Barbecue is lips-licking good and a staple of Texas tradition.

The love of barbecue makes some break out in song. It also attracts people from around the world to eat piles of smoky meat.

Howard Nielson runs a barbecue restaurant in Rochester, N.Y. He came to Austin for the National Barbecue Association's (NBBQ) national convention.

For him, the trip was a fact-finding mission.

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"I said by the time I get back to Rochester I'm probably not going to like barbecue because I'll be eating it every day down here," he said.

While in town, convention attendees hit at least a dozen different joints.

NBBQ member Bonalyn Nelsen said the Texas barbecue restaurants are known throughout the world.

"They're world famous," she said. "You've seen them on television, you've read about them in books and here's an opportunity to see them for yourself."

NBBQ member Ron Montgomery agreed.

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"The barbecue joints are just part of Texas history," he said.

Whether it's smoked on a historic pit, or grilled in the backyard, barbecue brings people together.

"There is just a huge tradition of smoking and grilling and cooking outside in Texas," Bob Carroll, of BBQ Outfitters, said. "We're an outdoor society."

And, some people, like filmmaker Chris Elley, say almost everything in our society can involve barbecue.

"Whether you're talking about politics, religion, anything that happens in Texas and involves a group of people – if it's worth doing – barbecue is being served there," he said.

Elley put 10,000 miles on his car putting together a film about Texas culture.

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"You head out to the Hill Country, or down to the South Plains, you're going to get a little different at each joint you go to and in each town," he said. "It's not like when you go to the East Coast and you just get a bunch of vinegar-sapped meat."

Barbecue enthusiasts agree.

"There's no barbecue anywhere else like in Texas," barbecue lover Seemay Chou said.

But, you can find it deep in the heart of most Texas towns.

"You hear, 'We can't get this in Seattle. We can't get this in New York. We can't get this in Germany. We don't have this in Canada,'" Roland Cantu, of Downtown Austin's Iron Works Barbecue, said.

	Many of the Texas barbecue restaurants are known across the globe.

NBBQ member Ed Wilson said barbecue is more than a staple of the Texas community.

"To be in Austin, to be in Texas, this is barbecue country and also what barbecue means to all of us," he said.