“I meet people from all over the place and take their pictures and put them all on the walls. I’ve never done a whole lot of traveling, so it’s real interesting to talk to people from different places. A little man that had been traveling for a while said that he liked to go from city to city and check out the barbecue places in each town that he stopped in. And he had stopped in some place in North Carolina and it had a sign up that said: ‘The Second-best Barbecue Place in the United States.’ And he ate some of the barbecue and it was very good, so then he asked the man, ‘Well, if you’re the second-best barbecue place, where’s the first?’ And the man told him, ‘It’s a little place called New Zion Church Barbecue, in Huntsville, Texas.’ So, he came here after eating there at that place. And that was the most interesting story, I tell you.”
—May Archie, manager (From Republic of Barbecue: Stories Beyond the Brisket, a UT/SFA oral history project. Read more»)
New Zion Bar-B-Q
Huntsville, TX 77340
Hours: Open Thur–Sat 11–6. Closed Sun–Wed.
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Texas Monthly rating: 4.50
TEXAS MONTHLY SAYS: 2008: Be advised: Pre-bagged slices of white bread are waiting for you on the table already.
For some 29 years, holy smoke has wafted from ancient black pits in front of this rickety, low-slung hall next door to the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The provender that emerges from the glowing embers (mostly oak, with a little hickory and pecan mixed in) has funded congregational activities and created an East Texas legend. Was it just our imagination or were the ribs, brisket, chicken, and sausage even better than in the past? We said a little prayer of thanks. Then dug in.
2008: For more than 30 years, holy smoke has wafted from ancient black pits in front of this rickety, low-slung hall next door to the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The provender that emerges from the glowing embers (mostly oak, with a little hickory and pecan mixed in) has funded congregational activities and created an East Texas legend. Was it just our imagination or were the ribs, brisket, chicken, and sausage even better than in the past? We said a little prayer of thanks. Then dug in.
BBQ SNOB SAYS: 2010: The joint, sometimes known as the “Church of the Holy Smoke,” was empty right at 11:00 when we entered. As the meat arrived at our table, we couldn’t wait to dig in. I grabbed a pork rib first, but it took quite an effort to pry the meat from the bone. The chicken had decent smokiness and overall flavor, but the white meat was terribly dry, and the skin on all the cuts was still chewy.
Sausage was the best, with plenty of black pepper and a nice snap. I tried the brisket last hoping for the best. I could see the gray slices sitting on the platter while I ate the other meats, and the lack of guttural sounds from my tablemates was a bad omen. The slices were chewy and lacked any sort of crust, smoke ring, or smokiness. The meat tasted like nothing more than baked roast beef. After all the hype, our carload of hopefulness was dashed. I know that the place is run by the church, so the staff is not always the same, but I’m not sure if the role of pitmaster is shared. If so, it may explain why our trip was so disappointing, but I’d assume they’d have their “A” team working on a Saturday. Either way, it’s going to be hard to justify another three-hour drive to test the theory.
