BBQ News Roundup: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
How joints are dealing with the pandemic and how you can help.
Daniel Vaughn is the author of The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue, the coauthor of Whole Hog BBQ: The Gospel of Carolina Barbecue, and the barbecue editor at Texas Monthly. He has traveled the world sampling smoked meats at over 1,800 barbecue joints, most of which are in Texas.
How joints are dealing with the pandemic and how you can help.
Open only on Saturdays for now, the barbecue trailer has fun with its smoked meats.
What barbecue joints are doing across the state, from to-go orders to shipping smoked meats.
Take care of your pit, and it will take care of you.
How to turn pork slices into a juicy steak without leaving your kitchen.
The brisket and ribs are excellent as well at Joel and Jesse Garcia’s Weslaco joint.
Plus: The barbecue pit so long it required an official highway escort.
Joshua and Myra Guerrero’s food truck embraces new barbecue ideas from across the state.
Aaron Franklin’s new Austin welding shop says it will get the first batch to customers by Memorial Day.
A trip through sparsely populated corners of South Texas reveals an unusual barbecue specialty.
The San Antonio joint's meat market turns out expert, flavorful links and one of the best hot dogs in Texas.
Plus: the secrets of couples navigating the additional pressures of a barbecue partnership.
Lupe and Christine Nevarez’s Port Lavaca joint is a great new option for barbecue in the Coastal Bend.
The popularity of the new Fort Worth joint at Lola’s Trailer Park is outpacing the smoker’s capacity, but you won’t regret standing in line.
Fried catfish served with smoked meat is a magical combination—and harder to order than it should be.
Pitmaster-owner Brent Morrow left the oil fields behind for family and oak smoke in Hico.
The family-run food truck is another worthy contender in the crowded Austin market.
Plus, is pulled pork an invasive species of smoked meat?
One of Fort Worth’s best barbecue joints now transforms into a taco shop at night.
Inside Waco’s Union Hall, chef Cade Mercer is bringing Guess Family Barbecue and Asian specialties together.
One man’s strange, quixotic journey from New Braunfels to Longview.
Tucked inside a downtown Houston food hall, the kitchen is turning out this hearty, pork-heavy dish.
Plus, a barbecue event at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas.
A few Texas pitmasters are putting their own spin on a Carolina tradition.
”Home of the Big Chop,” Terry Wootan’s original joint has now been joined by five other locations across the state.
Brothers Don and Theo Nguyen use their Vietnamese roots to create innovative dishes as well as master the basics at their pop-ups in Houston.
Melted jack cheese, Russian dressing with onions and dill pickle, and a sweet hoagie roll nicely complement the smoky, generous pastrami.
Harvey Clay has spent much of his adult life introducing the brisket, ribs, and sausage of his youth into smoked-meat deserts.
Plus: the most influential Austin restaurants of the last decade.
Brian and Julie Wright’s restaurant and coffee shop is giving the community of Harleton a smoked meat education.
The twice-a-month trailer has brought a whole new class of smoked meats to Cleburne.
Beyond the Top 50 list and the 25 best new joints, here are 16 dishes I loved this year, from beef short ribs and German potato salad to a brisket grilled cheese.
Plus: Barbecue joints wind up on some impressive year-end (and decade-end) lists.
It was the best meal I’ve eaten all year.
Some of the brisket you’ll find in the Austin of Oregon ranks right up there with top joints in our state.
The Seguin barbecue joint is famous for its sausage, but don’t miss this surprisingly affordable sandwich.
Plus: Senator Ted Cruz pays off a bet with barbecue.
One last supper at the San Antonio barbecue restaurant renewed my appreciation for its legacy.
The scion of a Texas barbecue dynasty returns with his fourth smoked-meat venture in the past eight years.
Forced to close for five months after the devastating storm, the joint’s owners and pitmaster committed to upping the quality of their food.
Plus: Central Texas stalwart Terry Black’s Barbecue arrives in Dallas.
Heim Barbecue’s magically sweet and savory cubes are fast becoming as beloved as bacon.
Yet with disappointing business at his small-town restaurant, Tom Micklethwait hatches plans for a taco trailer in Austin.
Morning hours are a natural next step for the Belton Top 50 joint, which already roasts its own coffee beans.
Plus: highlights from Texas Monthly’s annual smoked-meat extravaganza in Austin.
Korean, Tex-Mex, and Vietnamese influences hit the plates at Candente and International Smoke.
The new restaurant builds its menu around one of the hottest trends in Texas barbecue.
They’re technically klobasniky, but who cares what this Austin trailer calls them when you can enjoy brisket wrapped in sweet dough this delicious?
Tim Rattray says not enough customers were visiting his San Antonio restaurant, which made the Top 50 twice for its innovative menu.
The fast-food chain is using a longtime employee of Sadler’s Smokehouse in Henderson to help sell sandwiches.