10 Texas BBQ Joints Worth Driving Across the State For

I will happily argue that no food says Texas louder than a tray of brisket, and I have started that argument at more than one dinner table. Someone always brings up their cousin’s smoker. Someone else swears by a place two hours away. Nobody ever backs down.

That is the fun of it. Great barbecue here is built on smoke and patience, a whole night of post oak fire and a pitmaster who refuses to hurry a brisket that is not ready. The best joints treat it like a calling, not a menu item.

So I gathered the names that keep coming up when Texans get serious about smoked meat. Below are ten of the highest rated barbecue joints in the state, the ones people plan whole road trips around. Bring your appetite, and maybe a folding chair for the line.

1. Franklin Barbecue in Austin

If Texas barbecue has a household name, it is Aaron Franklin. He started with a roadside trailer in 2009, moved into a brick building on Austin’s east side a year later, and has sold out of brisket nearly every single day since.

In 2015 he became the first pitmaster ever to win a James Beard Award for Best Chef, and he later landed in the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame. The brisket is the reason: buttery, gently smoked, the kind that gives way the second it hits your tongue.

People line up before dawn with camp chairs and coolers, and somehow the wait becomes part of the story they tell later.

Order the fatty brisket, and save room for the sides. The espresso barbecue sauce and the bourbon banana pie both have their own devoted fans. On a busy day the whole spread vanishes fast, so regulars near the front tend to over order on purpose.

Where: 900 E 11th St, Austin, TX 78702.

2. Snow’s BBQ in Lexington

Snow’s is only open on Saturdays, and only until the meat runs out, usually around lunchtime. That scarcity is half the legend. The other half is Tootsie Tomanetz, who lights the pits at three in the morning and has been cooking barbecue since 1966.

The little joint opened in March 2003, and just five years later Texas Monthly crowned it the number one barbecue in the state. Overnight, a sleepy town about an hour east of Austin became a pilgrimage site.

Get there early, order the brisket and the pork, and you will understand why people set an alarm for a Saturday.

Tootsie has become something of a folk hero, still working the pits well into her eighties. Watching her tend the fire is part of the experience. The pork steak is a quiet favorite that longtime fans order alongside the brisket every single week.

Where: 516 Main St, Lexington, TX 78947.

3. Goldee’s Barbecue in Fort Worth

Goldee’s is proof that the next generation is in very good hands. Five friends from Arlington, Jonny White, Jalen Heard, Lane Milne, Dylan Taylor and Nupohn Inthanousay, learned their craft at places like Franklin and la Barbecue, then opened their own spot in February 2020.

By 2021 they had done the unthinkable, landing at number one on Texas Monthly’s list of the fifty best. The brisket carries a deep smoke ring, and the pork ribs and turkey hold their own.

They also fold in Asian inspired touches that nod to their own backgrounds. Come on a weekend and plan to arrive hungry and patient.

The dining room is easygoing and the crew clearly love what they do. Beyond the classics, keep an eye on the specials board, where they like to experiment. Whatever you order, the smoke is honest and the seasoning is dialed in just right.

Where: 4645 Dick Price Rd, Fort Worth, TX 76140.

4. Truth Barbeque in Houston

Leonard Botello IV is a self taught pitmaster who started small, selling a handful of briskets a day from a shack in Brenham back in 2015. Two years later that little operation cracked Texas Monthly’s top ten.

In 2019 he brought Truth to a renovated old building in the Houston Heights, and the crowds followed. The brisket smokes for eighteen hours, and the ribs and house made sausage keep pace.

Save room, because Truth is famous for towering cake slices. His mom Janel and head baker Laquita Wilkins make them, and the banana pudding cake alone is worth the trip.

The dining room sits under a big Texas flag, and the whole place hums on weekends. Beyond brisket, the pulled pork and the turkey earn real praise. Truth still runs the original Brenham location too, so there are two chances to catch that eighteen hour smoke.

Where: 110 S Heights Blvd, Houston, TX 77007.

5. Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor

Step inside Louie Mueller and the walls tell the story, decades of smoke have darkened them to a deep, glossy black. People call it the cathedral of Texas barbecue, and the nickname fits.

The family has been at it since 1949, passing the pits from Louie to his son Bobby and now to third generation pitmaster Wayne Mueller. It has ranked at or near the top of nearly every best of list Texas Monthly has run since 1975.

The move here is the giant beef rib, so big it looks prehistoric, wrapped in a thick, peppery bark. One rib can anchor a whole meal.

The sausage is hand mixed and stuffed on site, and the brisket wears a thick coat of black pepper. Grab a tray, find a spot at one of the long communal tables, and settle in. This is Texas barbecue with almost a century of practice behind it.

Where: 206 W 2nd St, Taylor, TX 76574.

6. Kreuz Market in Lockhart

Lockhart bills itself as the barbecue capital of Texas, and Kreuz Market is a big reason why. The business traces back to 1900, when Charles Kreuz bought a downtown meat market, and its roots run to a shop that opened in 1875.

The house rule is famous: no sauce, no forks, no kidding. The meat is good enough to stand alone, served on butcher paper in one of the largest pit rooms in Texas, tended for years by pitmaster Roy Perez.

Order the smoked sausage and the shoulder clod, grab a stack of white bread, and eat it the old fashioned way, with your hands.

The pit room hits you first, a wall of heat and post oak smoke that means business. The prime rib and pork chops have their own followings. Whatever you choose, it arrives hot off the pit and wrapped in paper, ready to eat right there.

Where: 619 N Colorado St, Lockhart, TX 78644.

7. Black’s Barbecue in Lockhart

A few blocks away sits Black’s, which opened in 1932 and holds the title of the oldest barbecue joint in Texas run by the same family the whole time. Edgar and Norma Jean Black started it, and their children and grandchildren carry it on today.

Third generation pitmaster Kent Black works the smoke alongside his sons, keeping the recipes their grandparents used nearly a century ago.

The showstopper is the giant beef rib, up to two pounds of meat on the bone, the kind of thing that looks like it wandered in from a Flintstones cartoon. Eating one is a two handed job, and worth every messy bite.

The cafeteria line walks you past sausage rings, turkey, pulled pork and homemade sides like mac and cheese. The Black family has fed governors and everyday Texans alike for generations. Come hungry, because the portions match the history, generous and built to be shared.

Where: 215 N Main St, Lockhart, TX 78644.

8. Pecan Lodge in Dallas

Pecan Lodge started as a leap of faith. Justin and Diane Fourton left corporate jobs in 2010 to cook barbecue out of a shed at the Dallas farmers market, named for Justin’s grandfather’s ranch near Abilene.

The lines got so long they opened a full restaurant in Deep Ellum in 2014, and it quickly became a Dallas landmark. The brisket smokes up to eighteen hours in an offset pit, blending Texas and Carolina influences.

Then there is the Hot Mess, Diane’s invention: a giant sweet potato loaded with shredded brisket, cheese, bacon and chipotle cream. Order it once and you will crave it forever.

Deep Ellum gives the place a lively backdrop of murals and music. Beyond brisket, the pork ribs and the fried chicken have loyal fans. Weekends bring long lines, so go early or settle in and enjoy the buzz of the neighborhood while you wait.

Where: 2702 Main St, Dallas, TX 75226.

9. La Barbecue in Austin

Barbecue runs in the blood at la Barbecue. It was founded in 2012 by LeAnn Mueller, daughter of Bobby and granddaughter of the same Louie Mueller who started the Taylor institution back in 1949.

She began with a trailer on South First Street and finally opened a permanent home on East Cesar Chavez in 2021. Her beef ribs rival anything her famous family ever served, and the brisket and sausage draw their own devoted lines.

LeAnn passed away in 2023, and her wife Ali Clem carries the flame today, keeping a family legacy four generations deep very much alive.

The tallow that drips off the beef ribs is practically its own seasoning. Regulars come for the brisket and the tangy sauce, then stay for the friendly, easygoing crowd. There is often music and cold drinks, which makes the wait feel more like a party.

Where: 2401 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78702.

10. Cattleack Barbeque in Dallas

Cattleack keeps banker’s hours and a cult following. Todd and Misty David opened it in 2013 just north of Dallas, and it is open only Wednesday through Friday plus the first Saturday of each month.

What sets it apart is the beef. Cattleack serves Akaushi Wagyu from HeartBrand Ranch, and the fatty brisket comes out beautifully balanced, rich with marbling and gently kissed by smoke.

Get there when the doors open, because the good stuff goes fast and the regulars know it. A weekly pastrami special, often built on that same Wagyu, is worth watching for too.

The vibe is unpretentious, tucked into an office park with a hand painted sign and a line of regulars who know the schedule by heart. Beyond the Wagyu brisket, the burnt ends and the ribs go quickly. It is the kind of spot locals guard a little jealously.

Where: 13628 Gamma Rd, Farmers Branch, TX 75244.

Fire Up Your Texas BBQ Road Trip

Here is the beautiful problem with Texas barbecue: you cannot possibly get to all of it in one weekend. These ten joints span the state, from Hill Country meat markets to big city smokehouses, and each one earned its spot the hard way.

So pick a direction, check the hours before you go, and give yourself permission to wait in a line or two. Grab a tray, find a picnic table, and taste for yourself why Texans will never stop arguing about who does it best.

Featured image: @ Franklin Barbecue