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

Breakfast News

Breakfast Company from San Diego cracks open on Greenville Ave Dallas

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Greenville Breakfast Company

Breakfast and brunch are so hot, and now there's a new player coming to town: Called Greenville Breakfast Company, it's a restaurant from San Diego-based Rise & Shine Hospitality Group, opening its very first Texas location in Dallas, at 5420 Ross Ave., in the space previously occupied by Toasted Coffee + Kitchen, which closed in November 2025.

According to a release, the restaurant is slated to open in December.

Breakfast Company was founded in 2019 and currently has three locations: two in San Diego (Gaslamp Breakfast Company and Mission Valley Breakfast Company) and one in Los Angeles (West Hollywood Breakfast Company). Greenville will be the fourth. Each location boasts the name of the area where it's open.

They're open for breakfast and brunch with dishes such as Chilaquiles Suizos, Sweet Chili Shrimp & Grits, Steak & Eggs, and California Breakfast Burrito.

There's a big commitment to waffles in a variety of flavors including S’mores, Orange Thyme, Mashed Potato, and Buttermilk Cornmeal. Other sweet treats include pancakes in flavors such as Banana Bread and Tiramisu; and French toast, also with flavors that include Churro, Peach Almond, and Crème Brûlée.

They offer the very popular opportunity to mix and match any three waffles, pancakes, and French toasts. There are also vegan options including Vegan Benedict, Vegan Breakfast Sammie, and Seven Grain Bowl.

Like any self-respecting breakfast-and-lunch place, they have mimosas and bloody Marys, plus brunch cocktails such as the Rise & Shine (vodka, lime juice, orange juice, bitters, ginger beer); Wake Up (coffee whiskey, vanilla, chocolate oat milk, cold brew coffee); and Breakfast Shot (Irish whiskey, orange juice, butterscotch liquor, bacon).

Their parent company Rise & Shine is a breakfast champion, operating another chain called Breakfast Republic, which has more than a dozen locations across Southern California.

Greenville is the first Breakfast Company to open since West Hollywood, which opened in October 2025. The concept debuted in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter in 2019, with Mission Valley opening in 2023.

But come on, nothing surpasses Texas.

“We’re incredibly excited to bring our first restaurant to Texas,” says founder Johan Engman in a statement. “Texas is a very business-friendly state, and we see tremendous opportunity here. Dallas is just the beginning for us, and we’re looking forward to becoming part of the community and continuing to grow throughout the state.”

greenville-avenue openings breakfast