Texas barbecue: The best of the best

We are all living—lucky us—in “the golden age of Texas barbecue,” said Patricia Sharpe and Daniel Vaughn in Texas Monthly. Texas long has had “no peer on earth” in this culinary art form, largely because no other region works such wonders with beef brisket—the most rewarding of barbecue cuts. Still, in just the past five years, a new generation of pitmasters has emerged, pushing barbecue to “astonishing” new heights.

Franklin Barbecue Austin. All hail Aaron Franklin, barbecue’s new king. In his four years in business, he “has achieved, with his brisket, a level of perfection that is rare for any cook to attain with any food.” It’s “worth every bit of praise it has received,” and every hour you’ll wait in line to get some.

Pecan Lodge Dallas. The first of our three runners-up operates inside the vast Dallas Farmers Market and was founded by a young couple in 2010. Their beef ribs are so tender that “fistfuls of pepper-coated meat” fall from the bone.

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Snow’s BBQ Lexington. Tootsie Tomanetz, 78, operates her shack outside of Austin only on Saturdays, but she’s “possibly the greatest female pitmaster in Texas history.”

Louie Mueller Barbecue Taylor. At 64, this “cathedral of smoke” and Central Texas icon is “as good as it’s ever been.” The beef rib “has been known to induce swooning.”