This week on TMBBQ we’ll take a look at the Bryan family’s barbecue legacy. From Elias, to Red, to Sonny Bryan and beyond, the Dallas roots of this family tree run deep, but the branches extend well beyond Texas.With so much family history, there are plenty of artifacts and mementos that I’ve
Cherokee sits in between San Saba and Llano in the Texas Hill Country. There aren’t many dining options in this town of a hundred seventy-five. A gas station has ready-made pizzas and there’s Southside BBQ on the weekends.Alva Zulauf and his wife Chris have operated a barbecue catering company for
– Kreuz Market in Lockhart claims former employee, Brian Thornton, quit and took company trade secrets with him. They’re still looking for him.– There is such a thing as BBQ flavored protein chips.– I just now came across this video of North Carolina’s Keith Allen making
Gary, Mark, Kathy, and Brian PrauseOwners: Prause Meat Market; Opened 1890’sAge: Gary Prause (60), Brian Prause (59), Kathy Prause (55), Mark Prause, pitmaster (51)Smoker: Wood-fired brick pitWood: OakPrause (pronounced Prowse-ey) Meat Market has been operating in La Grange for one hundred ten years. The
You’d think finding good barbecued goat in the Texas Hill Country wouldn’t be so difficult. This area has been the U.S. epicenter of sheep and goat ranching since the nineteenth century when wool and mohair (wool from goats) production took a foothold. Herds expanded greatly in the twentieth century, and while numbers have fallen in this
Every month we’ll bring you a profile of a photographer who has captured the people, the food and the spaces that make up the world of barbecue.Kenny Braun – Austin, TexasKenny Braun is best known for his environmental portraiture, landscape and editorial photography. Music, surfing
The fire burns brightly in a brick pit out front of Heavy’s in Hondo. It’s a hulking brick pit built by the McBee family back when they opened this barbecue joint, and it’s prominent location on the front corner of the building, along with the smoke that pours out of
– A woman in Dallas bought the former home of Sonny Bryan, but didn’t realize it until she found his old letters and Army rucksack in the attic.– The Houston Chronicle provides a vivid description of the fire that broke out at Hinze’s in Wharton, and describes
Pitmaster: Opie’s BBQ; Opened 1999Age: 27Smoker: Wood-Fired Rotisserie SmokerWood: MesquiteTodd and Kristin Ashmore are the owners of Opie’s BBQ in Spicewood. A few years ago Seth Glaser married their daughter, and shortly after he started working there. At first, it was just a
This past Sunday, three tons of sausage and brisket were consumed at the 132nd St. Louis Day Celebration in Castroville, Texas. It was part of an annual event the town hosts to mark the feast of Saint Louis, a celebration that has has been dubbed “The Homecoming of the State of Texas.” The community
Around back at Opie’s BBQ in Spicewood is a contraption like none I’ve seen at a barbecue joint. They call it Woody, and it feeds mesquite logs into the fire at night.Kristin Ashmore with WoodyKristin Ashmore is the co-owner of Opie’s. She lives close to the restaurant,
In a gas station just south of the University of Houston campus you’ll find some of the best fried catfish you’ll ever eat and some great barbecue to go along with it. The barbecue comes from the experienced hands of co-owner Ray Busch who has been serving smoked meat to the
– Jan Harding was poisoned at a Dickey’s BBQ in Utah after an employee mistakenly added sodium hydroxide into the sweet tea.– Dickey’s BBQ plans to open their 500th location before the end of the year.– I promise, you’ll miss the meat:You won’t even
Owner/Pitmaster: Cousins BBQ; Opened 1983Age: 59Smoker: Wood-fired Rotisserie SmokerWood: Hickory & PecanAs the name suggests, Cousins BBQ is about family. Calvin “Bootsie” Payne III opened the place on McCart Avenue in Fort Worth in 1983 along with his wife and three of his children. His son Cliff
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
What a difference a few weeks can make. In late July, Dickey’s Barbecue, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, began a new national advertising campaign with the theme “We Know Barbecue.” They also announced that they expected their five hundredth store would open before 2014 came to a
Darby Neaves wanted to be included in the page of Texas Monthly, and he knew that wouldn’t happen with a food truck set up in Arkansas, even if it was just ten miles north of the Red River in Ashdown. It was still worrisome moving his business into the city, but
– The Barbecue Hall of Fame has announced its 2014 inductees:Congrats to the 2014 #BBQHallofFame Inductees: Henry Perry, Pat Burke, & @drbbq! http://t.co/UPVEHhFuqN — American Royal (@AmericanRoyal) August 11, 2014 – Ten 50 BBQ in Richardson will open next Monday. The Dallas Morning
For nearly a decade San Angelo native and current Keller resident Andy Sedino worked for Rudy’s BBQ. When he left in 2012 he was a managing partner and the Director of Operations for the North Texas franchises of the popular chain. Now he’s looking to bring his own
Owner/ Pitmaster: Murray’s BBQ; Opened 1987Age: 58Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: Hickory and PecanRicky Murray handed me a chopped beef and hot link sandwich and lined up several bottles of hot sauce. He makes a good barbecue sauce, but he considers himself more
Texas-style barbecue seems to be taking over the world, and that doesn’t just mean you can find smoked brisket on the menu in Seattle and New York. There’s an aesthetic to presentation that has permeated these places deeper than post-oak smoke has seeped into Louie Mueller’s walls. Places across the country
Last week a fire at Hinze’s BBQ in Wharton shut the restaurant down indefinitely. The fire began as a grease fire in the pit, but quickly spread. The building was a total loss, but the owners have vowed to rebuild.That’s not always the case. A fire can be emotionally and
FM Smoke House began with sous vide brisket and bacon grease injections. The owners of Holy Grail Pub in Plano had some success with inventive barbecue items at their weekend “Smoke Out” barbecue events, so they brought some of those ideas along when they branched out last year into Irving
– Sad news out of Wharton, Texas. A fire started in the pit room of Hinze’s BBQ, and the building is a total loss: – More details on the devastating fire at Hinze’s BBQ in Wharton from the Houston Chronicle.– A Go Fund Me site has been starting to
Owner/ Pitmaster: Zimmerhanzel’s Bar-B-Que; Opened 1980Age: 55Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: OakBert Bunte is a man of few words. When I stopped in at Zimmerhanzel’s for this interview, he tried to shove it off onto his wife Dee-Dee, but then finally
Last week we took you to Tioga, Texas, where Warren Clark developed a three-day smoked brisket recipe that is still served at Clark’s Outpost, the restaurant he founded decades ago. His method was borne from his earlier days using a traditional smokehouse in Arkansas, where cooking time was measured in days.
In a little over a month we’ll be hosting our biggest Texas Monthly BBQ Festival yet, with twenty-five pitmasters from around the state bringing their barbecue to Austin. It’s the fifth annual event in a series that’s proven very popular. This year was no different with the VIP
A pulled pork sandwich with slaw and sauce in between a honey bun and served in a Styrofoam container – it doesn’t get much further from the barbecue you’d expect to get in Lockhart, Texas. That’s precisely why Mad Jack’s BBQ Shack has been successful over the past year. Instead of trying
– In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Goode Co. owner Levi Goode is disgruntled with “high-profile places that throw two or three briskets on the smoker and sell out by 11 a.m.”– How a few Austin restaurants, including Franklin Barbecue and la Barbecue, deal with their massive
Owner: Smitty’s Market; Opened 1999Age: 64Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: OakThere’s plenty more to Smitty’s Market in Lockhart (formerly Kreuz Market) than the family split that occurred fifteen years ago. Nina Sells grew up in this barbecue joint, and
Smoking brisket takes time—sixteen, eighteen, even twenty hours. These cooking times get thrown around with a little pride, but none of the braggarts can top the hours a brisket spends in the smoker at Clark’s Outpost in Tioga. I’m talking more time in the smoker than Jesus spent in the tomb. It takes
Barbecue joints come and go, and they usually take their signs with them. Some linger. They either cling to our memory or remain attached to the building that no longer serves as their home, becoming ghosts of the past. A few have become revered – their images shared with the
When Schmidt Family Barbecue opened late last year it was billed as a taste of Lockhart, without having to drive to Lockhart. Two of the most famous barbecue joints in the state, Kreuz Market and Smitty’s, had put aside their differences. In a show of family unity, they partnered and
– Zagat calls these thirty-four barbecue joints the most important in Texas. Maybe describing the list as “definitive” and “unequivocal” was a reach.– The Dallas Observer has started a new column called Shigging. This week they look at the secrets behind the barbecue at Lockhart Smokehouse.–
Owner/Pitmaster: Killen’s Barbecue; Opened 2014Age: 47Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired Pit, Wood-Fired Rotisserie SmokerWood: Oak, Pecan, Hickory, and MesquiteLast week, we reviewed Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland. It received one of the highest ratings on TMBBQ, which likely wasn’t enough for
The formation of Operation BBQ Relief, the only nationwide barbecue charity, began with a phone call. On Monday, May 23, 2011, the day after the massive tornados in Joplin, Missouri, Stan Hays called his barbecue buddy Jeff Stith. Hays, who was walking to his office at the Farmers Insurance building near Kansas City,
When Jack Perkins opened the Slow Bone in Dallas last year, it was with a standard barbecue menu. Since then he’s been tinkering with ways to use up leftover meat. Perkins doesn’t want to serve you yesterday’s ribs, but throwing them out would be bad business sense, not
“The Best Barbecue, Period.” That’s the motto Ronnie Killen has printed on the shirts that he and his staff wear, putting a daily target on every one of their backs. Making that declaration even after a good run of success toes the line between confidence and arrogance, but Killen had them
– Texas BBQ Week is still going strong for a few more days.– Looking for golf and barbecue together?.@bbqsnob RT @supremegolf: 75 BBQ spots+70 rounds+90k mi = Ult. BBQ Golf Trail via @FatGuyGolf http://t.co/Ch5ZScZ8C9 pic.twitter.com/9O4CIyLL6I — Sean F Hosley (@sketchwerk)
Owner/Pitmaster: Hutchins BBQ; Opened 1978 (current location 1991)Age: Roy 65, Tim 33Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: Pecan and OakRoy Hutchins started his family in the barbecue business in 1978 with a tiny smokehouse in Princeton, Texas. Since then his sons have been involved
Texas smoked brisket—especially the good stuff—can be addictive. That’s what President Obama learned last week. After eating John Mueller’s beef ribs for dinner during his stop in Dallas on Wednesday, the President took a whole brisket with him for the ride on Air Force One to Austin. I just can just imagine Obama
As one third of the Texas barbecue trinity, smoked sausage has important stature in Texas. Central Texas has its beef sausages, East Texas has got hot links, and you’ll find plenty of smoked boudin along the Louisiana border. In Houston, they have it all as J.C. Reid and Michael Fulmer
In 1974 Warren Clark opened a little barbecue shack in Tioga, Texas, and it didn’t take long before it became the darling of food critics, chefs and celebrities. In 1989, Alan Richman, then writing for People, claimed “Clark produces the best barbecue in Texas, which is something to brag about.” Dallas
– Thrillist has ranked every state based on their food and drink options. Texas scored a #2 ranking based mainly on our great barbecue.– Texas Barbecue Week starts this Sunday, and there’s some good eating to do around Texas barbecue joints.– John Raven, the
The Dark Prince of Texas barbecue smoked beef ribs for the POTUS. John Mueller is in Dallas today along with President Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi for a barbecue fundraiser at the home of Marc Stanley just southwest of Forest and 75. John Mueller commented on the president’s
Photo by Nicholas McWhirterOwner/Pitmaster: Gatlin’s BBQ; Opened 2010Age: 34Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: HickoryGreg Gatlin went from breaking up pass plays as a member of the Rice Owls to the world of corporate real estate, but he always knew he wanted to
When you ask people to name the five “tastes,” the average person typically has an easy enough time naming four: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. It’s the fifth–umami–that’s a bit more elusive. The concept of umami has been around for more than a century, but it was largely unheard of until the Wall Street
Next Sunday marks the beginning of the second annual Texas Monthly Barbecue Week. During this week-long celebration of our culinary heritage, everyone’s invited to visit the participating joints featured in our 2013 Top 50 BBQ issue who are offering a barbecue special. Fifty-four in total are included this year, and
– Camp Brisket, presented by Foodways Texas, is coming January 9-10, 2015. Tickets go on sale August 14th.– Here’s a recap of the Foodways Texas Barbecue Camp that was held last month.– Texas BBQ Week is starting July 13th. Here’s a list of great
Pitmaster: Corkscrew BBQ; Opened 2011Age: 35Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: Red Oak“If I’m not here, we’re closed.” That’s why Will Buckman doesn’t take many vacation days away from Corkscrew BBQ. The hours are long, which leaves just a little time each
