BBQ News

Dallas brushed aside on Texas Monthly's top 50 BBQ joints list

Smokey Joe's BBQ

Smokey Joe's

Dallas barbecue restaurants dropped a notch on the hottest barbecue list in Texas, via Texas Monthly magazine, which has issued its new list of the 50 Best Barbecue Joints in Texas.

The list has 18 restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but with a heavy emphasis on Fort Worth. The coveted top 10 includes two Fort Worth favorites: Goldee's Barbecue, a returning player, and for the first time, Dayne's Craft Barbecue in Aledo.

Here’s the new top 10, in order:

1. Burnt Bean Co. (Seguin)
2. LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue (Austin)
3. Goldee’s Barbecue (Fort Worth)
4. Redbird BBQ* (Port Neches, near Beaumont)
5. GW’s BBQ* (San Juan Texas in the Rio Grande Valley)
6. InterStellar BBQ (Austin)
7. Dayne’s Craft Barbecue* (Aledo, near Fort Worth)
8. LaVaca BBQ* (Port Lavaca)
9. Truth BBQ (Houston)
10. Evie Mae’s Pit Barbeque (Wolfforth, near Lubbock)

Published Tuesday, May 27, Texas Monthly’s new list is the latest update to its quadrennial ranking of Texas’ best places for barbecue. The last time they published a list was in 2021. Texas Monthly presents the list as a ranked top 10 with the remaining 40 restaurants listed alphabetically by city. An additional 50 restaurants earn honorable mentions.

To compile the list, the magazine visited 319 restaurants, including more than 100 personally visited by barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn in January and February, he writes in the list’s introductory essay.

The four newcomers to the top 10 are marked with an asterisk to make them a little easier to spot. Compared to 2021, Burnt Bean Co. moves up from No. 4 to No. 1, followed by LeRoy & Lewis, which ranked No. 5 in 2021. Goldee’s, ranked No. 1 in 2021, drops two spots, and InterStellar moves from No. 2 to No. 6. Truth and Evie Mae’s are the only restaurants to make the top 10 in 2017, 2021, and 2025, a nod to their consistent excellence.

Conversely, Snow’s BBQ (Lexington) and Franklin Barbecue (Austin) drop from the top 10 to the second 40 for the first time.

The overall state of Texas barbecue has never been stronger, but the aura of Dallas BBQ restaurants has dimmed. Cattleack Barbecue (Dallas) dropped out of the top 10 and into the top 50, joining top 50 Dallas-area stalwarts that include Slow Bone, Smokey Joe's BBQ, Hutchins BBQ, Zavala's Barbecue (Grand Prairie) and Hurtado Barbecue (Arlington).

Meanwhile former Dallas honorable mentions (and one-time Daniel Vaughn favorites) like Oak'd Barbecue, Pecan Lodge, Lockhart Smokehouse, Harris Bar-B-Que in Cedar Hill, Meshack's Bar-B-Que in Garland fell off the list entirely.

TOP 50
DFW restaurants that make the Top 50 include:

Slow Bone BBQ, Dallas. A returnee from 2021, lauded for its sweet potato praline side dish.

Smokey Joe's BBQ, Dallas. Oak Cliff restaurant has been doing BBQ for 40 years.

North Texas Smoke BBQ, Decatur. Food trailer with good BBQ and sides, plus free beer.

Cattleack Barbecue, Farmers Branch. Returning list maker drops down from its top 10 status.

Smoak Town BBQ, Fate. BBQ trailer in upcoming suburb.

Sabar BBQ, Fort Worth. Buzzy, Pakistani-inspired BBQ.

Panther City BBQ, Fort Worth. Returning list maker drops down from its top 10 status.

Yearby's Barbecue & Waterice, Pilot Point. Barbecue and water ice spot 60 miles north of Fort Worth.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
DFW earned eight honorable mentions, as follows:

Hurtado Barbecue in Arlington. DFW chain also made the list in 2021.

Smoke 'N Ash BBQ, Arlington. Mom-and-pop earned a Michelin nod as well as a recent appearance on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

Brix Barbecue, Fort Worth. Lauded for specials like the tomahawk pork chop.

Smoke-a-Holics, Fort Worth. "Tex-soul" restaurant with "spectacular oxtails" made the list in 2021.

Zavala's Barbecue, Grand Prairie. Family-owned barbecue spot is another return list-maker.

Hutchins BBQ, McKinney. Collin County BBQ spot made the list in 2021.

Patriotic Pig Smokehouse, North Richland Hills. Mid-cities restaurant gets praise for its burgers.

Smoke Sessions Barbecue, Royse City. BBQ restaurant 32 miles northeast of Dallas.

barbecue lists texas monthly bests

Kebab News

Le French Kebab brings Indian-Arabic street food to downtown Dallas

Le Fench Kebab

Le French Kebab

A new restaurant has debuted in downtown Dallas with an international pedigree: Called Le French Kebab, it's a halal restaurant that recently opened at 701 Commerce St. #120, across from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza in the former Chimalma Taco Bar Co. space, where it's serving kebabs and pita sandwiches.

Le French is from brothers Noman and Farhan Nawaz, who operate several restaurants in Paris, including their flagship, Mayfair Garden, located blocks from the Eiffel Tower. At Le French, they're drawing inspiration from Parisian kebab kiosks, while adding a Mediterranean-Indian-Arabic twist.

The brothers came to Dallas for its business-friendly climate and quality of life.

"Texas laws and taxes really favor business owners, while Paris is more supportive of labor unions," Noman says. "It’s a complicated system for small investors to have more than two restaurants in France. Plus, Plano and Frisco are great places to raise a family."

They've given the space a beckoning atmosphere by turning the front sidewalk into an airy patio with strung lights. Diners are greeted with a complimentary cup of cardamom tea, a symbol of hospitality and warmth.

Noman, who serves as head chef, says that he trained under Michelin-starred chefs in France and further refined his craft in London. He's applying those culinary techniques to a menu that combines Indian, Pakistani, and Mediterranean food.

The current menu is compact, with pita sandwiches and platters, starting at $10 for a French kebab sandwich with chicken gyro meat, and topping out at $16 for Shahi Dali, a platter with lentils and rice. Starters include hummus, truffle fries, and falafel chaat, a street-food style snack featuring falafel with chutney, cabbage, red bell pepper, and garnishes with elements of tangy, spicy, and sweet.

Everything pops with color and brightness, especially the signature mint-and-coriander green chutney, served with the gyros and chicken tikka.

Le French Kebab also does an intriguing variety of desserts including jewel-like Turkish delights, baklava, and kunafa, a rich offering made from shredded phyllo dough, cheese, and pistachios.

The brothers hope to expand the menu and dishes are still being tweaked for Texas customers, who like more spice than diners in Europe, Noman says.

"Doner kebab in France only has salt, but here, people like more flavor," he says. "We’re still learning the audience, and they’re learning us."

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