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Top 25 New Barbecue Joints in Texas Revealed — Austin and Houston Win Big, But Even Marfa Gets Some Love

There's a New Roadmap for BBQ Pilgrimages

BY // 04.22.19

Calling all curious carnivores. The Barbecue Bible has gotten a new update.

While we’re still two years away from the next installment of Texas Monthly’s Texas’ Top 50 Barbecue Joints, which won’t arrive in its newest form until 2021 — there are plenty of new brisket havens and chopped beef sandwiches to seek out.

The Top 25 New Barbecue Joints in Texas! dropped and boy, did the meateries in this brand new hotbed handbook earn the exclamation point.

From Pflugerville to Waco, Dripping Springs to Marfa, Texas barbecue has never been hotter — or more complex.

The criteria for earning a spot on this coveted list were strict: the barbecue joints — regardless of the spelling, BBQ, barbeque, etc. — in question must have a permanent address, which could include food trucks with roots, and they could not be second outposts or spinoffs of existing mouth-watering meat havens, which removed the new Truth BBQ in Houston and the new Micklethwawit Craft Meat location in Smithville from consideration.

Embracing cooking styles from the world over may not have been a requirement, but it certainly earned extra kudos, from the beloved Moroccan-style carrots at Houston’s Greenway Plaza Feges BBQ to Blood Bros. BBQ in Bellaire’s Thai chile-spiced boudin sausage.

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Four tantalizing barbecue haunts in the Houston area made the cut, and Austin and its suburbs landed a whopping six spots on the list, which rounds up the joints but doesn’t rank them. Waco’s barbecue scene — oft-underrated if ever thought of at all — earned two different mentions.

Marfa’s Convenience West, which garnered a Texas Monthly article all its own in January, obviously earned a place on the new guide.

In terms of Houston, Blood Bros. BBQ was sure to make a mark. The Bellaire hotspot is treasured for its house-made liver chicken pate, smoked-brisket fried rice and other twists that put Asian flavors at the forefront. Feges BBQ also made quite the splash upon opening, thanks to its “healthy barbecue” designation with inventive, vibrant and veggie-heavy sides.

Harlem Road Texas BBQ in Richmond made an indelible impression with everything from its occasional smoked octopus and even Armenian coffee. Meanwhile, out in Magnolia, Reveille Barbecue Co. fits its name to a T, with peppery brisket that will surely lead to an awakening.

Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth gives North Texas a major contender. Set up in a trailer in a parking lot, right next to the space where it’s new permanent restaurant is being built, this unlikely success story is named after Fort Worth’s Panther City nickname.

This barbecue joint is quickly becoming known for its pork belly poppers ($5 for three) and stuffed jalapeno. Pitmasters Chris Magallanes and Ernest Morales are creative and dedicated to Fort Worth. They were determined to build their new restaurant in the parking lot where it all began on East Hattie Street

The Austin area stunners include Loro, now-renowned for its technique-driven style of cooking Texas barbecue and its impressive trio of masterminds — Tyson Cole of Uchi and Uchiko, Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue and Bram Tripp of The Pit Room. LeRoy & Lewis Barbecue earned kudos for its major treatment of barbacoa and its fried-rice-stuffed boudin. The Switch over in Dripping Springs comes courtesy of the group behind Stiles Switch, which made a mark on the Top 50 Joints in 2017 thanks to spicy-as-all-get-out sausage and cobbler.

For its part, Brotherton’s Black Iron Barbecue in Pflugerville features barbecue sandwiches that the writer promises you’ll never tire of, plus a unique smoked cheeseburger. Pustka Family Barbeque in Hutto inspired awe with its old Polish family recipe sausage with mustard seeds and the cold charred corn elite salad with cotija and chile powder. And Georgetown’s John Mueller Black Box Barbecue is lauded for its rave-worthy cheesy squash and sauce you can’t resist dipping your ribs in.

In Texas, you don’t have to look far and wide to find groundbreaking brisket, revelation-worthy ribs, transformative sausage — especially not when you’ve got such a clutch roadmap.

Read on for the complete list:

LEROY & LEWIS BARBECUE, AUSTIN

LORO, AUSTIN

CHARLIE’S BAR-B-QUE, BEAUMONT

BLOOD BROS. BBQ, BELLAIRE

LJ’S BBQ, BRENHAM

1775 TEXAS PIT BBQ, COLLEGE STATION

THE SWITCH, DRIPPING SPRINGS

PANTHER CITY BBQ, FORT WORTH

JOHN MUELLER BLACK BOX BARBECUE, GEORGETOWN

PUSTKA FAMILY BARBEQUE, HUTTO

FEGES BBQ, HOUSTON

REVEILLE BARBECUE CO., MAGNOLIA

BRICK VAULT BREWERY & BARBECUE, MARATHON

CONVENIENCE WEST, MARFA

BUTTER’S BBQ, MATTHIS

REJINO BARBEQUE, OLTON

BROTHERTON’S BLACK IRON BARBECUE. PFLUGERVILLE

SMOKIN’ MOON BBQ & BEER GARDEN, PHARR

HARLEM ROAD TEXAS BBQ, RICHMOND

BRETT’S BACKYARD BAR-B-QUE, ROCKDALE

SMOKE SESSIONS BARBECUE, ROYSE CITY

BLACK BOARD BAR-B-QUE, SISTERDALE

PITFORKS AND SMOKERINGS BBQ, SLATON

GUESS FAMILY BARBECUE, WACO

HELBERG BARBECUE, WACO

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