As his oil field customer base disappears and brisket shipments decline, pitmaster Israel "Pody" Campos is relying on lessons learned from the past to help weather the pandemic.
Pody's BBQ
It took the whole family to transform an abandoned laundromat into a barbecue destination. Inside you’re likely to find Pody Campos’s wife, Veronica, or his mother, Margaret Franco, tending the pits. Even his aunt, Erma Soto, helps out sometimes. They need to, because while Campos’s passion is smoking meat, he…
From the view on either side of the highway, Notrees—the town between Kermit and Odessa—seems to have been born of the simplest observation. Not much out here grows any higher than cotton. Heading further north, they don’t even have the luxury of scrubby mesquite. So if you’re going to cook barbecue…
Owner/Pitmaster: Pody’s BBQ, opened 2011 Age: 38 Smoker: Various indirect heat steel pits Wood: Post Oak, Cherry, Pecan, and Mesquite A few weeks back someone tweeted to me that they’d spotted Israel “Pody” Campos in line at Pecan Lodge in Dallas. That’s a long way from his home in Pecos. I tried to…
Israel “Pody” Campos used to live in Austin, where he worked for the Texas Municipal Police Association, training cops all over the state. When budget cuts forced the association to downsize a few years ago, he moved back home to Pecos and took up a job as the chief deputy…
Israel “Pody” Campos needed a new direction in life. He had been training police recruits in Austin before being laid off. He then decided to move back home to Pecos, buy a laundromat, and convert it into a barbecue joint. Open for just six months, Pody’s is an…