BBQ News Roundup: How Texas Joints Are Surviving the Deep Freeze
Plus, families grilling in the cold, gas-station barbecue recommendations, and a poorly timed opening week.
he Southern Smoke Foundation supports restaurant workers throughout the year, but it has set up a special fund for those affected by the winter storm. You can donate or apply for funds here.
World Central Kitchen teamed up with Burns BBQ in Houston to give away barbecue sandwiches:
The @WCKitchen drive-through at Burns Original BBQ is going strong in Houston! Thousands of slow-cooked BBQ sandwiches are being distributed to residents affected by the storm & outages. Houston remains under a boil water notice as the city is testing for bacteria. #ChefsForTexas pic.twitter.com/dDBDlzIG4N
— Nate Mook (@natemook) February 21, 2021
In Austin, World Central Kitchen got help from Siete Family Foods and Loro restaurant to serve free meals, and they helped Tim Love provide brisket sandwiches in Fort Worth.
Operation BBQ Relief joined forces with Tin Roof BBQ in Atascocita to provide free barbecue meals, and Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland gave away brisket sandwiches.
Senator Ted Cruz, fresh off his return trip from Cancun, sliced enough brisket for this photo op, but apparently not enough to require an apron.
Many Texas barbecue joints closed during the epic cold streak, and some suffered weather-related damage, so check to make sure your favorite spot is open before venturing out. However, the brand-new San Antonio location of Pinkerton’s Barbecue powered through its unfortunately timed opening week.
High praise for Goldee’s Barbecue:
Heim Barbecue was hemorrhaging $20,000 per week at the beginning of the pandemic. It worked hard to survive, and eventually opened a new Dallas location in 2020.
Barbecue sauces tell stories about history, regionalism, and pitmaster ingenuity. Robert Moss shares a few of those stories in Southern Living.
Gatlin’s BBQ in Houston is still a gem, but no longer hidden:
McGee’s BBQ is located inside a Tyler gas station, and KNUE recommends the Super Deluxe sandwich with chopped brisket, cheese, onions, and smoked sausage.
Boogie’s Chicago Style BBQ outside of Houston offers its namesake barbecue plus giant turkey legs and boudin balls.
Junior Urias has closed his Up in Smoke BBQ joint in Midland and moved to Early, just outside Brownwood. He’ll be serving from his Up in Smoke BBQ trailer by the end of the month, with a brick-and-mortar joint to follow this summer.
More smoked oxtails, please:
Smoked oxtails are a Houston barbecue classic https://t.co/ul51hcnthD
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) February 5, 2021
LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue in Austin isn’t all about meat. Evan LeRoy details the five desserts he debuted during Sweet Week.
After many moves, Austin’s La Barbecue has found a permanent home in a building of its own. It’ll be just down the street from its current spot inside the Quickie Pickie, and it plans to open in May.
John Cumins is newly vaccinated against COVID-19, and he told NPR that his first trip will be to “Austin, Texas, for a barbecue tour.”
The folks from Teddy’s Barbecue in Weslaco are doing more than barbecue:
Pitmaster and rocket scientist Howard Conyers talked with the Daily Meal about how his cooking today is meant to channel the techniques of his ancestors.
Lewis BBQ, the successful Texas-style barbecue joint in Charleston, is opening a second location in Greenville, South Carolina, taking over the building that housed Tommy’s Country Ham House.
Congress’s House Coronavirus Committee will “examine whether meatpacking plants took adequate measures to protect their workers.”
“Passable if you’re in a BBQ bind” sounds like code for something:
Costco’s prepackaged smoked meats are passable, but if you’re in a BBQ bind, try adding a little fiber.https://t.co/I5UQZe4nt4
— Dallas Observer (@Dallas_Observer) February 15, 2021
Ryan Fernandez, born in India and raised in Plano, has combined Indian cuisine and Texas barbecue at Southern Junction in Buffalo, New York.
The Chicago Tribune checked in on Lem’s Bar-B-Q to see how the hot links and rib tips are selling at the barbecue landmark on Chicago’s South Side.
Midway BBQ in Katy declared a “total loss” after a weekend fire:
Midway BBQ had an epic fire inside our building this morning. The Meyer Family would like to thank the Katy Fire Department for the great effort. They battled this fire for over an hour to get it under control.
We have included a few pictures because everyone is asking. pic.twitter.com/DMAsQi3aMS
— Midway_BBQ (@Midway_BBQ) February 20, 2021
The brisket burnt end at LC’s BBQ in Kansas City are renowned. The restaurant founder, L.C. Richardson, died at 86.
Gerald Birkelbach ran the historic City Meat Market in Giddings, where Tootsie Tomanetz learned to cook barbecue, for 41 years. He died last week at the age of 65.
Sad news out of Houston, where meat market owner James Davis has died:
Source: https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/bbq-news-roundup-deep-freeze/
