Dining Guide
Stanley’s Famous Pit Barbecue

The Brother-in-Law, a sandwiched smorgasbord of chopped beef, butterflied hot links, and cheese, has a powerful (and well-deserved) reputation in East Texas, but order the old-fashioned hand-pulled-pork sandwich, filled with juicy shreds of perfectly smoked pork shoulder. Nick Pencis, the owner and pitmaster, follows a fifty-year-old smoking method—meats housed for sixteen hours in the pecan-fueled pit—to turn out some of the best barbecue in this neck of the Piney Woods.
City: Tyler
Cuisine: Barbecue
Method: Pecan; gas-fired smoker (ribs); indirect-heat pit (everything else)
Pitmaster: Nick Pencis (since 2006) and Jonathan Shaw (since 2009)
Pro-tip: Try a "breakfast bowl." Then go back to bed.
Address: 525 S. Beckham Ave., Tyler, TX, 75702
Hours: Breakfast Mon-Fri 7-10; lunch and dinner Mon-Sat 11-9
Phone: 903-593-0311
Website: www.stanleyspitbbq.com
Year Opened: 1959
Last updated: May 3, 2013
Reviews
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Stanley’s Famous Pit Barbecue
Owner Nick Pencis isn’t going to take it anymore. For years he felt compelled by regional tastes to serve lightly seasoned briskets without a speck of fat on them. But when he renovated his restaurant in 2012 (adding a new …