When I started working here, I hadn’t eaten here. I hadn’t been here before that. So—

Wow. So, you just answered an ad and—

I just came in—had to get a job. So, I thought I want somewhere close. I’m tired of driving for an hour across town to get to work. So, I wanted somewhere close and this was the closest place to home out here. So, and then it was only open four days a week; it was only open Thursday through Sunday. It was kind of a weekend job, but it worked out well.

---

How do you deal with the irate customers?

I usually try to calm them down, figure out what the problem is, try to take care of it if I can—if I can or can’t, whatever. Just let them know. Be honest with them.

Yeah, that’s—do you have any particular, like, doosey stories about strange things that have happened while you’re working here?

Not off the top of my head. I can’t think—there was one episode with a guy throwing up. That was when we had a lot of college kids coming. The guy was sitting there throwing up, but that was just vulgar [Laughs]. That was nasty—throwing up in the beer box and it running out the bottom. That was just—

Ew.

That’s the one that always gets—it was nasty. It was just like, of course, the guy was so drunk he didn’t know what he did, but at least he didn’t throw up all over the restaurant. So—

[Laughs] At least he had the good sense to—

Try to throw up in the box. Yes, in the beer box. So, that’s the one that always comes to mind, and that was over ten years ago. So—[Laughs]

Most people mind their P’s and Q’s I guess.

Yeah. They’ve gotten better, and we have sheriffs on the weekend helping with crowd control outside. And if we have a problem, and they’re also here for security reasons. So if we have a problem, they are more than willing to come and help us.

---

Is it interesting seeing all the—because, I mean, I know that just in the city it gets really strange during South by Southwest because I go to all these like taco stands and stuff and there are all these people, you know. Does it really change the character of this place when there is an event like that going on?

They—they all come out to eat, and you can tell it’s a little bit different clientele because there’s so many musicians, I guess, that come out and want to come and eat while they’re here. But I mean they’re nice. They are just dressed a little differently I guess you could say. So—but I’m horrible. I don’t—I don’t listen to music that well. I don’t know music that well, and I’m horrible with recognizing people. Somebody usually has to tell me, “That’s so and so.”

---

I’m just wondering because I worked at a toy store in central Austin for a while and during South by Southwest it would get so busy, and people would just be all over—it was like Christmas Two.

Yeah, yeah. Well, we’re a little further out, but if they hadn’t planned on coming out here, they wouldn’t necessarily come out here. So, but we get a lot of, you know, after South by Southwest, we still are busy. Like on the Monday after because that’s when all the musicians can get away and do what they want to do, either before it actually starts or after it’s over for a couple of days. So—

It’s an event to come out here. I mean, you don’t—you don’t just drive around and go, “Oh, let’s go to the Salt Lick—that sounds good.” You know, you definitely have to plan it.

Or—or if you’re one of those people that does that, they usually come in going, “I got lost.” They normally get lost coming—trying to get here.

---

To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here.

Introduction | Interactive Map | Oral Histories | About & Contact | More Trails...