The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Here's the Top 10:


1. Burnt Bean Co., Seguin
2. LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, Austin
3. Goldee’s Barbecue, Fort Worth
4. Redbird BBQ, Port Neches
5. GW’s BBQ, San Juan
6. InterStellar BBQ, Austin
7. Dayne’s Craft Barbecue, Aledo
8. La Vaca BBQ, Port Lavaca
9. Truth Barbeque, Houston
10. Evie Mae’s Pit Barbeque, Wolforth

leaving out Dallas was probably for a good reason

I don't think I remember Franklin BBQ in Austin.  I either don't know about it or it wasn't around then. 

I used to work in Seguin and I don't remember Burnt Bean Co. either.  I thought we wore out the local eateries pretty good and I'd have found that one, but who knows.  That was the main office and I was frequently off in Little Mexico, so maybe I wasn't as in the know about Seguin restaurants as I thought. 

I think it's mostly a fool's errand to rank BBQ joints across this entire state.  Too tall a task and too subjective, with too many that are too close.  I liked a lot of BBQ in TX.  I'm probably not enough of a food snob to make strong distinctions between them.  I tend to think in terms of places I like and places I don't.....more binary than rank-ordered.  

Franklin is "new" in the last 15 years or so, so you might have missed it.  It started as a food truck and then opened a brick and mortar.  It's excellent across the board, not a single weakness.

Burnt Bean is new in the last 3-5 years I think?  I went with a friend last year, it's great, but ranking it ahead of Franklin is pretty much just to be "edgy." 

says Burnt Bean opened in 2020

Sounds right.  I hadn't heard about it until 2023 I think.  Then last year a friend and I made the trip down to Seguin and also stopped off in Lockhart.  Burnt Bean was better than the old Lockhart Trifecta.

There's a pretty clear idea of what Texas BBQ is, and should be.  Personal preference isn't going to make much of an impact because these places are all being judged against that standard.

And regarding the variability issue, the places that make the list, have been tried numerous times by the writer and his staff, to check for consistency.  Any place making this list has to have proven it can consistently cook excellent BBQ.  And places that are inconsistent but might occasionally be great, aren't going to make the list.

I think the real issue with the rankings, are the politics and the power of the influence.  Most people still consider Franklin to be the best, but the list gets more attention if there's some controversy, so they'll rank others above Franklin.  And also, they know they can help stimulate business at some of the lesser known places, and I think they rank them higher accordingly.  Franklin has a 4-hour line every day anyway, and it's not going to hurt his business to be ranked a little lower.  But a high ranking can really influence business at lesser known places.