From time-honored pitmaster techniques to globally inspired mash-ups, explore the MICHELIN Guide’s Texas barbecue destinations, where early mornings, long lines and low-and-slow cooking deliver unforgettable flavor.
Barbecue in Texas is both a beloved cuisine and a labor of love — both for those tending the low-and-slow smokers and those waiting in ever-expanding lines for the tasty reward.
Pitmasters start tending their smokers in the wee hours of the morning in order to be ready to serve lunch to hungry crowds, many of whom have made hours-long pilgrimages for a butcher-paper-covered tray filled with meat and to check a spot off their list.
While meat is revered in all forms of barbecue in Texas, the traditional style lets the meat shine with very little else. It’s seasoned simply, smoked for hours and served sliced for eating alone or as a sandwich. Both new school and globally influenced barbecue take that traditional foundation and build on it by switching up the meat for vegetables, adding spices usually associated with other cuisines and even substituting barbecue meat in signature dishes (think fried rice with brisket, for one).
Today, Texas barbecue has evolved into an art form, with some spots earning a MICHELIN Star. Here’s a guide of barbecue spots to explore, by style.
Classic Texas Barbecue
What makes classic Texas barbecue? It’s simple — it’s all about the meat, dry rubbed with just a little salt, black pepper and maybe a touch of garlic (often called SPG). Quality meat doesn’t need much intervention in the traditional barbecue belief system. The meat, typically brisket, is smoked low and slow for hours. Don’t expect a sticky mess, either, as classic barbecue preparation eschews sauce, unless it’s a thin tomato-based sauce on the side. Below are our picks for tender meat with that signature bark (charred crust).
Franklin Barbecue - Austin
Franklin Barbecue is known for tender, smoky brisket with a charred bark that attracts an hours-long line, six days a week. Sides like coleslaw and potato salad are straightforward, although the pies are a nice touch. And while there are other meats on offer (sausage, turkey, a monstrous beef rib on weekends), the brisket is the standout. Pitmaster Aaron Franklin is often cutting meats himself, lending his signature cheer and charm to light up the dining room.
la Barbecue - Austin
Late pitmaster LeAnn Mueller of la Barbecue came from a long line of barbecue greats, and her recipes and namesake restaurant passed down to her wife, Ali Clem, in 2023. Clem has carried on Mueller’s tradition of excellent smoked meats like brisket (available by the pound, in a sandwich or atop a classic Frito Pie), turkey and ribs. Sides lean spicy, like chipotle coleslaw and even the can’t-miss creamy shells and cheese layered with roasted poblanos, jalapenos, tomatoes and garlic.
CorkScrew BBQ - Spring
Diners may line up at the ramshackle-looking building outside of Houston in Spring, but some of the finest barbecue in the state lies inside CorkScrew BBQ’s simple but welcoming interior. Their meats are smoked with a distinct red oak, offering both flavor and color to succulent beef ribs, brisket, pulled pork and more. Save room for memorable pinto beans and homemade fruit cobblers.
Other classic spots:
New School Texas Barbecue
If classic barbecue is defined by a minimalist approach, new school barbecue is all about taking chances, pushing boundaries and melding influences — and ingredients — to create something entirely new. Burnt ends, those craveworthy, candy-like pieces of meat, might be reimagined with cauliflower. Indian tandoori spices may be substituted for traditional rubs. Time-honored favorites like banana pudding might be given a global lift. Below, discover the restaurants that belong to the new school, where expectations are turned on their head.
Goldee’s Bar-B-Q - Fort Worth
Friends since elementary school, the Goldee’s Bar-B-Q team brings together their expertise from working at a variety of other barbecue spots to create an inspired, inventive menu. Those who journey to the simple building on the outskirts of Fort Worth — open only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays — are rewarded with meltingly tender brisket that was once named the best in Texas. However, their specials like waterfall pulled pork, tandoori turkey and lamb sausage, show off their new school ideology. Goldee’s also makes their own white sandwich bread.
LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue - Austin
Pitmaster Evan LeRoy literally wrote the book on new-school barbecue, and his restaurant with Sawyer Lewis, LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, highlights the myriad expressions of barbecue. The focus here is not on brisket, but rather dishes like a butcher’s burger, pulled whole hog, kimchi and even cauliflower burnt ends — not to mention desserts like a cheddar cheesecake with a Ritz cracker crust. Many items sell out during lunch, but LeRoy & Lewis makes dinner exciting by saving tri-tip and daily specials such as wings on Wednesdays and chicken fried steak on Thursdays.
Killen’s BBQ - Pearland
Ronnie Killen considers himself a chef first, pitmaster second, which is evident at his family of several restaurants, including two locations of Killen’s BBQ. The menu includes fancier takes like a wagyu beef rib, pork belly burnt ends tossed in a cherry habanero glaze and crème brûlée bread pudding. Everything is served cafeteria-style (the building is, in fact, a refashioned school cafeteria).
Other new school spots:
Tex-Mex Barbecue
Tex-Mex barbecue marries classic barbecue with the bold flavors and cooking styles of Tex-Mex cuisine. Diners will find brisket (often served as tacos) with Tex-Mex staples like barbacoa and carnitas. Expect a bit of heat, thanks to the use of chiles, and fresh salsa is swapped in for the thin tomato-based sauce, delivering bright and acidic flavors instead of sweetness. Below are our favorite spots for this uniquely Texan blend of barbecue.
2M Smokehouse - San Antonio
San Antonio’s gold standard of barbecue, 2M Smokehouse serves juicy brisket and citrus-pepper turkey, along with Mexican-influenced sides like chicharrón macaroni, pickled nopales and street corn. Meats are weighed and sold market-style, to be enjoyed inside or on the shady outdoor patio. 2M Smokehouse is especially popular on the first Sunday of every month, when succulent barbacoa is available.
Panther City BBQ - Fort Worth
Alongside the traditional brisket, tender pulled pork and sausage, Panther City BBQ dishes out carne guisada (a type of stewed meat), barbacoa and smoked bologna. Meats are available in sandwiches, street tacos or burritos, and the brisket elote cup — also loaded with corn, queso fresca, cilantro, jalapenos and lime — is a Panther City signature. The former food truck now occupies a building with a bar-room interior and a spacious, family-friendly outdoor area.
Barbs B Q - Lockhart
Pitmaster Chuck Charnichart, who worked under the Goldee’s team, now brings her South Texas heritage to Central Texas barbecue capital Lockhart, in a small storefront off the main square that’s only open Friday through Sunday. The sleeper hit at Barbs B Q is smoked turkey with a black pepper rub, although pork ribs glazed in serrano simple syrup then brightened with lime zest, and espagueti verde (green spaghetti) — with a creamy sauce of roasted poblano peppers, jalapeños and cilantro — are clear runners up.
Other Tex-Mex barbecue spots:
Globally Influenced Barbecue
As Texas barbecue has become a global phenomenon, people from all over have come to the state to put their own spin on it. These pitmasters and cooks are infusing barbecue with flavors from their home, using spices and sauces like cinnamon and gochujang more often associated with Middle Eastern or Asian cuisines. Global influences deliver singular experiences, where brisket is cured in pho spices and sheet cake is remade with berbere spices. Below, discover the spots attracting attention for their melting pot creations.
KG BBQ - Austin
Pitmaster Kareem El-Ghayesh abandoned a career as a corporate banker in Egypt to move to Texas and master smoking meat at KG BBQ. His dishes, served out of a trailer parked at family-friendly Oddwood Brewing, recall flavors of the Middle East, with offerings like lamb shoulder flavored with sumac and cinnamon, pomegranate-studded rice bowls and smoked kofta (ground beef and lamb skewers).
Blood Bros. BBQ - Houston
Melding flavors from Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean cuisine, it’s almost impossible to decide which Blood Bros. BBQ creation to explore first. Will it be the rich brisket fried rice, the pho-strami sandwich made with brisket cured in pho spices or the famous pork belly burnt ends, available with glazes like gochujang, honey harissa or Thai sweet chili? Purists can still enjoy a traditional brisket sandwich or chicken wings, out on the shaded patio or in the bright red dining room.
Smoke’N Ash BBQ - Arlington
After helping her Texan husband Patrick get his barbecue spot up and running, Fasicka Hicks started creating specials that drew upon her upbringing in Ethiopia. The resulting dishes at Smoke’N Ash BBQ — pork ribs coated in awaze (an Ethiopian condiment made from berbere spice blend, honey wine or honey with chili and spices), injera nachos, pulled lamb and even a berbere spice Texas sheet cake — cement the restaurant’s iconic status in the state.
Other globally influenced spots:
To view a list of all barbecue restaurants in Texas, click here.
