Heim Barbecue & Catering is adding a fifth restaurant in Hudson Oaks to its North Texas barbecue empire. Heim’s rapid rags to riches story all began when owners Travis and Emma Heim went all in, draining their savings to buy briskets and set up a smoker next door to Republic Street Bar along Pennsylvania Avenue back in 2015.
The craft barbecue, what they termed as “farm to smoker,” led with sublime briskets and those famous (and now on everybody else’s barbecue menu) sweet and peppery nuggets called bacon burnt ends. The Big Cat Sandwich (which is really more of a mini food challenge) brimming with brisket and mac and cheese just celebrated its fifth year on the menu as well.
Now, a fifth Heim Barbecue is in the works, headed West of Fort Worth to a small town of 2,383. This Hudson Oaks Heim joins the other new upcoming Burleson location that had been previously revealed.
“Burleson and Hudson Oaks are both great opportunities to be a part of awesome communities that are looking for fun, family friendly restaurants in their area,” Travis Heim tells PaperCity Fort Worth. “We also have a ton of customers who already live in those areas that drive to our Fort Worth stores, so why not bring the barbecue closer to them?
“All of our growth so far has been really organic and we don’t look at an opportunity unless we feel like we have the team to move there and keep the same standards of food quality and consistency. The Burleson and Hudson Oaks deals have been announced recently, but they’ve been in the works for almost a year now.”
The new Heim in Hudson Oaks will feature 5,000-plus square feet. Inside will be a full bar, and a private dining room for parties. Outside will include a huge covered patio, a stage for live music and an outdoor beer garden area, Emma Heim details.
To think how it all started with that simple smoker next to a bar. The lines formed. The word spread. Texas Monthly came calling, eventually anointing Heim in its barbecue bible. Heim’s first brick and mortar restaurant became a reality along Magnolia Street — and the rest is turning into barbecue history.
With the birth of Travis and Emma Heim’s daughter, it is now a “mom and pop farm to smoker.”
With the wild success of Heim’s first three barbecue joints (Magnolia, River District and in Dallas), this craft ‘cue is spreading far and wide. The Heims previously revealed a fourth location is headed to Burleson at 135 West Ellison Street. They have been looking for the perfect restaurant location in Parker County for years now.
The design and construction for this Hudson Oaks Heim is being tasked to ID Studio 4, which specializes in restaurant and hospitality design. The planning phase has already begun with construction set to begin in late spring.
The Dallas Heim Fire Question
Dallas peeps can rest assured that Heim Dallas, which opened in 2020, will be back up and smoking soon. It has been closed since November due to a small fire.
“We’re shooting for mid-February at this point,” Travis Heim tells PaperCity of the Dallas reopening. “With the horrible timing of that disaster right before the holidays, we made the decision to keep paying our team members during the repair time. That has been extremely helpful because some of those folks have been able to pull shifts at our Fort Worth stores and see how everything works at the other shops.”
Meanwhile, the fifth Heim Barbecue will be taking shape at the corner of Cinema Drive and I-20 frontage road in Hudson Oaks.