2020 has been an interesting year to say the least. There were not many BBQ events on the calendar, and our travels have been limited. This is the only blog post I will write and the only BBQ event I attended this year. LeRoy & Lewis is one of my favorite BBQ joints. I had the pleasure to attend their New School BBQ University back in March right before the pandemic hit. It was a great and fun 2ish days. Super informative and the highlight of my year. They have hosted a couple of classes since then so be on the lookout for future classes. Here's the recap: New School BBQ University ..read more

The 10th Annual Texas Monthly BBQ Fest took place this past weekend. Has it been 10 years already?! The first one I attended was in 2011 and have only missed 1 since then. 30 of the top BBQ joints all across Texas converged in Austin to serve some delicious bites. The weather was perfect. Sunny and not hot. A lot of people asked on Sunday what my favorite sample was. My response was something along the line that all the dishes started to run together. Now that I have time to process everything, the duck confit congee from Stiles Switch and the thịt nướng pork belly from Blood Bros really sto ..read more

Smoked BBQ Fest took place this past weekend. Twenty barbecue joints converged from all over the state in Dallas to bring some tasty bites. Ten of them were located in the DFW area. Dallas and mainly Fort Worth have been stepping up their BBQ game of late. I have not been to Hurtado and Panther City so it was a good opportunity to sample what they have to offer. It was hot on Saturday so I drank a lot of water, but I also ate way too much. It did not help that I started the day eating at Zavala's before the event. No ragrets. Here are the pics from the festival: Bibimbap boudin and ginger b ..read more

The third annual Hot Luck Fest took place this previous weekend. The four-day food and music festival is a brainchild of Aaron Franklin (Franklin Barbecue), James Moody (Fun Fun Fest), and Mike Thelin (Feast PDX). Daniel Vaughn was not cooking this year (I helped him out the prior two years) so I was just a spectator with the goal in mind of gorging myself silly. There are four main food events- Giddy Up, Hi, How Are You?, Al Fuego, and Coupe de Grille (I did not attend). There was an option for an add-on to attend Any Ricker's Pok Pok pop-up at Franklin. Here are some of my favorites bites th ..read more

This spring has been a busy festival season for me. There was almost an event every weekend. When the Pints the Park lineup was announced, I knew this was another event I could not miss. Barbecue and beer? That is probably the perfect combo. Due to weather concerns, the event was pushed back a day to Sunday. Here are all of the tasty bites from that day: Bodacious Gladewater (Gladewater, Texas) - Beef tenderloin and pork steaks with a red grape jalapeño relish Brett's Backyard Bar-B-Que (Rockdale, Texas) - Pork steak on a fried tortilla with a pineapple salsa, brisket, ribs with a peac ..read more

I love attending Red Dirt BBQ & Music Festival. It always features some of the best barbecue joints in the state. There are plenty of delicious bites, and the lines are quite manageable. The music lineup is an added bonus. I originally wanted to come up Saturday and leave Saturday evening, but Amber would not let me. So I drove around East Texas eating BBQ. Darn. I took about 200 pictures on Saturday, but I condensed it down to 80+. I wish I had taken a few more though. Here is what everyone brought to the event: BBQ on the Brazos - Brisket, sausage, and cheesy grits Black's Barbecue ..read more

I have never been interested in Austin Food + Wine Festival. Not sure why though. What got my attention was when I saw pictures of Billy Durney, Rodney Scott, and Elliot Moss cooking in Austin last year. I was like what?! There is barbecue? I mean it does make sense considering it is Austin after-all. I attended the day events on Saturday and Sunday, but there are other events (Feast Under the Stars, Grillin' and Chillin' and Rock Your Taco) that you can go to as well. There were a lot of delicious bites to be had. I did not take a picture every dish with my camera though. My bad. I remember t ..read more

The craft of making sausage is truly an art form. I have tried making my own before, and it was not easy at all. I give all the love to the barbecue joints who make it in-house. A lot of BBQ spots are coming up with unique and delicious options for their menu. The first ever Sausage Wars brought 10 restaurants together to see who had the best stuff around. Here are the pics from the sold-out event: Brotherton's Black Iron Barbecue (Pflugerville) - Pork, beef, mango & habanero and Shrimp etouffee boudin Buck's Barbeque Co. (Houston) - Buttered chicken Harlem Road Texas BBQ (Richmon ..read more

One of the most anticipated barbecue opening in Houston has a familiar name. Truth Barbeque. The same one from Brenham. The same one from the Texas Monthly's Top 10 BBQ joints. Leonard Botello IV and crew finally opened it late in January after numerous delays. The Brenham location has been closed since the end of 2018 to get ready for Houston. Good news to the folks of Brenham though. They are reopening this weekend 4/6. The space in Houston is well thought out and beautiful. There is a plenty of seating, and the line is set up for optimization. The food is just as great, and there is still ..read more