– Gatlin’s BBQ in Houston is ditching its original building for a larger location about a mile and a half north.– Russell Roegels is rebranding his barbecue restaurant in Houston from Baker’s Ribs to Roegels Barbecue Co.– Hinze’s BBQ in Wharton was destroyed by fire in
Keith (left) and Ricky (right) MumphordCo-Owner/ Pitmaster: Mumphord’s Place; Opened 2000Age: 57Smoker: Direct heat steel pitWood: Mesquite and OakWhen your family came through Indianola, Texas, which suffered two hurricanes and was essentially abandoned by 1887, you know the family’s been around a while. That’s where the Mumphord’s landed
Last week, one of the Big Four meatpackers in the U.S. announced plans to produce sustainable beef, but environmentalists did not rejoice. According to a company press release, Cargill Cattle Feeders and Vela Environmental, in a joint venture, will “create a verified beef supply chain sustainability assessment program
Brave new hogs.
The smokers were everywhere. Co-owner Rhonda Scales had led me through a swinging door into the kitchen where a hulking rotisserie pit was churning with tomorrow’s briskets. “We use all oak,” she told me as we walked out the back door. Split oak logs were piled around two more trailer-mounted
– “This is white trash ambience with four star barbecue.” Billy Woodrich describing his restaurant Billy’s Oak Acres BBQ.– Beef giant Cargill looks to create a sustainable line of beef.– “Qibuchang village is to stinky tofu what Lockhart, Texas is to barbecue.”– The NYT
Owner/Pitmaster: McMillan’s Bar-B-Q; Opened 1974Age: 69Smoker: Wood-fired Offset SmokerWood: Oak, Mesquite, and PecanLouis McMillan wasn’t happy, and I knew he wouldn’t be. I was in his restaurant to interview him because he’d been honored as one of Texas Monthly’s Top 50 BBQ joints, but we had a longer history. While
Conventional wisdom holds that traditional Texas barbecue doesn’t need to be sauced. That Texans have an aversion to the stuff. Case in point? A recent primer on national barbecue styles in America on Eater noted that “while the rest of the nation is busy making barbecue sauces, many
It was a Sunday morning and Jake Adam York was preaching. Poetry was his scripture as he read his own work to a mostly hung-over crowd of Southern Foodways Alliance symposium attendees. Through the mental fog we were captivated. “I know that good poetry shares a spirit with
– Greg Gatlin of Gatlin’s BBQ is partnering with Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd on a new barbecue joint in downtown Houston.– J. C. Reid of the Houston Chronicle looks around Houston for barbecue joints gone by.– The government’s new calorie labeling requirements means
Stiles Switch BBQ in Austin is celebrating the days leading up to Christmas in a big way. For the third year running, there will be twelve days of smoked meat. Well, Stiles Switch has smoked meat on the menu every day, but from December 9th through the
The popularity of Texas barbecue—and specifically Texas-style smoked brisket—has launched a frenzy of new activity. New joints pop up all the time, and relatively new pitmasters are hailed as masters of craft. Many of these places and people are deserving of considerable attention and high praise, but we shouldn’t lose sight of what
Thanksgiving is just four days away, so most of us have already charted a plan for getting a turkey on the table, but in case you haven’t, here are a few helpful ideas.Smoke Your Own – If you want a simple recipe for a whole smoked bird, then Aaron Franklin’s
Owner/Pitmaster: Serious BarbecueAge: 45Smoker: Wood-fired Offset SmokerWood: Red Oak, White Oak, and PecanThere isn’t much that Adam Perry Lang hasn’t done in the world of barbecue. He has authored multiple books on barbecue including Serious Barbecue, BBQ 25, and Charred & Scruffed. He found success in a brief stint on the
Two weeks after this review ran, Russell Roegels ended his franchise agreement with Baker’s Ribs and rebranded the business as Roegels Barbecue Co. Great barbecue at a chain restaurant? I was skeptical to say the least, but in Houston I stopped at the lone Baker’s Ribs location in town.
– The Slow Bone in Dallas is serving a free turkey dinner with all the trimmings on Thanksgiving Day. It is open to all from 1-4.– Southern Living has named Robert Moss as their Contributing Barbecue Editor.– Robert Moss’s first barbecue column is out on the
Texas seems to export our barbecue styles as far and wide as our natural gas. Earlier this year I noted how often the aesthetic of meat on butcher paper, a decidedly Texas design is imitated on both coasts (and a few places in between). But as anyone who has
The Wall Street Journal felt the swift and vicious wrath of Texas barbecue fans this weekend. Austin, the Best New Barbecue Destination was written to shed light on the burgeoning barbecue scene in the capital city. Instead, it will be remembered only for comically praising Franklin Barbecue’s boneless brisket
The Guinness World Record for the world’s longest sausage, from the UK, checks in at just over thirty-six miles. The longest smoked sausage, from Germany, was 1,581 feet, 5 inches, but the longest smoked sausage in Texas (probably) was on display yesterday at Meat
Shawn Eagle and Cody Smithers opened a Denton barbecue joint in a strip mall with $5,000 from a Kickstarter campaign and a big dream. A week into running the business they shared with the local paper the desire to make the Texas Monthly Top 50 barbecue list. Five months
– Here’s why good barbecue joints run out of meat.– The most important employee at a barbecue joint might be the person cutting the meat.– Ronnie Killen and Wayne Mueller are coming to Austin for a barbecue pop-up on 11/17.– A new homemade sausage
Patience. Not only is it a virtue, it’s the key to good brisket. No meat in barbecue suffers more when it’s subjected to the foolish habits of the impatient pitmaster: cranking the heat too high in the smoker; obsessively opening and closing the lid to check on the smoker’s contents; or just taking the
Tracy Frydberg attended the Kosher BBQ Championship in San Antonio and filed this report:When we eat smoked brisket in Texas, we can stop and thank the Jewish community. Or, at least that connection can be firmly made. As Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor, noted in a column on the
I’d like to be able to say more about Mesquite Wood Bar-B-Q, but the items available from the smoker the day I stopped in didn’t allow for it. I stood perusing the menu on the small porch at the ordering window that faces Drake Street. A few blocks south the county
– Not your average backyard barbecue:How to barbecue a whole steer: @GGBeristain @ParaleloN http://t.co/VaxoJKR39H — Robb Walsh (@robbwalsh) November 1, 2014 – Brian Williams talks to David Letterman about his love for the Salt Lick BBQ. – KLRU in Austin is seeking funding for
Photo provided by Billy Ray NelsonOwner/ Pitmaster: Hitch-N-Post BBQ; Opened 2009Age: 64Smoker: Wood-fired Indirect Heat SmokerWood: Hickory, Red Oak, White Oak & PecanAfter he retired from his duties as a Polk County sheriff’s deputy, Billy Ray Nelson decided to turn his hobby into a retirement plan. He opened Hitch-N-Post BBQ five years
The only thing easy about the restaurant business is failure. For every five new restaurants that open in the U.S. this week, three will be gone within three years. That’s a sixty percent failure rate, and my guess is that it’s even higher with barbecue joints. In barbecue, the waste
Larry Lavine has been an accomplished restaurateur in Dallas for decades, but he’s best known for founding the Chili’s chain in the seventies. He sold the business thirty years ago, even before baby back ribs ever made it to the menu, and now he’s in the brisket game. After plenty of
– The Daily Show filmed in Austin this week. The Monday episode started with an homage to the show Dallas in the intro, and featured Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue among other notable Austinites.– Later in the show, correspondent Jordan Klepper showed off the barbecue lei
Samuel Jones (right) with NC BBQ legend Ed Mitchell (left)Co-Owner/Pitmaster: Skylight Inn; Opened 1947 in Ayden, North CarolinaAge: 33Cooker: Direct heat brick pitWood: Oak and HickorySamuel Jones is part of a North Carolina family that was cooking barbecue back in the nineteenth century. He’s been at the restaurant since birth, and surmises
Bacon is more popular than ever; cooking with lard is no longer taboo; and lardo—cured pork back fat—is a luxury item on charcuterie plates around the country. America is slowly rediscovering its love of pork fat, and yet good, fatty pork is still hard to come by.It all started back in 1977
Legendary whole hog cooker Samuel Jones is bringing a special taste of North Carolina barbecue to Dallas this Sunday (tickets here). The Jones family has been cooking whole hogs in eastern North Carolina since 1830.In 1947, Samuel’s grandfather, Pete Jones, opened the Skylight Inn restaurant in
I didn’t go looking for a barbecue theme as I drove around the rural roads northwest of Fort Worth, but I found plenty. It seems in the Azle/Rhome/Haslet part of the state that a barbecue joint can’t operate unless it has hand-cut fries (five out of five that I visited)
– “In 2013 the U.S. produced almost the same amount of beef as it did in 1976, about 13 million tons. It achieved this while slaughtering 10 million fewer cattle.” From an in-depth look into the cattle industry, with a focus on Texas, from National Geographic.– National Geographic
Former Owner: Kreuz Market; Opened 1900 (current location 1999)Age: 69Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: Post OakIt’s the most famous family feud in Texas barbecue. A disagreement between Nina Sells and her bother Rick Schmidt caused a rift that sent the historic Kreuz Market packing. After ninety-nine years in the same building,
If you’re a Texan looking to expand your barbecue literacy with a trip to the Missouri/Kansas border, be warned that the brisket you order will not resemble the beautifully carved, thick, juicy slices of black crusted beef you’ve come to expect in Texas. Rather, an order of brisket in KC
The Rabrokers have been selling their family recipe German sausage out of Westphalia Market since 1963. The tiny town of Westphalia sits between Zabcikville and Lott on Highway 320 (about twenty minutes east of Temple), and the market is a great reason to take a detour. They make several kinds
Good barbecue in West Texas is about as common as an oak tree west of the Pecos River. Consequently, it was a revelation when we found Pody’s BBQ in Pecos a couple years back. When I first visited Pody’s back in 2012 it was brand new. A search
– Neil Patrick Harris will be the host of the Oscars. Along with announcing his big news, he also announced his love for the Salt Lick.– “I actually had my first barbecue here.” – Lorde at ACL Festival in Austin.– La Barbecue fed Eminem
Former Owner: Kreuz Market; Opened 1900 (current location 1999)Age: 69Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: Post OakRick Schmidt owned Kreuz Market from 1984 to 2011. He bought it from his father Edgar “Smitty” Schmidt, and sold it to his son Keith. Rick took a momentous step in moving the business from its
Last week I spent some time in West Texas eating barbecue. I’ve done a few tours through the area already, so I know not to get excited when I see “German sausage” on a menu, but I had a temporary memory lapse. The prospect of finding a coarsely ground and smoky beef
Nothing about this bungalow with a French name screamed smoked meat. Well manicured ivy enveloped the Épicerie sign out front, and the interior looked more like a wine and cheese bar, but the menu had a different message. Smoked house made boudin and beef pastrami, a smoked goat sandwich special,
You’ve probably didn’t know there is an Oklahoma, Texas, but that’s where you’ll find The Wooden Spoke on a corner gravel lot along FM Road 2978. It’s officially in Magnolia, but the Oklahoma Cemetery and the Oklahoma Community Center are just a block away. Despite that, owner and
– John Lewis of la Barbecue in Austin is opening a new barbecue joint in…Charleston, South Carolina. He’s bringing some beef to a state where pork is king. Word is, when the doors open to Lewis Barbecue in 2015, it’ll be just down the street from a new
Owner/Pitmaster: Leon’s World’s Finest In & Out Bar-B-Que; Opened 1987Age: 74Smoker: Wood-fired Rotisserie SmokerWood: Post OakLeon O’Neal didn’t get into the barbecue business until he was forty-five years old, but he’s managed to be successful in Galveston for nearly three decades in a converted house that once contained
If you’ve spent any time on the interstates of Texas, you’ve probably seen barbecue restaurants advertised on numerous billboards, blue service signs, or obnoxiously huge structures situated along the access road. Who among hasn’t seen one of those logos and thought, is the food worth stopping for? If a place needs that
This article originally appeared on ModernFarmer.com and is reprinted here with the permission of Modern Farmer. Photo by Nicholas McWhirterYou’re experiencing a rapid heartbeat, flush cheeks, and a sweaty brow. All are symptoms of overindulgence, but not of the alcoholic kind. Rather than an elevated BAC, the
It’s just a mile or so off 190, the state highway that runs through Livingston, but Florida’s Kitchen feels like it’s way out in the country. I passed it on my way to visit Hitch-N-Post BBQ, a Texas Monthly top 5o barbecue joint, just another mile
– The Dallas Observer released their Best of Dallas list, and in the food categories, barbecue is well represented. Tim Byres of Smoke received the Best Chef nod, Peggy Sue BBQ was recognized for their baby back ribs, Cattleack BBQ had the best barbecue
Pitmaster: Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que; Opened 1962Age: 64Smoker: Charcoal-fired steel cooker and electric rotisserie smokerWood: Lump Mesquite CharcoalThere’s more than one cook at a big operation like Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in Llano, but Bo Phillips is the one who gets up early enough to
