Craft barbecue is taking over the Texas suburbs, says Texas Highways magazine, which rolled through Cleburne, Kennedale, and Grand Prairie. 

A native of Cairo, Egypt, Kareem El-Ghayesh is now serving his own brand of barbecue at pop-ups in Austin. He said learning the craft from Texas pitmasters is “like learning basketball from LeBron James.” 

One of the state’s best barbecue joints is closed indefinitely:

Former Bodacious pitmaster Bryan Bingham will soon open his own barbecue concept, Sunbird Barbecue, in Longview. 

Port Lavaca’s LaVaca BBQ, which just opened a second location in Bay City, is already planning a third location in Victoria. 

The barbecue at Thorndale Meat Market is reason enough to visit, but pitmaster Trey Felton has been experimenting with cold-smoked, dry-aged steaks as well. 

Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ will be leaving Austin for Buda:

Raf Robinson, cofounder of SLAB BBQ in Austin, describes his restaurant as “a bbq sammich restaurant that brings bbq flavors from across the US and serves it with a little hip hop swag.”

John Bates, of Interstellar BBQ outside Cedar Park, and several other restaurateurs talked with the Austin American-Statesman about the challenge of finding staff to work in their restaurants. 

La Barbecue in Austin has left the Quickie Pickie location and is now in its own building just a few blocks east. 

A new Austin joint is getting some well-deserved attention:

San Antonio Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter has a newfound appreciation for lean brisket after a visit to Burnt Bean Co. in Seguin. 

A former employee of Bill Miller Bar-B-Q wrote about what it was like to work for the chain. “If you aren’t afraid of going home smelling like grease, chicken, and pickles, then this could be for you,” she said. 

Bill Miller Bar-B-Q has proposed moving its headquarters, which have been in downtown San Antonio for fifty years, out to the west side of town. 

The Daytripper finally made it to Lexington to try Snow’s BBQ:

The Dallas Observer raved about the pork ribs at D Jackson BBQ in Oak Cliff. 

A new food truck in Irving, Bout Tyme BBQ, is serving St. Louis–style barbecue, like rib tips, along with some Texas favorites. 

It’s way up on Lavon Lake, but the DFW area has a legitimate option for Filipino-style lechón. 

Move over, Taco Tuesday. It’s Torta Thursday every week at BBQ on the Brazos in Cresson. 

Smokey Joe’s BBQ in Dallas gets the local spotlight:

I originally wrote this Texas barbecue style guide for Thrillist six years ago, and I’ve recently updated it. 

Food Network released an itinerary for the “ultimate Texas barbecue tour,” and it has zero surprises. 

A new survey names Houston the best barbecue city in America. Houstonians celebrated the news until they realized Los Angeles was in the number two slot. 

J.C. Reid has found the Cheers of Texas barbecue, and it’s in Katy, where Brett’s BBQ Shop is welcoming diners back inside the restaurant. 

The costs of transportation, processing, and feed for cows and pigs are rising dramatically. The meat prices? They aren’t going down:

Michael Symon has closed most of his Cleveland-area restaurants, except Mabel’s BBQ. Now he’ll be adding a second Mabel’s location in Woodmere, east of Cleveland. 

Arkansas is getting a barbecue trail. The 25 joints on the list will be revealed this summer. 

“I forced myself to start cooking with wood,” says Edward Reavis, who has now upped his barbecue game as pitmaster at Money Muscle BBQ in Silver Spring, Maryland. 

Barbecue is positively infectious in Australia: