Killen’s Barbecue Quickly Builds a Devoted Following in The Woodlands — and Now Ronnie Killen is Sharing His Secret

It’s midday Saturday and Ronnie Killen is busy behind the scenes at his namesake barbecue restaurant in The Woodlands training an employee how to cook, of all things, fried chicken. He has already spent the six weeks since its opening training staff on perfecting the barbecue that has made his original Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland one of the top-rated barbecue spots in Texas

The in-house traffic is steady, but there are no long lines. Which comes as welcome news for those, who had waited hours at the Pearland location for a plate of the swoon-worthy barbecue in pre-COVID times. Takeout, delivery and drive-thru are bustling as residents of The Woodlands join the Killen’s fan club.

On this weekend, Killen allows that the staff has reached the expertise level which he required  before promoting this latest location at the former Culver’s space at 8800 Six Pines Drive. The dining room speaks more restaurant than barbecue joint though the cafeteria-style line is old school tradition. Picnic tables offer plenty of outdoor seating.

“Now, I feel like the food is coming out really good,” Killen tells PaperCity. “The whole thing about our restaurant, here, it’s training. You’re only as good as the people around you.”

Killen has been in The Woodlands since 10 o’clock Friday morning, bunking at a nearby hotel as he has regularly for the duration of the training period. With a staff of 35 that has been no small task. While a typical barbecue joint will have a staff of only three or four, this hands-on, always fresh approach to perfection requires more intense staffing.

At Killen’s, the barbecue maestro explains, there are no steam tables, no warming cabinets. Everything is made à la minute, all of which requires staffing.

“That’s what makes us who we are, is being able to execute at a high level,” Killen says.

This Woodlands Killen’s Barbecue offers the same menu as the Pearland original. The gargantuan and melt-in-your-mouth beef rib, the succulent pork ribs, savory turkey, in-house sausage, brisket and more. Add the fried chicken, which on this Saturday is a special but which will become a staple. The delectable sides that populate both the Pearland menu and that of Killen’s in The Heights tempt even the most devoted calorie counter. The mac & cheese and sweet corn, for example, are irresistible.

Killen’s Barbecue Wisdom

During our brief chat with Killen, as he pulled away from that fried chicken instruction, he shared a soupcon of barbecue wisdom along with a hint to the secret to his fried chicken.

“It’s all about fire management,” he notes. “I always say good barbecue is the product of good fire management. You manage the fire right, the barbecue is going to be good.

“A lot of people stick a gage in meat just to see what the temperature is. We don’t do that. We  just go by feel. So it’s something you just have to acquire that you know when that brisket is right, when you know that that rib is right, when we know that it’s tender. Because it’s a look and a feel that you get with that. It’s hard to train.

“Because once again the product that we buy is the best we can get our hands on, I tell people all the time, ‘It’s up to us to mess it up.’ Because if you take care of the fire, if you burn a clean fire, if you do all these little things that you’re supposed to do, the meats going to be good because it’s good meat.

“See these two briskets, that’s one cow. We’re talking 50 cows. That’s a lot of cows when we do our Saturday production. I tell my guys, ‘Think about the animal that gave his life for you to cook. Look at it that way.’ I tell them beef doesn’t come from a box. It comes from a farm. There’s a lot of work that goes into this stuff and it’s like, ‘Care about it and if you care about it, it’s going to be good.’ It’s just teaching people.

“Our fried chicken, Bell & Evans, is amazing. It’s a two step process, one day for seasoning, one day for soaking in buttermilk. The next day we tap off the buttermilk, put it in flour and let it set for 30 minutes before going into the fryer because that’s what makes the crust.”