Food & Drink
October 21, 2015
The Top 25 New and Improved BBQ Joints in Texas!
A midterm report.
1757 Articles
BBQ
October 20, 2015
John Lewis Jr.’s BBQ Roots
Rummaging through your family genealogy can be dicey. The history could be upsetting (just ask Ben Affleck), but you also might be able to confirm some royal bloodlines. And for Austin’s John Lewis Jr., what he and his father discovered was even more rewarding than any monarch. The man who built
BBQ
October 20, 2015
A New Look For Dickey’s
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has more than 500 locations, but their newest remodel in Dallas is one of kind—for now. New graphics, lighting, and design flourishes give it an updated look that’s five years in the making, says CEO Roland Dickey Jr. in an article by Restaurant Business. It’s an
BBQ
October 19, 2015
BBQ Photographers: Wyatt McSpadden
Wyatt McSpadden – Austin, TexasThe work of Wyatt McSpadden has been featured countless times in Texas Monthly. It was his work that graced the pages of our 2013 Top 50 BBQ Joints issue, and two years ago, TMBBQ highlighted a series of photographs he captured of Tootsie
BBQ Joint Reviews
October 16, 2015
Heim Barbecue
For all chefs, there are moments in their culinary careers that forever shape them. Moments when principles are seared into their brain by mentors, books, or classes only to manifest in their cooking techniques for life. For Travis Heim, owner and pitmaster of Heim Barbecue, in Fort Worth, one of those illuminating experiences came
BBQ
October 15, 2015
The Top 25 New and Improved BBQ Joints in Texas
It’s been two years since Texas Monthly published its last Top 50 BBQ Joints list. It was a feat of reporting that took me and my barbecue-eating cohorts across the state to eat at countless legendary restaurants, holes-in-the-wall, out-of-the-way joints. The work didn’t end when the issue went to press.
BBQ
October 15, 2015
BBQ News: 10/09 – 10/15
– Pulled pork is everywhere: Fast-food chains are going hog wild for pulled pork http://t.co/nk6g1EXetv pic.twitter.com/rSUXMFXizr — Bloomberg Business (@business) October 9, 2015 – Dallas’s NPR station, KERA, is in Austin and gives us this tour of Franklin Barbecue. – Aaron
BBQ
October 14, 2015
How Long Will You Wait?
Waiting in line for barbecue is a fact of life if you seek out the good stuff at prime times. You know when heading out to Lockhart, Taylor, or any number of barbecue destinations on the weekends that you’re not going to walk right up to the counter to place
BBQ
October 13, 2015
Where Has All the Hill Country Barbecue Gone?
It’s not extinct, but the Hill Country style of barbecue certainly belongs on the endangered list. Sometimes called the West Texas style, this method of cooking directly over coals–once pervasive–is seen less frequently. Compounding the problem, it appears fewer and fewer people are bothering to learn or carry on the
BBQ Joint Reviews
October 12, 2015
Hard Eight BBQ
Dining at Hard Eight BBQ is as much about experience as it is about the meal. During a recent visit to the original Stephenville location, I lined up with thirty other people, an impressive crowd for 1:00 p.m. on a Friday. Together we stood together facing cord upon cord of neatly piled mesquite and two
BBQ
October 8, 2015
BBQ News: 10/02 – 10/08
– No more freelance line-standers at Franklin Barbecue: You’ll have to wait in line for your own brisket now w/ Franklin Barbecue’s line holder ban http://t.co/SawW7eALrR pic.twitter.com/LNm34XuyxD — Eater Austin (@EaterAustin) October 4, 2015– On the same day, the Supreme Court
BBQ
October 6, 2015
The Modern Marvel of Kuby’s Sausage House
When we marvel at the endurance of family-run barbecue joints in Texas, it becomes noteworthy when one hangs on for four—hell, even three—generations. So if someone deciding to make a living in the same way as their great-grandfather is pretty rare, but in the middle of Dallas, there is a business that’s
BBQ
October 5, 2015
The Simpsons Do a BBQ Episode
With so much barbecue fluff on television these days, it was nice to see a serious discussion of smoked meat on . . . The Simpsons? The writers obviously did their homework for last night’s episode. Homer bought a smoker shaped from a meteor (that looked a lot
BBQ Joint Reviews
October 2, 2015
B-Daddy’s BBQ
The challenges of running a barbecue food truck weren’t lost on B.R. Anderson when he opened B-Daddy’s BBQ, in San Antonio, in 2012. After all, he was the third owner of the trailer he bought, stepping in after the other two gave up on their ventures. But in restaurants, it’s often innovate
BBQ
October 1, 2015
BBQ News: 09/25 – 10/01
– Matt Garner, a central figure in the formation of Houston’s barbecue style, gets nice treatment in the Houston Chronicle.– Also in the Chronicle, food critic Alison Cook announced her 100 favorites restaurants in Houston this past week. Killen’s Barbecue was #4, CorksScrew BBQ was #31, Roegels Barbecue Co. was
BBQ
September 30, 2015
Barbecue Uniformity
“Barbecue is the closest thing we have in the United States to Europe’s wines or cheeses; drive a hundred miles and the barbecue changes.”Barbecue historian John Shelton Reed wrote the above line just over a decade ago for an essay printed in the food writing collection Cornbread Nation 2, and in the
BBQ
September 28, 2015
The West Wing Should Have the Best Wings
Barbecue and politics have long, shared history. A few months back we looked at some humorous political slogans calling for brisket as a 2016 contender. Aaron Franklin was even seeking some votes, but now it’s Brad Orrison of the The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint looking for
BBQ Joint Reviews
September 25, 2015
Kolacny Bar-B-Q
This barbecue joint does not exist. No, this is not the start of a philosophical argument over what is and isn’t real. What I mean to say is that I thought this category of barbecue joint–“the unknown”–was gone forever. The “unknown” is a place that I would characterize as a “hidden gem,” a restaurant that
BBQ
September 24, 2015
BBQ News: 09/18 – 09/24
– I reiterated on the Texas Standard that sous vide meat with liquid smoke is not barbecue.– For The Love of Meat, a documentary about Texas barbecue and the pitmasters who make it will debut with a screening in Austin on 10/08.– Catch a glimpse of
BBQ
September 23, 2015
Interview: John Rivers of 4 Rivers Smokehouse
Owner/Pitmaster: 4 Rivers Smokehouse; Opened 2009Age: 49Smoker: Gas-fired rotisserieWood: HickorySitting with a 2003 copy of the Texas Monthly Top 50, John Rivers occupied a table inside Rusty Taco in Dallas waiting for me. His travel schedule didn’t allow for a barbecue lunch, so bacon, eggs, cheese, and avocado on a tortilla became
BBQ
September 22, 2015
Smoke Gets in Your Food
Just when it appeared we had hit peak bacon—last week’s introduction of Sizzl, Oscar Meyer’s dating app for bacon lovers, could be pinpointed as the moment things jumped the shark—Chris Shepherd, the chef at Underbelly in Houston, found a way to improve the most popular ingredient of the past five
BBQ
September 22, 2015
Matt’s BBQ
High-caliber Texas-style barbecue keeps popping up in the oddest places. Two weeks ago I found some great brisket in Los Angeles, and this past weekend the same thing happened in Portland, Oregon. I visited a tiny place called Matt’s BBQ, and its origin story is a wonderful microcosm that
BBQ Joint Reviews
September 18, 2015
B & D Ice House
When Jason and Jake Dady opened Two Bros. BBQ Market, the barbecue joint on San Antonio’s north side of town was met with critical acclaim (including from Texas Monthly, which named it one of the Top 50 in 2013). Pivoting off of this success, the brothers decided to turn their sights
BBQ
September 17, 2015
BBQ News: 09/11 – 09/17
– Wanna work in a barbecue joint? Good read & all #truth. Melanie Kurtz, pit master @oldglorybbq https://t.co/11WI5zwMaz via @mossr — Amy Mills (@17thstreetbbq) September 15, 2015 – Michael Harriot, host of The Black One podcast, shares his tips for
BBQ
September 16, 2015
Maple Block Meat Co.
It’s my job to travel this great country—and parts outside Texas—looking for notable barbecue joints. But searching for good brisket in California can feel like waiting for a cool September day in Texas: both exist, but mainly in theory. After making my way through a solid Southern California itinerary
BBQ
September 15, 2015
Smoking With Mesquite
Before the phrase “mesquite-grilled” became a common descriptor on hoity-toity menus of restaurants trying to prove their Texas bona fides, and before backyard cooks bought mesquite chips by the pound to add an “authentic smokehouse” flavor to their meat, the mesquite was a scraggly tree that people in the Southwest considered
BBQ Joint Reviews
September 11, 2015
Pizzitola’s
Legends in the barbecue world perpetuate themselves. Keeping your doors open for decades takes hard work, loyal customers, and a little luck, and it doesn’t happen that often. In return, such barbecue joints are worshiped for their longevity, and rightly so. It’s a huge benefit, but it also comes with
BBQ
September 10, 2015
BBQ News: 09/04 – 09/10
– Staying healthy as a pitmaster can be a challenge: Health hazards of the barbecue pitmaster / @jcreidtx http://t.co/ZH9IzUgcya Great to hear Clarence is healthy again. pic.twitter.com/N1bWBiqRlK — Mike Morris (@mmorris011) September 9, 2015 – “Texas is an amazing state. It
BBQ
September 9, 2015
You Say Potato…
Since delving into a Bubba Tater from Pappas Bar-B-Q in Dallas, I’ve been eating a lot more baked potatoes than normal. It’s been a search for some of the best and most outrageous stuffed potatoes. This is by no means a complete list of the best potatoes
BBQ
September 8, 2015
Barbecue For Colbert
Tonight is a big moment in late-night network television. After nine years as anchor of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central, Stephen Colbert will assume hosting duties for The Late Show on CBS, a gig held by David Letterman since its inception in 1993. You might be thinking, yes, that’s cool,
BBQ Joint Reviews
September 4, 2015
Quality Packers Smokehouse
When I first saw the website for the Coastal Texas Barbecue Trail, I thought it was some sort of chamber of commerce brain child meant to pump up some mediocre local businesses. Mumphord’s Place in Victoria and McMillans in Fannin were both good enough to make our latest Top 50
BBQ
September 3, 2015
BBQ News: 08/28 – 09/03
– A California barbecue cooks uses his camera time for an audition: – With much talk about diversity, or lack there of, in barbecue, Chris Reid delves into the multicultural barbecue scene of Houston.– Foodways Texas released this oral history of Dzuik’s Meat Market in Castroville.–
BBQ
September 2, 2015
Interview: Tomas Limon II of Quality Packers
Owner/Pitmaster: Quality Packers; Opened 1974 (restaurant in 2014)Age: 75Smoker: Wood-fired Rotisserie SmokerWood: Oak, Hickory, and MesquiteTomas Castillo Limon II is a native of San Antonio, but moved to Victoria in the sixties to get closer to his favorite fishing holes, and to get away from a bad lifestyle he’d created for himself in
BBQ
September 1, 2015
BBQ Anatomy 101: Lamb
Last Father’s Day, I spent the morning watching the men of Millheim Harmonie Verein Hall baste and flip barbecue on large open pits. There were beef clods, pork shoulders, and whole mutton. That last one is something you don’t often see on barbecue joint menus in Texas, whole or not,
BBQ
August 31, 2015
Tough Turkey
Smoked turkey is about to get expensive. An outbreak of avian flu that started back in March has decimated the turkey flocks in the US, especially in Minnesota. The state is the largest turkey producer, and they lost 10% of their yearly stock due to the outbreak.
BBQ Joint Reviews
August 28, 2015
Swinging Door
Big cities in Texas all seem to have a beloved barbecue retreat outside of town. It’s a joint far enough away that you really need to leave the city to get there. For Dallas it is Clark’s Outpost in Tioga, San Antonio has the original Rudy’s BBQ in Leon Springs, Austin
BBQ
August 27, 2015
BBQ News: 08/21 – 08/27
– A new film is coming out about barbecue in East Austin:Slow Burn Trailer from Jeff Mertz on Vimeo.– You can attend the Kickstarter Launch Party for the Slow Burn film in Austin on 09/05.– The BBC reported American barbecue and a disparity
BBQ
August 25, 2015
Liquid Smoke
In 2009, the late meat and barbecue loving Josh Ozersky wrote: “Liquid smoke is one of the most revolting substances known to man, and anathema to any real cook.” In certain circles, using the substitute is worse than deceptive—it’s flat out cheating. Even the most hard-headed, hogmatic North Carolinian would agree
BBQ Joint Reviews
August 21, 2015
Southern Q BBQ
There’s a little red building with yellow trim along Kuykendahl Road on the north side of Houston. The fresh coat of paint is hard not to notice even while speeding along, and inside is some of the city’s best and most thoughtful barbecue.For Steve and Sherice Garner, this building has been a long
BBQ
August 20, 2015
BBQ News: 08/14 – 08/20
– That’s actually the longest grilling marathon there, #hotdog: Watch Tyler Florence break the world record for the longest barbecue marathon. http://t.co/5HET6OekyV pic.twitter.com/O0TGpKCqQ4 — Food Republic (@foodrepublic) August 19, 2015 – The Austinot shares some advice on getting good barbecue in Austin
BBQ
August 19, 2015
Interview: Lolis Elie
Author: Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue CountryAge: 52In the mid-nineties, Lolis Elie and photographer Frank Stewart travelled around the country eating barbecue for the book Smokestack Lightning. There aren’t many books as influential to my writing about barbecue than
BBQ Joint Reviews
August 14, 2015
Kreuz Market (Bryan)
It’s hard to replicate a legend, but that’s what Keith Schmidt is tasked with at the new Kreuz Market in Bryan. Keith bought the business from his father Rick in 2011, and he’s shepherding it through their first true expansion since the business first opened in 1900. The Schmidt
BBQ
August 13, 2015
BBQ News: 08/07 – 08/13
– After a steady fall, the Texas cattle inventory is on its way back up. It’s already ticked up 6% compared to last year’s numbers, which represents the first increase since 2005.– A man in Waco tried to steal some brisket from a local grocery store.
BBQ Joint Reviews
August 12, 2015
Bodacious Bar-B-Q (Longview)
I’ve tried to eat at the original Bodacious Bar-B-Q in Longview for years. The first time I struck out because I didn’t realize they were only open three days a week. The next try they were on vacation, and another time there just wasn’t anyone there. I learned later that
BBQ
August 11, 2015
Pour Some Sugar (and Salt and Pepper) on Meat
Sprinkle it on, rub it in, or shake it over the meat. It doesn’t really matter how you apply it, if it’s seasoning for barbecue, it’s called a rub.To really examine meat the almost inseparable relationship between meat and rub, you have to back a few millenia. For thousands of years, salt has
BBQ
August 7, 2015
A Few More Influential Pitmasters
Last week I had the honor of being included in a list amongst a group of barbecue folks who I greatly admire. The list was entitled America’s Most Influential BBQ Pitmasters and Personalities. Those listed, at least the top ten, were all very deserving of recognition.
BBQ
August 6, 2015
BBQ News: 07/31 – 08/06
– From the Austin American Statesman: Austin is not banning barbecue.– “The city of Austin’s Health and Human Services Committee said a recommendation for a city-wide ordinance on barbecue smoke will not come from them.”– Politifact looks into the claim: NIGHTCAP: Austin
BBQ
August 5, 2015
Interview: Kevin Bludso of Bludso’s BBQ
Owner/Pitmaster: Bludso’s BBQ; Opened 2008Age: 50Smoker: Steel offset smoker and gas-fired rotisserie smokerWood: Red oak, pecan, apple, and mesquite charcoalKevin Bludso’s roots are in Compton, but he earned his barbecue chops in Corsicana, Texas. His great aunt, Willie Mae Fields, ran a semi-legal barbecue business at a local gas
BBQ
August 4, 2015
How Southern Barbecue Got to Texas
Hint: Slaves brought it with them.
BBQ
August 3, 2015
Not Your Average Vegetables
I was eating the third of several courses at a Texas Monthly dinner hosted by Chris Shepherd at Underbelly in Houston. On the family-style platter were meaty ribbons of beef belly (smoked by Ronnie Killen) topped with a chile mostarda. Underneath were bright orange carrots with a black crust. They were