Wood Is Hard to Find, and Pitmasters Are Scrambling
As barbecue joints proliferate across the state, wood for smoking meats and reliable, affordable suppliers are increasingly scarce.
Daniel Vaughn is the author of The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue, the coauthor of Whole Hog BBQ: The Gospel of Carolina Barbecue, and the barbecue editor at Texas Monthly. He has traveled the world sampling smoked meats at over 1,800 barbecue joints, most of which are in Texas.
As barbecue joints proliferate across the state, wood for smoking meats and reliable, affordable suppliers are increasingly scarce.
“The dark prince of barbecue,” who always found a new audience to wow with his smoked beef, changed the Texas scene for good.
Smoke’N Ash BBQ pays homage to its dual traditions while wholly, joyfully embracing something new.
Porkstrami, smoked corn dogs, and multiple brisket breakfast biscuits made our barbecue editor's list of superlative dishes this year.
Free of the chain's fixed menu, Bingham and his co-owners traffic in excellent experimentation and well-smoked meat with their Longview barbecue trailer.
With newly perfected sliced brisket, porkstrami, and a chopped brisket and pimento cheese sandwich, East Texas joint Wright On Taco is worthy of the "& BBQ" it just added to its name.
Last November, an explosion at the beloved smoked turkey company destroyed 87,000 turkeys. Just in time for this year’s holiday season, the Greenbergs are back in business.
Kenneth Redwine is building on his father’s barbecue dreams with his namesake food truck in Farmersville.
Bread at most barbecue joints is an afterthought. Slices of cheap white bread are handed out for free and often end up in the trash. So I was struck by a new food truck in Austin where the bread, in this case biscuits, is as much of a star as
Founded as far back as 1886, these barbecue joints laid the foundation for the pitmasters of today—and what they’re serving is as delicious today as it was in centuries past.
The wunderkind twenty-something pitmasters took us on a tour of their award-winning Central Texas–style ’cue spot.
Move over, potato salad—there’s a new starch in town.
In fact, some of the best joints in Texas are working hard to create innovative, and downright delicious, concoctions.
Across Texas, fusion barbecue is making a move—and vegetarian barbecue isn't far behind.
The family behind this Cameron food truck has cut prices and slashed menu items to keep prices affordable for the locals, to admirable results.
The state’s favorite smoked meat is so reliably excellent these days that it no longer feels like an achievement.
Whether or not you plan to attend this year’s fair, head to one of these Dallas–Fort Worth restaurants or barbecue joints for over-the-top fried treats.
JQ's Tex-Mex Barbecue helped put the smoked brisket birria taco on the map, but it's worth the drive to Houston for any item on the menu.
The Bayou Vista food truck is back, with brisket kolaches, pork ribs that fall off the bone, and a local favorite known as the Cheese Champion.
The Fredericksburg newcomer marries Korean banchan and Texan smoked meats, along with staple sides like a perfectly gooey mac and cheese.
The Beaumont restaurant serves Central Texas–style barbecue, including impressive brisket and painstakingly developed sausage.
The exciting Spring Branch menu includes chana masala, fried chicken, spicy Korean braised greens, brisket, and the most thoughtful wine list in Texas barbecue.
Thickly sliced cabbage, coated in olive oil and imbued with oaky smoke, makes for a worthy main course or the best side dish at the table.
We’ve come a long way from smoked vegetables seeming strange at a barbecue joint—and that’s a good thing.
The East Austin food truck used to cater to a late-night crowd. Now its massive sandwiches, innovative vegetable dishes, and flavorful tacos draw in diners all day long.
A Matagorda native brings juicy brisket, masterfully crisped chicken, and inventive sides to the coastal region.
After years of online mocking by barbecue fans, “Brooklyn BBQ” is now being auctioned as an NFT. The starting bid is about $10,000.
The Dallas barbecue institution will serve its last chopped-brisket sandwich sometime next week. Proprietor Billy McDonald couldn’t be happier about it.
The Fort Worth barbecue truck blends styles with well-smoked brisket tacos, smacking good pork ribs, and more.
Since taking over Tom & Bingo’s Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q in 2017, Ian Timmons has paid homage to the restaurant’s half century of legacy while serving some of the region’s best brisket.
1082 BBQ rises like a smoky mirage in three different rural counties north of Abilene.
The fires are still burning at the restaurant, newly named Holy Smoke BBQ, next to New Zion Missionary Baptist Church.
The Dallas-area joint went viral on YouTube, but ORC Filipino Asian/American BBQ is much more than an internet sensation.
Thanks to methods gleaned from the competition circuit and a rub honed on the road, almost everything on this Weatherford truck's menu pops with flavor.
With Treviño’s Craft Smokehouse, a former oilman brings solid barbecue and creative sides to Possum Kingdom Lake, one day per week.
With apple pie–spiced ribs, juicy brisket, and a rare offering of fresh vegetables, the new joint is a worthy stop in East Texas.
This Lufkin trailer is winning over customers so quickly that owner, pitmaster, server, and cleaning crew Wade Barbe has barely taken a day off.
We implore you to stay sober enough to properly barbecue your brisket.
Set just outside Fort Worth, T&D serves up solid staples and flavorful surprises—and its pitmasters haven’t even found their footing yet.
Plus: see how smokers are made and listen to a poem about Texas smoked meats.
The entrepreneurs behind TexMalt, a Fort Worth–based malt processor, are the only purveyors of smoked malt in the state—for now.
Our barbecue editor went looking for brisket in a state that’s downright hogmatic about its pork-centric barbecue traditions.
Craft smoked meats and craft beers come together beautifully at these San Antonio, Garland, and Corpus Christi joints.
Plus: Valentina’s leaves Austin, and Arkansas gets its own barbecue trail.
Last year, Cameron Haley quit his sales job, parked a trailer on his father-in-law's property, and got to smoking.
Plus: A must-read barbecue book and a great jobs resource for aspiring pitmasters.
Bored of "just a barbecue platter," Cade Mercer has created an experimental new menu at his CM Smokehouse trailer in Austin.
This "flawless," "spectacular" new barbecue joint serves destination-worthy meats and a delicious Sunday breakfast.
John Gutierrez wanted to bring masterful barbecue to his hometown of Beeville, and with his new restaurant, it seems like he's succeeded.
Herd immunity means something different at this wildlife refuge in Oklahoma.