Mike Havens was done being an electrician. He had a lot more fun making barbecue for his crew, so he got a bigger smoker. That steel offset smoker sits out front by the road, but it’s mainly for show unless Havens has a catering gig. The workhouse now is a
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.Ken Goodman – New York City, New YorkMy name is Ken and I’m a freelance photographer based in New York City specializing in food,
At Prause Meat Market in La Grange, there is a green paper sign right next to the barbecue counter. It reads “Sorry We Do NOT Make Sandwiches.” It’s a reminder to customers that this is a meat market where meat—smoked or raw—is sold by the pound. If you want a
– Thrillist provided this guide to regional barbecue styles in the US. I do give them credit for realizing that Texas has more than one style, but their description of North Carolina barbecue and claiming that Memphis is known more for pulled pork than ribs makes the whole
Owner/Pitmaster: Mac’s Bar-B-Que; Opened 1955 (1982 in current location)Age: 60Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: HickoryThe McDonalds have been a fixture in the Dallas barbecue scene since 1949. Mac’s has moved around a bit, but Billy McDonald has no plans to leave his current spot on Main Street just outside Deep Ellum. He sat
I saw a flight of “flavor infused” pickles on the menu, and I was immediately powerless. I had to order them. I was dining alone during lunch at this sports bar/live music venue/barbecue joint hybrid in a suburb north of Fort Worth. Olympics curling was on the television in my
Ten 50 BBQ is under construction in Richardson, just north of Dallas. You may have seen the sign along the Hwy. 75 service road north of Arapaho (at 1050 N. Central Expressway) and adjacent to the Arapaho DART station. Construction is underway for the major renovations to the existing
Jimmy Kimmel and his sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez came to Austin for some SXSW scouting over the weekend. Kimmel will be taping his popular late night show in Austin during SXSW, and he was doing some advance barbecue scouting. Saturday began with Franklin Barbecue followed by Micklethwait Craft Meats
Michael Twitty was cold, and his pig wasn’t much warmer. He was six hours into an eight hour cook, and the February winds were whipping across the top of the hill at the French Legation in Austin. A makeshift pit about the size
The annual conference for the National Barbecue Association is being held right here in Texas this year. In just a month, hundreds of barbecue enthusiasts will gather in San Marcos, Texas to eat and talk barbecue. The conference is a strategic combination of education, trade show,
– Wayne Mueller announced at an event in Houston that he’s searching for the right location in Houston for a second location of Louie Mueller Barbecue.– Ronnie Killen plans to open his new barbecue joint in Pearland on 2/11. He has high hopes of course, saying “It’s probably going
Twins Francene and Geraldine Neely from the Neely’s Facebook page.Owners: Neely’s, opened 1927Age: 66Smoker: Wood-fired steel offset smokerWood: HickoryNeely’s in Marshall, Texas is famous for being very old and for serving a Brown Pig sandwich. It’s by far their most popular menu item, but of course Bill wants to remind you that people
Pitmaster, pit builder, television star, dad – these all define Aaron Franklin of Austin’s Franklin Barbecue. By next year you’ll also be able to call him an author. Not only was his new television series with KLRU announced two weeks ago, but now comes a
Amarillo can be a tough place for barbecue purists. Chris Virden is trying hard to make good barbecue at the three-month old Virdinski’s, but he can’t always make it the way he’d like to. In addition to his dozen years working for a local steakhouse, Virden is also a serious
I didn’t expect to see Vencil Mares make his Super Bowl debut last night, but there he was with his red apron on sitting at his usual spot. It was quick, but right there at the 0:35 mark of a Chevy truck commercial, a rancher transporting his
Sixty-six years ago on January 29, 1948, rush hour in downtown Austin was given a jolt by an explosion. A small barbecue joint called the West Sixth Street Barbecue & Market was left in shambles. The news was reported as far away as Sweetwater where the snippet in the February
The barbecue you eat can’t always be fresh. Maybe grandma sent you a brisket in a care package. Sometimes you might even have some leftover ribs. So, what is the best method to reheat it? While eating around the state I know that even in the hands of a microwave
– Barbecue catering circa 1954 in Wilson, NC:My buddy just sent me a photo of his grandfather cooking 155 hogs in 1954! #BBQ #tarheelnation! pic.twitter.com/s6beoZ8dgD — Tyson Ho (@ArrogantSwine) January 17, 2014 – “A 300,000 year old hearth unearthed in…Israel suggests that the
A newspaper clipping on the wall at Prine’s BBQ of Allen Prine and his late father, Harry Prine Jr.Owner/Pitmaster: Prine’s Barbecue, opened 1925Age: 61Smoker: Wood-fired brick pitWood: OakLike many third generation pitmasters, Allen Prine was a reluctant one. He had grander plans than working for dad, but now he
At four month old Gas Monkey Bar and Grill, I thought I was walking into a made for T.V. joke where barbecue was going to be the punch line. Muscle car makeover maestro Richard Ray Rawlings started in the business world with an advertising and printing firm in Dallas. He
It all started with a glove company wanting some promotion. They offered to send me some heat resistant gloves if I’d just write a blog post about them. When I asked instead for a way to purchase them online, they directed me to Amazon. At almost $36 per pair, these
A few years ago a group of barbecue aficionados met up for a pow-wow at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor. We wanted to share stories and some great smoked meats, and one of the attendees brought in some contraband dessert. It was homemade ice cream made with Dr Pepper flavored
Aaron Franklin of Austin’s Franklin Barbecue is getting a TV show. If you’ve enjoyed the BBQ with Franklin series on Youtube, then you’ll be happy to know that there’s a lot more coming. KLRU produced the popular web series, and this year they’ll shoot ten episodes with Franklin
What you know about the history of smoked brisket in Texas is probably wrong. People have been eating brisket since the first pits were dug in the earth, but only by a sort of default: it was standard practice to cook whole animals for the big community celebrations, which means
– The Arby’s Smokehouse Brisket Sandwich has been the most successful new product in the company’s history.– The Plano location of Lockhart Smokehouse had plans to open in December. They had some delays, but things look to be nearing completion:The essentials… pic.twitter.com/P7m2UjqYAC — Lockhart SH –
Photo courtesy of Southside MarketOwner: Southside Market, opened 1886Age: 38Smoker: Wood-fired rotisserie smokers and wood-fired brick pitWood: Post OakMore than eight decades after it opened, Ernest Bracewell bought Southside Market in Elgin in 1968. Bryan Bracewell is the third generation of the Bracewell family to run the joint, but he
Editor’s note: The name of this joint has been changed to DBQ since this article was published.Kyle Lewallen started his barbecue catering company while still a junior at Texas A&M. A few years later he bought a food trailer and parked it just a block away from campus. He couldn’t
Every month we bring you a profile of a photographer who has captured the people, the food and the spaces that make up the world of barbecue.O. Rufus Lovett – Longview, TexasMy first barbecue photograph involvement came a few years ago when food writer Robb Walsh and I were on
The director of Foodways Texas, Marvin Bendele, asked me to come and lead a couple of panel discussions at the organization’s annual Camp Brisket, held last weekend at the Rosenthal Meat Center on Texas A&M’s campus. And even though I was presented
– It was the week of Austin BBQ guides. Here’s a great one coming from Burger Mary all the way over in Australia. It includes most everyone, but John Mueller Meat Co. is a noticeable omission.– USA Today provides a similarly styled Austin BBQ Guide.– Brisketman also
Pitmaster: City Market in Luling, opened 1958Age: 67Smoker: Wood-fired brick pit and a gas-fired rotisserie smokerWood: Post OakIf you’ve been to City Market in Luling, chances are you’ve seen the hard-hat clad Joe Capello. If their doors are open, then he’s probably there working the pit like he’s done for the last few
I walked through the front door, or at least I thought it was the front door. I was part way through it, when I turned around to walk back into the parking lot to make sure. It was definitely the front of the building, and this was the only door,
Bastrop, Texas is known as the “Heart of the Lost Pines,” but it will have a little piece of the Sausage Capital of Texas inside the city limits by year’s end. Southside Market owner Bryan Bracewell has announced that he will build a new outpost of
Alan Caldwell, the pitmaster at Fargo’s Pit BBQ in Bryan, has been making great barbecue for fourteen years. And for all of those fourteen years, he has denied people access to his pit room. When he denied my first request to take a look at his pit, in 2010, he
– Louie Mueller BBQ in Taylor will be closed on Mondays for a couple of months:To restate… We will be closed Sundays and Mondays only from 1/13 thru 3/3. We will be open Tues-Sat normal bus hours. — Louie Mueller BBQ (@LouieMuellerBBQ) January 7, 2014 –
Owner: Lenox Bar-B-Q, opened 1946Age: 56Smoker: Wood-fired rotisserie smokersWood: Pecan and OakErik Mrok is mad, and with good reason. He took over a legendary barbecue joint in Houston that had been around for over fifty years. Just ten years later he had to watch a good portion of it get demolished to
If I had it my way, City Market in Schulenburg would have a warning sign on their barbecue menu: “Pit in use only on Saturday, microwaves the rest of the week.” You see, first and foremost this is a meat market. Making sausage (including weiners) is their biggest business, on
In the video above, chef John Tesar of Spoon in Dallas raises the smoked-filled glass dome to reveal one of his signature dishes. It’s a headcheese made of apple wood smoked sturgeon. The presentation is dramatic, but the that’s only the beginning. The smokiness of the fish is deep. It
A quarter century ago Isaac Tigrett brought the Southern-style pulled pork sandwich to Texas. The Hard Rock Café founder from Jackson, Tennessee, opened a Dallas location in 1986, and in the following year the Dallas Morning News wrote that he “has trotted the pig into steer territory, offering the
UPDATED INFO on the benefit for Kenny Hatfield: Super Scramble at the Beeville Country Club; Saturday, January 4thTournament Info: As most of you know, former Beeville resident Kenny Hatfield was diagnosed with throat cancer recently. He has already undergone surgery, but has a long, tough road in front of him. We wanted to
– Happy New Year, or did they run out of hickory?pic.twitter.com/wf4rgxtM3m — Burns Original BBQ (@BurnsOriginalBB) December 31, 2013 – Between Disney World and Disney Land, they’ve sold two million smoked turkey legs in 2013. They all came from Yoakum Packing in Texas.–
Photo provided by Black’s BBQPitmaster/Manager: Black’s BBQ, opened 1932 (current location since 1936)Age: 60Smoker: Wood-fired offset smokers and gas-fired rotisseriesWood: Post OakBlack’s BBQ is a family affair. After starting in 1932, they now have the fourth generation, Barrett Black, working at the restaurant. Three of those generations recently appeared together on
For a small joint, there are plenty of cooks in this kitchen. Daniel Wright is the pitmaster, his wife Stefania Trimboli-Wright is the chef, her sous chef is Roque Luis Peña, and they even have a pastry chef – Drew Mann. They all have their specialty, but as a group they’ve
The title may be misleading. I’m not looking to trace back the origins of when humans began cooking meat over fire, but rather when the term “BBQ” came into use. The myths about the origins of the word barbecue are many, so let’s dispense with a few of those first.Bar-Beer-Cue-Pig:
– Rodney Scott of Hemingway, SC had a recent fire in his pit room. While it gets rebuilt he’s going on a “Rodney in Exile” tour across the South.– A short Garden & Gun post on pitmaster Rodney Scott’s barbecue process.– A barbecue sauce waterfall: –
Pitmaster: Kreuz Market, opened 1900 (current location since 1999)Age: 51Smoker: Wood-fired offset smokerWood: Post OakThe following is reprinted from the January 2014 issue of Texas Monthly, and also includes additional material from the interview taken on October 5, 2013.Kreuz Market is the most famous name in the most famous barbecue city in
John Brotherton and Jay Yates seemed headed in different directions in the barbecue business until they found a way to work together. Both started with their own food trucks. John ran Hall of Flame BBQ in Pflugerville, but it closed earlier this year. Jay was successful enough with
Every month we bring you a profile of a photographer who has captured the people, the food and the spaces that make up the world of barbecue.Denny Culbert – Lafayette, LouisianaDenny Culbert is a freelance food, portrait, and documentary photographer living in Lafayette, Louisiana. Armed with a degree in
For most people, cabrito, or goat meat, might not elicit great food memories. The dish is often dismissed as stringy or “gamey,” and because so few places serve it, most aren’t sure what to expect when they order it. Of course, nearly every major city around the state has a
– The FDA has announced that they will restrict antibiotic use in livestock animals. The move “will effectively make it illegal for farmers and ranchers to use antibiotics to make animals grow bigger.”– Lord willing and the creek don’t rise:American ingenuity at its best #pigroast
