CultureMap Video

Where's the beef? Houston Barbecue Festival goes whole hog with crowd-pleasing choices

"This is a celebration of Houston barbecue, and that's what it's all about."

Leave it to Wesley Jurena, pitmaster of Pappa Charlies Barbeque, to offer such a succinct summary of the third annual Houston Barbecue Festival. Sunday, 21 Houston barbecue joints and two central Texas stalwarts gathered at NRG Park.

Just as Houston's barbecue scene has exploded over the last three years, the festival has grown, too. A sold-out crowd of 2,000 filled the festival grounds (aka, the Green Lot), and, while lines for meat at popular places like Gatlin's BBQ, Killen's Barbecue and Louie Mueller Barbecue could be long, they moved swiftly.

Just as Houston's barbecue scene has exploded over the last three years, the festival has grown, too.

Not surprisingly, almost every participant served beef brisket. The consensus among attendees seemed to settle on Killen's and Blood Bros. BBQ as standing out, but everyone who served it turned out a high-quality product.

In order to stand out from the other barbecue joints, some turned to less traditional meats. Louie Mueller featured smoked lamb ribs, and CorkScrew BBQ served both smoked pork belly and boudain-stuffed pork loin.

While all of those dishes had their fans, it was Tastemakers Rising Star Chef of the Year nominee Patrick Feges who wowed the crowd with his Carolina-style whole hog. Feges built a pit in the NRG parking lot using cinder blocks as well as a "burn barrel" to turn pieces of wood into coals that would maintain the proper temperature.

Why serve whole hog? "Why not," he replied. "Everyone’s doing brisket. Everyone does brisket well . . . No one does whole hog in Texas. I want to get that going." Hopefully, Feges finds an opportunity to serve whole hog in his role as sous chef at upcoming Heights restaurant Southern Goods.

In general, a spirit of camaraderie filled the festival grounds, but the event was not without one major problem. The crowd's size and hot weather combined to overwhelm the festival's only beverage tent with attendees waiting half an hour for soda, water or beer. NRG beverage concessions are handled by catering giant Aramark, who really should have enough experience to have been better prepared. If the festival continues to grow, organizers should arrange for at least one additional tent to better handle the demand.

Of course, the festival will grow, since Houstonians' demand for the new wave of Central Texas-style barbecue appears virtually limitless. Four of the attendees, Louie Mueller Barbecue, El Burro & the Bull, Pappa Charlies and Pinkerton's Barbecue, are making plans to open brick and mortar locations in Houston. El Burro looks to be the most imminent, with pitmaster John Avila working on a project that will see him serve from a repurposed shipping container on the East End esplanade on Navigation.

Check out the video above to see more of the sights and sounds of the festival. Let's do it again next year.

Patrick Feges shows off his whole hog.

Patrick Feges Southern Goods Houston Barbecue Festival

Photo by Eric Sandler

Patrick Feges shows off his whole hog.

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Beard Award-winning Houston chef's new restaurant now open in Montrose

Photo by Kirsten Gilliam

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Houston may be home to an ever-increasing number of James Beard Award-winning chefs, but a new restaurant from a JBA winner is still a special moment in the city’s culinary landscape.

Which means the city’s dining enthusiasts are undeniably excited to welcome House of Louie, the new project Justin Yu, winner of Best Chef: Southwest in 2016 for Oxheart, his groundbreaking, vegetable-focused tasting menu restaurant. He placed it with Theodore Rex, a modern American restaurant that holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. Part of Thorough Fare, the company he co-owns with Anvil founder Bobby Heugel, House of Louie is the group’s first new restaurant since Squable opened in 2019 and first opening since Heights cocktail bar Donna’s debuted last year.

As Yu explained on a July episode of CultureMap’s “What’s Eric Eating” podcast, the decision to open House of Louie came about from the opportunity to buy the property at 1931 Fairview that had been home to the original location of healthy-eating concept Vibrant.

“The real estate came at the right time. The space is beautiful. We’re so lucky to be part of this neighborhood,” Yu explained.

As for the name, Yu is honoring a Chinese restaurant his aunts operated in Southern California for more than 30 years. The original House of Louie hosted many family celebrations, and it’s also the first restaurant he worked in as a dishwasher.

“It was one of those places where there was a little more to it than what you expected. That’s the restaurant I want to have here,” Yu said. Later, he added, “It’s how I fell in love with restaurants.”

Inspired primarily by French and Italian cuisine, meals at House of Louie begin with cold dishes such as the house salad with lettuce, cheese, charcuterie, and quail eggs; marinated plums; yellowtail crudo; or “Nervetti,” thinly-sliced beef tendon with onions that’s finished with sherry and vinegar.

“I think beef tendon is really accepted in Houston, especially because we have a strong pho culture. Tendon can be a little out there, but it has a beautiful melting texture,” Yu said.

From there, diners may choose from a selection of shareable small plates such as mushroom and peppers with spicy ratatouille, squash with king salmon, or one of three pastas, all of which are made in house. The pici pasta is a thin, handmade pasta that gets some crunch from crispy chicken skin.

Entrees lean classic, with items like red snapper with beurre blanc, grilled duck that gets a boost of umami from colatura (an Italian take on fish sauce), and a Texas wagyu couotte that’s served with a sauce of madeira and onions. The French dip from Yuston’s, Yu’s homage to celebrated American grill Houston’s, is also available.

“The type of place we want to be is — if you feel like you’re a little underdressed, it’s okay to come in and get amazing service and great food. And also spend hours ahead of time picking out your outfit and coming out for a date night or a friend’s night or a night out with the guys,” Yu said.

“It’s a place that’s going to have a sandwich and makes its own fries. We’re also going to have really aggressive dishes that swing for the fences and push the limits of creativity, even though its slightly rustic.”

Yu worked with Garnish Design (Milton’s, Tiny Champions), ObjektFab, and Ford Design Finishes to transform Vibrant into House of Louie. Overall, the room has a modern feel — almost like your cool uncle’s living room. The design speaks to the kind of atmosphere Yu is aiming to achieve.

“More than anything, I want people to connect with the restaurant. If we accidentally get a Michelin Star because we do all the things the right way, and cook excellent food, and take care of all the little details . . . I wouldn’t be mad. That’s our goal in the first place,” he said.

Joining the project are general manager Tyler Jay Wang (most recently of Donna’s) and executive chef Kirk Thompson, who worked for various Underbelly Hospitality concepts and served as the executive chef at Leo’s River Oaks when it won Best New Restaurant in the 2025 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. Diners may also recognize bartenders Lainey Collum (most recently of Monkey’s Tail) and Máté Hartai (Lee’s, Refuge).

House of Louie is currently open for dinner daily beginning at 4:30 pm. Friday lunch and weekend brunch service will begin in the coming weeks.

Photo by Kirsten Gilliam

House of Louie is now open in Montrose.