BBQ List News

3 surprising Houston joints earn spots on new top 50 barbecue list

Tejas Chocolate is the Houston area's highest ranked entry.

Photo by Eric Sandler

Three Houston barbecue restaurants have earned slots on a newly-released best BBQ list. The list, Top BBQ Joints in the South, is from Southern Living magazine, a magazine fond of lists, and features 17 restaurants in Texas overall, including Houston-area restaurants Blood Bros. BBQ (Bellaire), Truth BBQ, and Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue (Tomball).

All three are critical favorites. Blood Bros. received a shoutout in the New York Times for its innovative blend of Asian flavors and Texas barbecue. Tejas Chocolate earned a spot in the Michelin Guide, and Truth is one two restaurants to make the top 10 of Texas Monthly's top 50 barbecue joints three cycles in a row.

The list was compiled and ranked by Southern Living’s Contributing Barbecue Editor, Robert F. Moss, who is based in Charleston, South Carolina. It's probably completely unrelated but the No. 1 "joint" on the list is City Limits Barbeque, which just happens to be located in West Columbia, South Carolina. Of the 50 on the list, 12 are in South Carolina.

Moss was appointed barbecue editor at the magazine in 2014 — one year after Daniel Vaughn was appointed barbecue editor at Texas Monthly. A release says that Moss dined at each restaurant on the list in person — no long-distance UberEats-ing — and has visited most multiple times. Geographically, Texas is as far west as the list goes, and it ventures as far north as Maryland.

"When compiling the list, he revisits as many previous honorees and as many potential new contenders as time will allow," it says. So: not all. Also, he doesn't use score sheets or grading systems — instead, it is a "qualitative ranking based upon the enjoyment of the meal and the overall experience of the visit."

Moss seems to prize history and experience as much as, if not more than, the way a restaurant's food tastes, which produces some surprising results. For example, Spring's Corkscrew BBQ is one of only four barbecue restaurants to earn a Michelin star, but it didn't earn a spot in Moss' list. Two other star holders — InterStellar BBQ and La Barbecue in Austin — are also absent from Moss' list. Similarly, buzzy Burnt Bean Co. in Seguin — which made No. 1 on the most recent Texas Monthly list — comes in at No. #31.

The Texas restaurants that made the list are as follows, with their ranking:

#2. Snow’s BBQ - Lexington
#4. Louie Mueller Barbecue - Taylor
#5. LeRoy & Lewis - Austin
#13. Kreuz Market - Lockhart
#15. Panther City BBQ - Fort Worth
#19. Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue - Tomball
#20. Franklin Barbecue - Austin
#27. Truth BBQ - Houston
#28. Barbs B Q - Lockhart
#31. Burnt Bean Co. - Seguin
#37. Goldee’s Bar-B-Q - Fort Worth
#38. Micklethwait Barbecue - Austin
#40. Dayne's Craft BBQ - Aledo
#42. Blood Bros. BBQ - Bellaire
#43. Cattleack Barbeque - Dallas
#46. Hurtado Barbecue - Arlington
#47. Smitty’s Market - Lockhart

Eric Sandler contributed to this story.

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What's Eric Eating Episodes 518 and 519

Meet the men behind River Oaks' new destination for bowls and broth

Photo by Becca Wright

Find Honest Mary's in the River Oaks Shopping Center.

On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” Honest Mary’s founder Nelson Monteith and COO Andrew Wiseheart joined CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss the Austin-based restaurant that just opened its first Houston location in the River Oaks Shopping Center (2047-A West Gray St).

Monteith shares that he started the restaurant in 2017 in order to fulfill his vision of a restaurant which could serve food that’s fast, fresh, and affordable. A trained chef who operated pioneering Austin restaurant Contigo, Wiseheart joined the group to bring both culinary expertise and operational acumen to the grouping company.

Part of what sets Honest Mary’s apart is that diners can add cooked vegetables to the rice and proteins at the heart of every bowl. The “Market Sides” section includes an array of roasted vegetables — including sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, and Brussels sprouts — as well as black beans, maple-glazed carrots, and green lentils. Bowls can be further enhanced with toppings such as Texas pecans, crispy chickpeas, goat cheese, avocado, and apples as well as sauces such as creamy poblano, cashew lime crema, sesame vinaigrette, spicy peanut, chimichurri and apple cider vinaigrette

Monteith explains that looking at the ingredients on display usually inspires him when he’s deciding what to eat at Honest Mary’s.

“I will almost always look at the line and see what looks fresh and good,” Monteith says. “Today, I got the salted kale with white rice. Then, I got garlic-pepper steak. I added on lentils — they’re my go-to in the winter. They blend everything together, and I love it Then Brussels sprouts looked green. I got some jalapenos. Avocados, cause that’s healthy. Then I got the chimichurri sauce.”

Honest Mary’s is also known for its hearty broths, a classic chicken and a vegetarian option made with seaweed and mushroom. Sandler raves about the chicken broth to Wiseheart, who shares how it’s made.

“We spent six or seven months testing recipes and drinking it ourselves to see if it’s a good idea,” Wiseheart says. “I talk about it as a great complement to the menu. It’s healthy. It’s really simple. Most of the kitchens I came up with were rooted in French cuisine. This is just chicken stock with salt in it.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more about Honest Mary’s plans for additional locations in Houston and Dallas. Then Monteith asks a Sandler a few questions about the Houston dining scene.

In this week’s other episode, Sandler and co-host Mary Clarkson discuss the news of the week. Their topics include Home Slice Pizza opening a new location in the Heights; the closures of Brett’s BBQ Shop in Katy and Killen’s Barbecue in The Woodlands; and Esquire including ChòpnBlok on its list of America’s best new restaurants.

In the restaurant of the week segment, the two friends discuss their recent meal at Hypsi, the Italian restaurant in the newly-opened Hotel Daphne. Listen to the episode to hear their favorite dishes and other thoughts on the meal.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hear it Sunday at 9 am on ESPN 97.5.

Photo by Becca Wright

Find Honest Mary's in the River Oaks Shopping Center.

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