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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Breastaurant news

Texas restaurant Twin Peaks rises out of bankruptcy with new owners

Twin Peaks Houston Facebook

Twin Peaks is climbing its way back.

Six months after filing for bankruptcy, the Addison-based Twin Peaks restaurant chain is getting a second chance at success.

In a Monday, June 15 press release, Twin Peaks said it has separated from its parent company, FAT Brands, and now operates as a standalone private company called Summit Twin Hospitality I LLC.

Summit Acquisitions LLC, a group of the brand’s bondholders — high-priority bankruptcy creditors including Twin Peaks franchisees 3BMgmnt Inc., JEB Food Group, and Operadora 2 Montes — has assumed management of the brand and is poised to eventually buy the chain.

“This transition gives our team the foundation we’ve needed to execute on the vision we’ve always had for this brand,” says Roger Gondek, president and chief operating officer of Twin Peaks, in the release. “We have a strong system, exceptional operators, and enviable guest loyalty, and now we have the financial footing to match. The best days for Twin Peaks are ahead.”

In May, a business known as TWNPKS Bid Co. — backed by bondholders — acquired Twin Peaks in a $359 million debt-to-equity deal approved by a bankruptcy judge in Houston.

Five years ago, FAT Brands bought Twin Peaks from New York City investment firm Garnett Station Partners for $300 million. Last year, Twin Peaks became a publicly traded company after its spinoff from FAT Brands, which remains the chain’s biggest stockholder.

Twin Peaks enters its new era with more than 115 restaurants in the U.S. and Mexico, including five restaurants in Houston and a total of 31 statewide. More restaurants are on the way, including franchised locations in Brownsville, Laredo, and South Padre Island.

Twin Peaks, founded in Lewisville in 2005, competes with Bombshells, Hooters, Twisted Kilt, and other “breastaurant” chains.

According to the press release, Twin Peaks’ executive team remains intact, and no layoffs are planned. In fact, the company plans to add employees as its store count grows.

In conjunction with FAT Brands’ bankruptcy case, a business called FBG Bid Co. said Tuesday, June 16 that it purchased 13 restaurant brands owned by FAT Brands for about $595 million. The acquisition includes chains like Fatburger, Fazoli’s, Great American Cookies, Johnny Rockets, Marble Slab Creamery, and Ponderosa and Bonanza steakhouses, but excludes Twin Peaks.

FAT Brands and Twin Peaks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January with plans to reorganize the businesses. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, FAT Brands owed about $1.4 billion in debt that it was unable to cover.

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