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Texas Monthly 2021 Top 50 BBQ Joints

541,490 Views | 3354 Replies | Last: 21 hrs ago by jetch17
AggieFabricator
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Enjoy! Especially if they have burgers on the menu, order two. Dayne & Ashley are some of my favorite clients I've had.
Ol Jock 99
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Having lunch at Lockhart's in Plano. I like them, friends (not close) with the owner. Today was….not a Top 50, or honorable mention, day for them. Brisket extremely meh.
TXAG 05
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MAROON said:

had Roegel's on voss today for lunch - brisket, pork ribs and greens. Everything was on point. They do a very peppery spice on their ribs which I liked. Will return.


They are always solid. Not elite, but pretty damn good.
AggieFabricator
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South Texas has great BBQ. Butters in Mathis did us right today. His brisket is my favorite of the joints I've been to, solid fat cap that's rendered perfect every time to where it sticks to your fingers like it's jelly. His Spanish rice is some of the best I've ever had. Ribs were tender with a subtle sweet glaze, and his sausage game is steadily improving every time I stop by.
fav13andac1)c
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AggieFabricator said:

South Texas has great BBQ. Butters in Mathis did us right today. His brisket is my favorite of the joints I've been to, solid fat cap that's rendered perfect every time to where it sticks to your fingers like it's jelly. His Spanish rice is some of the best I've ever had. Ribs were tender with a subtle sweet glaze, and his sausage game is steadily improving every time I stop by.

I'm from that area and have yet to go. My in-laws usually want to go to Smolik's, which is no slouch either.
AggieFabricator
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Definitely worth a try, he's packing up shop and moving to Sinton soon to a better building/setup. Really excited for Andrew and Co.
TejasAg
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Oh man I love Butters. Went to Mathis to get my Smoliks stamp after the last list came out and saw Butters on the corner . I had never heard of it and decided to stop there as well. Now I make it a point to hit otw back from the coast. So good. Mouth waters every time he posts a brisket slicing videos.
AggieFabricator
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Same.
Beef Cheek
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Having some BBQ up in Chicago this weekend, compliments of Windy City Smokeout

Pork belly from HooDoo Brown

Fajita taco from L&L

Tri tip from SLAB (Los Angeles)

Giardiniera sausage from Green Street



Jock 07
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How is SLAB's stuff? Any idea on how it compare's to Moo's or Heritage? I tried to get over there but never made it when I was living down there. After hearing mixed reviews I made making the trip down to Heritage my #1 priority. I find myself going down south to LA from time to time and have thought about making an effort to try SLAB.
Beef Cheek
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I like Slab! They've got some restrictions in West Hollywood, so they can't cook on an offset and it hamstrings them a bit. That being said, they squeeze every ounce of potential from their little gas assist.

When Burt gets to cook on a real pit, like today in Chicago, he's as good as anyone in the business.
Jock 07
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Good to know, I'll have to make an effort to stop by. And yea the dumbass smoke laws down there really put a damper on growing the BBQ scene (glad they don't have those restrictions up here in Santa Barbara county, at least yet) I see that Moo's now has a B&M spot, I guess I'd assume their quality may have taken a hit with the restrictions as well.
AggieFabricator
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I'll be out your way next week, plan to hit Moo's on Thursday after I land, Friday I'll hit Heritage and hang out down there for their event Saturday. Any other spots worth trying?
Buzzy
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Beef Cheek said:

Having some BBQ up in Chicago this weekend, compliments of Windy City Smokeout



Giardiniera sausage from Green Street




Tell me more about this. Do they pickle the vegetables and then include them in their grind? Or just incorporate giardiniera into a sauce?
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Jock 07
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Honestly there seems to have been a pretty big explosion of folks doing pop ups over the past few years and I haven't been able to make it to most of them. I discovered Moo's at Monkish when I was living down there in Torrance. The other one I discovered at Monkish last year was AGL's Craft Meats. They're pretty solid for LA BBQ. I try my best to not compare folks to all the spots back home knowing it's a different tier but I'd still put some of these folks up against the top 50s. Ray's was another spot I always tried to make it to but was never able to make happen. I did try AJ's in the valley once and don't know if I caught him on a bad day or not but I was underwhelmed which I hated because he's an Ag as well. Could very well be the fact that he's forced to use an oyler also. I would love to get back to try the breakfast tacos though.

For CA I'd still say the top two spots IMHO are Heritage & Priedite. I'm going to try and make it out to Priedite's in the morning, depending on how well the twins do tonight and if my wife let's me go. It won't work for you on this trip but next time you're out this way I'd highly suggest scheduling it for one of Nick's cooks and come up here for central coast wine & BBQ.

I emailed Daniel Vaughn last summer about the surge of BBQ spots out here suggesting he come and check it out. It's really come a long way from when I was last out here in 2013 driving to Compton and eating Bludso's under a pop up tent next to his smoker in the parking lot while talking TX BBQ with him.
Beef Cheek
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Yea, they incorporated it into the grind but topped the link with some as well. Was fantastic
Saxsoon
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Went to pits and punch at cattleack today. I have to say there are close to 200 people in line right now.
htxag09
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Guess everyone is in the mood for bbq. Drove by truth in houston to go to HEB at 10:50, nobody in line. Just left HEB and by far the longest I've seen the line.

Jock 07
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Saxsoon
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htxag09 said:

Guess everyone is in the mood for bbq. Drove by truth in houston to go to HEB at 10:50, nobody in line. Just left HEB and by far the longest I've seen the line.


I think it is also because it is the one saturday of the month they are open. They are normally only open on Thursdays and Fridays. The owner was telling us while showing off the pits that this is a hobby for him and nothing more. Only did 2 a day to keep it in the black. Allowed one Saturday of the month so folks that normally work and couldn't take the time off could enjoy the bbq.
TXAG 05
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Saxsoon said:

htxag09 said:

Guess everyone is in the mood for bbq. Drove by truth in houston to go to HEB at 10:50, nobody in line. Just left HEB and by far the longest I've seen the line.


I think it is also because it is the one saturday of the month they are open. They are normally only open on Thursdays and Fridays. The owner was telling us while showing off the pits that this is a hobby for him and nothing more. Only did 2 a day to keep it in the black. Allowed one Saturday of the month so folks that normally work and couldn't take the time off could enjoy the bbq.


The Houston Truth is open every day but Monday.
TejasAg
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Don't want to speak for him, but I think saxsoon was referring to Cattleack.
Saxsoon
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TejasAg said:

Don't want to speak for him, but I think saxsoon was referring to Cattleack.
Sorry I should have clarified I was speaking about Cattleack being so busy today
Buzzy
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TejasAg said:

Don't want to speak for him, but I think saxsoon was referring to Cattleack.
Thanks for clarifying because I thought he was referring to Truth, too, and thought they were opened more often than that so was momentarily confused.

That said, I admire anyone who masters their craft, admits they're only doing it as a hobby, and only does it afew days a week so they don't get burned out on their hobby. They have a skillset they're willing to share with others but not so much that they're going to let themselves hate something they're passionate about.
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Saxsoon
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It let them get to #6 so they must be doing something right, he was saying that also helped them keep it to a small team to really hit that consistency. And damn there are worse ways to spend retirement.

Using Akaushi Wagyu for the brisket certainly doesn't hurt.
JohnnyShotgun
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AggieFabricator said:

South Texas has great BBQ. Butters in Mathis did us right today. His brisket is my favorite of the joints I've been to, solid fat cap that's rendered perfect every time to where it sticks to your fingers like it's jelly. His Spanish rice is some of the best I've ever had. Ribs were tender with a subtle sweet glaze, and his sausage game is steadily improving every time I stop by.

The RGV is coming on strong with GW's BBQ in San Juan. I fully expect them to be in the top 50 very soon. George and his team are producing some solid BBQ and incredible sides. I don't get that far south very often, but I stop in when I do. ?stp=dst-jpg_s1080x2048&_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=NVUW7y7h1R8AX8_-hB5&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.xx&oh=00_AT81omJY1yS_ldTwAcKrgyKCR1SVZLNGWnYSCtX4_ObMQA&oe=62F46B5B
AggieFabricator
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No doubt, I've heard great things about multiple places. I expect Teddy's down there to have a serious shot at the next Top 10, everyone I know who has been, from non bbq fan family members to folks who own their own joints rave about what those guys are doing, I rarely make it that far south, but I'm looking for a reason. I believe Joel from Teddy's is an Aggie also. Tales From The Pits podcast just did a RGV round table, for sure worth a listen to any folks looking to learn more about what they have to offer down there.
AggieFabricator
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Buzzy said:

TejasAg said:

Don't want to speak for him, but I think saxsoon was referring to Cattleack.
Thanks for clarifying because I thought he was referring to Truth, too, and thought they were opened more often than that so was momentarily confused.

That said, I admire anyone who masters their craft, admits they're only doing it as a hobby, and only does it afew days a week so they don't get burned out on their hobby. They have a skillset they're willing to share with others but not so much that they're going to let themselves hate something they're passionate about.


Damn. I wonder if I could get away with only building pits three days a week haha.
Buzzy
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AggieFabricator said:

Buzzy said:

TejasAg said:

Don't want to speak for him, but I think saxsoon was referring to Cattleack.
Thanks for clarifying because I thought he was referring to Truth, too, and thought they were opened more often than that so was momentarily confused.

That said, I admire anyone who masters their craft, admits they're only doing it as a hobby, and only does it afew days a week so they don't get burned out on their hobby. They have a skillset they're willing to share with others but not so much that they're going to let themselves hate something they're passionate about.


Damn. I wonder if I could get away with only building pits three days a week haha.
Do you make enough in three days a week to remain in the black?
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AggieFabricator
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Probably barely enough to stay in the black but not enough to stay relevant haha.
Beef Cheek
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Had Terry Black's with Chud today and they crushed it per usual.



agcrock2005
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That looks awesome. Does "Chud" work at L&L anymore or spending all his time on YouTube channel now? I know about 3 months ago you referred me to his channel when I was asking how to make sausage and I had never heard of him. Think he had around 100K subscribers, and now he's close to 180K. Can you actually make decent money doing that, or is most of the benefit from free stuff from sponsors? Very interesting to me. Sorry for derail.
Koldus131
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You can definitely make money from having nearly 200k active subs on YT. That's a lot of adsense revenue
Beef Cheek
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He is still doing some events/classes/digital media with us at L&L, but 90% of his time and effort go into his own business.

The ad revenue off the YouTube channel is enough to sustain him. Really proud of how it's grown! I expect to see him at 500k subscribers by the end of next year.
fav13andac1)c
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Beef Cheek said:

He is still doing some events/classes/digital media with us at L&L, but 90% of his time and effort go into his own business.

The ad revenue off the YouTube channel is enough to sustain him. Really proud of how it's grown! I expect to see him at 500k subscribers by the end of next year.
That would be awesome. Really curious as to what he has coming down the pipe to sustain his quality video output. He's covered a lot of bbq ground already.
 
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