It’s not breaking news that la Barbecue pitmaster John Lewis is working to open a new barbecue joint in Charleston, South Carolina. He announced his intentions late last year, and Lewis Barbecue will open later this year. That means John Lewis will be spending a
With all the contests and various sanctioning bodies, competition barbecue can get confusing, but one thing is clear. Getting into the Champions Corner at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo World’s Championship Bar-B-Que is a big honor. It is bestowed upon the winners of the San Antonio Stock Show
– GQ Magazine places Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland on its list of the best restaurants in the country and asked “Was Ronnie Killen’s plate rib merely the single greatest piece of barbecue of my entire life, or was it the most magnificent piece of beef ever cooked at
Co-Owner/Chef: Smoke; Opened 2009Age: 39Smoker: Wood-fired Offset SmokerWood: VariousTim Byres is a man who is hard to pin down, mainly because he despises labels. He has been chef, pitmaster, author, culinary diplomat, and almost a food stylist. Six years ago he opened Smoke in West Dallas along with Chris Zielke and Chris
Barbecue’s reputation in the culinary world has turned a corner. Last week the nominations for the New York based James Beard Foundation’s annual awards were announced, and a pitmaster was among the names that were otherwise a roll call of haute cuisine. Under the heading “Best Chef: Southwest”
The Texas Legislature designated Lockhart, Texas as the “Barbecue Capital of Texas.” That, you probably knew along with the fact that it is home to five barbecue joints. Kreuz Market, one of Texas’s oldest, opened all the way back in 1900, while Mad Jack’s BBQ Shack is just two years old.
The valet stand just outside the front door of Meat U Anywhere BBQ is a unique barbecue joint amenity. It might seem out of place for this type of restaurant, but owner Andy Sedino has his reasons. When he opened this joint late last year he saw it as a side
– Pitmaster Aaron Franklin of Austin’s Franklin Barbecue has been nominated for the Best Chef; Southwest award by the James Beard Foundation.– Austin and Lockhart take the #1 and #3 spots on this list of best barbecue cities in America from Thrillist– Will and Nichole Buckman
Brisket may dominate barbecue menus in Texas today, but nearly a century ago, a Dallas institution built its mighty restaurant empire on a simple Tennessee-style barbecued-pork sandwich: the “Pig Sandwich.” Perhaps some already know that I’m referring to the signature item served at the Pig Stand, a Dallas-based chain that formed
It was Valentine’s Day, and some neighbors – who have also been married long enough to stay away from restaurants on the 14th – agreed to join us for dinner. I picked up a couple racks of beef ribs and had planned to smoke them indirectly. After too many dinosaur rides
Finding a road trip stop with real character always feels like an accomplishment. Highway exits are so often populated with nothing but mini marts and golden arches, it’s hard to find something unique. That’s a quality you’ll certainly find at the Loco Coyote Grill, and long as you see the
– On this Valentine’s Day weekend, the Houston Chronicle reminds us that Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland is a good place to dump someone.– Burger Mary uses leftover beef fat to make body butter, or “cow lotion.”– “We are in a weird, like, barbecue bubble…Somehow barbecue has
Owner/Pitmaster: Hays Co. Bar-B-Que; Opened 2007Age: 41Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: Post OakIn just eight short years, Michael Hernandez has gone from complete barbecue newbie to running one of the best barbecue joints in Texas. He was a fast learner and was dedicated to learning a new craft that he
No matter how much barbecue I’ve consumed (typically five times the recommended daily allowance), it always feels like there’s room left for something sweet. A bowl of peach cobbler or a slice of buttermilk pie offer comfort, but their recipes don’t really vary much from one end of the state
Joshua and Paige Kaner opened Pieous in early 2013. They took over an old Cartwright’s BBQ building southwest of Austin on Highway 290. The plan was always to cook with fire, so a custom wood-fired oven was installed to cook the pizzas. A rotisserie smoker was left behind
It’s only fifteen percent of a wandering menu, but the listings under “New Texas Smokehouse” at Clark Food & Wine in Dallas begged for a visit. It’s a chic new restaurant on Lower Greenville, a neighborhood that has been amping up its restaurant game of late. The meat-centric Blind Butcher
– Brisket is getting more expensive, yada, yada, yada.– With the high price of beef, there’s a brisket bandit on the loose in San Antonio.– Maybe these three guys were looking for brisket when they got arrested after breaking into a Rudy’s BBQ in
Owner/Pitmaster: John Mueller Meat Co.; Opened 2013Age: 46Smoker: Wood-fired Offset SmokerWood: OakMercurial is often the word chosen to describe John Mueller. Verbal attacks on customers and employees are a regular occurrence, but they keep coming back for his famous barbecue. There’s a famous name involved too.John’s father was the legendary Bobby Mueller
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
Lindsey Nutter and Brian “Buster” Rauschuber operate Nutter Buster BBQ from a trailer in a small dirt patch of a food truck park near 290 and MoPac in Austin. They sat in relative obscurity in Manchaca south of Austin for a year and a half, but a few months ago they scooted
A new Kreuz Market doesn’t come along very often. They opened their doors in Lockhart as a meat market in 1900. In 1924 they moved to a new building, currently occupied by Smitty’s Market. They moved once again in 1999, thanks to a well publicized family
– I wish this story would die, but for now brisket prices just keep going up.– Some barbecue restaurants in Lubbock are responding to the cost of brisket by raising their own prices, and one even added pulled pork to the menu.– Lots of new Texas sauces
Business: Bartley’s BBQ; Opened 1968Owner: Lynn OwensPitmaster: Shane Wilkinson, 36Smoker: Wood-Fired Rotisserie PitWood: HickoryBartley’s BBQ has changed hands a number of times since it opened in 1968, and it was forced to change locations in the nineties. Shane Wilkinson is the pitmaster, and son-in-law of owner Lynn Owens, and he jokes that
Last week, seasoned pitmasters and aspiring barbecue cooks descended on tiny Murphysboro, Illinois, for the fourth annual Whole Hog Extravaganza and Brisket Bonanza. The students had paid good money to learn the secrets of the professionals, and the teachers weren’t shy about sharing their recipes for porchetta, whole hog, beef
John Raven of Johnson City, Texas was a writer, a pioneer in the barbecue and chili competition circuit, and a part-time daredevil. He passed away January 15th at the age of seventy-six.Raven was outspoken about his contributions to barbecue, and valued flair over humility whenever possible. “I know more
Stephen Joseph aims to sell out of his barbecue every day, but earlier this week he announced that he’s looking to sell more than brisket. Joseph’s Riverport Barbecue in Jefferson, Texas is officially for sale. Joseph has weathered a devastating fire and an economic downturn to keep the doors open for
If it weren’t for the big, red sign that reads “BBQ” out along FM 1970, I’d probably have passed Chuck’s Smoke House. It’s a few miles southwest of Carthage in East Texas, near the shores of Lake Murvaul. A metal bull mounted to the roof and hand painted lettering on
– They served barbecue in Austin at Governor Gregg Abbott’s inauguration on Tuesday. KVUE in Austin provides this report.– About a mile of Kiolbassa Sausage, made in San Antonio, was served to the hungry crowd at the inauguration celebration.– Here’s a combo plate from the Capitol
Owner/Pitmaster: Eddie Deen and Co.; Opened 1994Age: 58Smoker: Wood Fired Rotisserie SmokerWood: HickoryIn the last twenty years, Eddie Deen has quietly built a barbecue empire. His restaurants include Crossroads BBQ in Arlington, Hickory Roots BBQ in Terrell, and Eddie Deen’s BBQ in Rockwall. There’s also a giant event space south of
Later today, after the inauguration of Greg Abbott as the forty-eighth governor of Texas, 17,000 hungry ticket holders clamoring for food will line up for lunch on the Capitol grounds in Austin. Forty-five minutes later, they’ll all have a full plate of barbecue. At least that’s what mega-caterer Eddie Deen has
Barbecue and pizza are two items that usually don’t join forces on a restaurant menu, but in the East Texas town of Daingerfield they’ve come together at Fran’s Barbeque and Pizza since 1971. Fran’s is named for Frances Neely. She was married to Dick Neely, and worked at
It was big news when the Austin American Statesman announced fourteen months ago that Black’s Barbecue was opening an Austin branch. It looked like the Black barbecue family from Lockhart was expanding. Running the place would be twins Michael and Mark Black, nephews of Kent Black who manages
– Eater food critic Bill Addison went all over the country looking for the 38 best restaurants in the U.S. The list included a Texas barbecue joint:Austin’s @FranklinBbq nabs a spot on @Eater‘s #national38 http://t.co/Js1Hw1QSjV pic.twitter.com/fItIMS4Nsa — Eater Austin (@EaterAustin) January 8,
Owner: Jambo Pits; Opened 2007Age: 59Jamie Geer isn’t some one-dimensional competition barbecue cook. After a career in welding, he started building smokers. They were some of the prettiest ones out there, but also made other cooks a lot more competitive. These days you don’t have to look
Houston Wright cut meat, made sausage, and cooked barbecue at Kreuz Market in Lockhart for sixty years. He was tying sausage there before the brick building that housed the market (and is now home to Smitty’s Market) was built in 1924. He was deaf and mute by then—former Kreuz Market
The history of Central Texas barbecue is shaped by meat markets, and meat markets are open early. Those early hours are still honored by some of the state’s best, so getting a link of smoked beef sausage at City Market in Luling and Smitty’s in Lockhart.
It was a phone call that brought me back out to Hickory Hill BBQ. It sits along a stretch of State Highway 31, right on the western edge of the East Texas pine curtain. I’d driven by it a few times, but always found it closed, then owner Kerry Shaw
– Beef prices continue to rise, and brisket is getting even worse. Grub Street, KTRH in Houston, TAMU, and TMBBQ all had a different take on the effects.– Who knows, maybe Irish briskets to the rescue?– Texas BBQ Treasure Hunt
Co-Owner: Perini Ranch Steakhouse; Opened 1983Age: 71Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: MesquiteTom Perini cooks with mesquite. It might be in the form of coals for direct heat cooking, or the active flames of burning logs for grilling steaks. That mesquite also fuels an offset smoker for the smoked prime rib served
That beef is more expensive than it was a year ago is no surprise, and this trend doesn’t look to be easing up anytime soon. As David Anderson, a Texas A&M professor of ag economics, told a room full of barbecue joint owners last month at the university’s first-ever Barbecue Town Hall,
– “Praying to The Altar of BBQ in Texas” from Trivago.– Carolyn Wells and the KCBS traveled to Europe to help them put on a proper barbecue competition. The article goes into how to judge barbecue along with describing just how popular American cuisine, like barbecue and burgers,
I ate a lot of barbecue meals in 2014. Some were great, some awful, but most of them landed closer to the middle. Rather than reliving the bad ones, these were my twenty-five most memorable bites from the past year, presented in chronological order.Fargo’s Pit BBQ in Bryan, Texas –
Dave Barry and Kevin Tully left the east coast for Austin for the music scene and the barbecue. In 2011 they started Moniker Guitars on South Congress, and racked up visits to Black’s BBQ, The Salt Lick, and Franklin Barbecue among others. “Barbecue and live music are iconically
Barbecue is always the headliner on TMBBQ, and every week you’ll find a new line-up of barbecue news. There are barbecue joints and pitmasters that manage to keep themselves perpetually newsworthy, and some stories are just more impactful than others. Looking back over the past year, we’ve collected and ranked the biggest
In 1908, German immigrant William Specht bought some property outside Bulverde, Texas, about twenty miles north of San Antonio. He took over the operation of an existing store, and by the early twenties erected a building that, according to the Bulverde Standard, was originally a dance hall. Being
– Pitmasters have embraced the term “joint” to describe their restaurants:If it’s not a barbecue “joint,” then what is it? My latest for @HoustonChron. http://t.co/C44IXkh8Ci — J.C. Reid (@jcreidtx) December 15, 2014 – Carl’s Jr. has announced a grass-fed beef burger that they starting serving
Chris Manning, Siretha Davis, and Earl HarrisOwner: Smokey Joe’s BBQ; Opened 1985Age: 24Smoker: Wood-fired Brick SmokerWood: HickoryThirty years is a long time to keep a barbecue joint going, but Chris Manning wasn’t even born when Smokey Joe’s opened in 1985. The twenty-four year old swore he wouldn’t work in the
In a Dallas city directory from 1948, there is a listing for Hardeman’s Barbecue. In fact there were two at the time, both of which were located in what was known as Freedman’s Town. It was a segregated African-American neighborhood just north of downtown in what
Can the beef industry sustain it?
With a history formed by ranching and railroads, Abilene sounds like a city destined to have good brisket. It was founded in 1883 after cattle ranchers and land speculators convinced the railroad to swing north of former county seat Buffalo Gap, and a new city was born. After the
