Hollis and Betty Dean first made it onto the top 50 barbecue list 21 years ago. Now, their grandson serves up classic Dean family recipes—with impressive new twists.
BBQ Joint Reviews
Cole Fullwood smokes the briskets in Roscoe, while wife Amanda smokes everything else at their newer joint, in Snyder.
Isaac Arellano grew up at Hwy 84 Service, where he now serves up BBQ tacos and brisket.
Andrew and Jewel Hill strike out to bring juicy, thick-cut pork ribs and tender pork belly to Levelland.
Aaron and Christina Rejino put everything on the line for their Olton food truck, and their passion pays off in delicious food.
Pitmaster Brendyn Todd serves up barbecue sandwiches and smoky brisket from the oldest town in Texas.
As Brad Doan smokes the meats, his mom, Belinda, makes tasty sides—and, if you’re lucky, dessert.
The joint has been so successful that they're bringing the three-meat plate to another outpost in Round Rock in October.
Find excellent chicken-fried steak, buttery cornbread, and a unique pineapple cream pie in Fort Worth.
Abraham Franks finds his true calling as a pitmaster in Ovilla after a stressful career in Vegas.
It’s not the meal you’d find at Franklin Barbecue. That’s not a bad thing.
Stop in at the Forest Hill barbecue joint for smoky ribs and brisket-stuffed baked potatoes.
At a food truck in Waco, married pitmasters offer unusual takes on Texas barbecue, like a pesto-stuffed smoked turkey breast.
Every Saturday morning, two friends from the barbecue competition circuit turn the parking lot of the Sulphur Springs Fix & Feed into a popular spot for ribs and sausage.
Three large red letters caught my eye at a busy intersection in El Paso, and I knew I’d found the new home for Desert Oak Barbecue. “BBQ” is the only thing written above the door, but it stands out amid the strip center clutter. It’s a big step up from…
The talented Andrew Samia finally gets a pit of his own at this new joint on Mission Road.
One of the best 'new' places in the state serves excellent smoked meat and a mean mac and cheese.
Pappas is embracing craft barbecue with dishes like deep-fried brisket crab cakes.
Armenian native Ara Malekian has created something special in Richmond. Don’t miss the beef ribs—or the coffee.
It might be in a food court, but this Houston joint is the real deal. Don't miss veggie dishes like Moroccan spiced carrots and corn salad.
Flooding from Hurricane Harvey didn't shut down Jim Buchanan's barbecue for long.
The truck by Willow Villarreal and Jasmine Barela at Big Star Bar is worth the trip by itself.
Says longtime pitmaster George 'Slim' Miller: 'If that meat don’t feel you, and you don’t feel that meat, ain’t nobody gonna enjoy it.'
The descendants of the late Roy Burns do the institution proud with stuffed potatoes, rib sandwiches, and other favorites.
With its new, larger location, this Third Ward joint’s fried seafood is just as good as its smoked meats.
You’ll find excellent meats and inventive sides for a bargain price at talented pitmaster Dustin Pustka’s BBQ truck.
Pitmaster Cody Wingman jump-starts his new career with this appealing joint in the former Peete Mesquite home.
Owner and pitmaster Johnny Walker’s no-frills menu includes tender, smoky ribs and a sauce with ”some stuff going on.”
Located where Heim BBQ originally launched, this food truck at Republic Street Bar is the best new joint in the city.
With a new smoker named Bocephus, and another on the way, the inspiring James Jones keeps improving his game in Cedar Park.
With a sandwich like the Nasty Nate and impressive barbecue, this one-man show in San Antonio has earned a loyal following.
Write it down: This new Sisterdale joint, which does more than barbecue, picks up where the memorable Maywald's left off.
From Hot-N-Ready at Little Caesar's to low-and-slow in a homemade barbecue pit.
At this experimental barbecue truck, you're more likely to find beef cheeks than brisket on the menu.
The line might be short at this Dallas-area joint, but the barbecue deserves a crowd.
Pflugerville has some of the most creative barbecue sandwiches in the Austin area.
With his new Black Box Barbecue trailer parked in downtown Georgetown, John Mueller is back on his game.
Running a barbecue business takes everything, which is exactly why Gabriel and Kasie Ritter don't want their kids to carry on the family business.
“Matt’s gone to feed the governor,” Emily Hall told us on our visit. She was referring to Matt Proctor, the founding pitmaster of Stillwater, who’d been summoned to Austin to grill for a cohort of visiting Aussies. But Hall, Proctor’s twenty-year-old apprentice, handled the pit with aplomb. The beef ribs…
Evie Mae’s shiny new strip-center spot has been open a little more than a year, but visitors from nearby Lubbock don’t seem to miss the food truck (conveniently, the new place is about a quarter mile from the old location). An early arrival meant we not only avoided a wait…
When you see a red, white, and blue “BBQ” flag, you know you’ve arrived. Parked in a tiny patch of grass next to a hair salon, Michael Wyont’s popular trailer has been open for less than a year. On a stormy morning, we were grateful to be handed a sample…
A backyard warrior during his younger days in Oak Cliff, Kelvin Harris spent his downtime as a maintenance worker in an aircraft mechanic shop studying videos of the state’s barbecue masters on his phone. Eventually he opened his own place. When early critics of his otherwise stellar brisket suggested he’d…
In 2009 Nick Pencis—a rock and roll drummer, two-time business-school dropout, and owner of Stanley’s—had an epiphany. He had driven all the way to Lockhart to eat at the legendary joint Smitty’s and, in his words, “to try to figure out the true meaning of barbecue.” Walking past Smitty’s floor…
