Photo by Nicholas McWhirter Owner/Pitmaster: Big Boys Bar-B-Que, opened 2000 Age: 57 Smoker: Direct heat steel pits Wood: Mesquite I’ve been out to Sweetwater twice for Gaylan Marth’s barbecue at Big Boys. The first time I was with my wife and kids. They stayed in the car while I got a to-go order.
Sweetwater
The exceptional thing to note about Big Boy’s Bar-B-Que is the fact that it exists at all. Located in a caliche lot along a desolate road in Sweetwater next to a bowling alley turned bar, Big Boy’s has the feel of an oasis—or a mirage. Blink and it might disappear.
Nineteen joints we couldn’t countenance not noting at all. AMARILLO Beans N Things A cozy country cafe plunked down on a busy city street. 806-373-7383 BRADY Hard Eight Pit Bar-B-Que Meats are cooked cowboy style directly over hot mesquite coals.
Canadian journalist and author Ryan Knighton—who is blind—communes with reptiles he can't see for VICE magazine.
A large pickup truck whizzed along Lamar St. (State Highway 70) in Sweetwater while we sat in the parking lot of Big Boy’s enjoying some smoked meats while my newborn son ate in the backseat. The scene was only worth a glance until a State Highway patrolman followed…
The unlikely story of how a handful of dreamers, schemers, and (all too often) failures made oil-and-gas-rich Texas the leading wind power state in the country.
THE RATIONALE With eleven species of rattlesnakes calling our state home, chances are you’ll find yourself face-to-fang sooner or later. Most common to West Texas, rattlers like to den up in dry, rocky crevices, but you’ll also find them slithering through grass or slumbering under woodpiles. “Essentially, if you’re in…
What's the story behind "Bug Tussle"? "Old Dime Box"? "Frognot"? It turns out there's more to a name than I ever expected.
Especially not in Sweetwater: the score at last count was Humans 10,000, Rattlers 0.