Tyler and Longview Land in Texas Monthly’s Top 50 BBQ Joints
Every year, Texas Monthly puts out the most coveted list of BBQ joints in the state known for the best in the world. Getting on this coveted list is not a typical feat - it's not just the cream of the crop. It's the best of the best.
The List: The Top 50 Barbecue Joints in Texas was just released in the Texas Monthly June edition with East Texas represented twice among the best. One made it in the top 5 as well.
Stanley's Famous Pit Barbecue is no surprise as it's probably the first place people recommend going to when visiting the city of Tyler. Everything on the menu is a home run and the pro tip given by Texas Monthly? "Have a breakfast Brother-in-Law in the morning and a Pork Brother-in-Law in the afternoon."
I personally don't recommend that since that's a whole lotta meat! But we can certainly give you some menu tips.
Longview's Bodacious Bar-B-Q lands inside the Overall Top 5 this year, while Stanley's Famous Pit Bar-B-Q of Tyler posts a Top-20 ranking! As Texas Monthly notes, Pitmaster Jordan Jackson focused on his culinary studies in Austin but moved back to East Texas where he 'honed his smoking chops' at Stanley's in Tyler. He then took over the Bodacious Bar-B-Q in Longview in 2015 has been killin' it ever since.
By the way, both of these joints were featured in the Red Dirt BBQ so if you were there, you probably had a serving, or five.
With so many outstanding barbecue options to choose from across the vast miles of our state, making the cut within such a prestigious contingent as is represented here is some serious recognition. Austin has seven different Bar-B-Q places in the new Texas Monthly Top 50, with Houston & Dallas-Fort Worth adding four establishments each.
The #1 honoree for 2017 is Snow's BBQ of Lexington, coming in ahead of last year's champ, Austin's Franklin Barbeque, which finished 2nd this time around.
Many of this year's 50 Best were participants in Tyler's Red Dirt BBQ & Music Festival a few weeks ago, so while reading the recap I could say, "yep - tried that one, thought this one was great, added that one to my 'must make roadtrip list'"...
Of course opinions on these particular choices & how they're ranked always vary. We'd love to hear what you think!