Top 50 Barbecue Joint to Open a New Fort Worth Restaurant — Hurtado Barbecue Embraces Hot, Happening Cowtown

Arlington’s Hurtado Barbecue has been on a roll ever since the trailblazing barbecue food truck first put down permanent roots in downtown Arlington at 205 E. Front Street in 2020. Name recognition quickly spread and regulars came calling in search of Brandon Hurtado’s unique Mexican spin on Texas barbecue.

Now, Hurtado Barbecue is heading to Fort Worth’s Southside neighborhood.

The former gas station near the corner of Rosedale and Eighth Avenue, which once housed Paco and John and currently is home to Derek Allan’s Texas Barbecue, will soon become the newest location of Hurtado Barbecue.

“We should be open around October — if not sooner,” Brandon Hurtado tells PaperCity Fort Worth. “We aren’t changing much about the space at all. Just changing the food and the name.”

Hurtado says he has a lot of friends in Fort Worth. With recently expanding brands and Texas Monthly Top 50 Barbecue club members past and present calling the city home — including Heim, Panther City, Brix, Goldee’s, Smoke-A-Holics and Dayne’s Craft Barbecue — Fort Worth does seem to be ground zero for some seriously excellent ‘cue these days.

“Fort Worth is where it’s happening right now,” Hurtado says. “And there’s a lot of room for more barbecue.”

Brandon Hurtado calls his barbecue style “Mexicue.” It is central Texas with a hearty Tex-Mex influence.

Think hatch chile mac and cheese and Hurtado’s creative take on sausage, which is ever evolving. From classic jalapeno cheddar links and poblano Oaxaca to queso filled Fundido. Not to mention Hurtado’s excellent ribs, brisket, pulled pork and elotes, which have had devotees lining up for years now.

Having earned a coveted spot on Texas Monthly’s Top 50 Barbecue rankings, Hurtado already has a food stand at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field and it just opened a second permanent restaurant location in Little Elm, Texas (six miles from Frisco).

This is some hot barbecue.

Brandon Hurtado tells PaperCity he plans to get back to making his excellent sausages soon, once his new, commercial-sized sausage stuffing machine arrives. He broke two sausage stuffers recently and is serving Syracuse sausage (out of Ponder, Texas) in the meantime. The new Fort Worth Hurtado Barbecue will also serve beer and wine.

“Our newest location in Little Elm is massive,” Brandon Hurtado says. “It just opened on June 10. It’s about seven to eight times the size of both Arlington and Fort Worth. So the new Fort Worth spot will be a copycat of Arlington space wise.

“It will give us the chance to focus on the catering business, as well as serving breakfast to the hospital workers in the area. Breakfast is something new for us.”

This is a barbecue joint that’s only adding to its already strong mojo.