An Essential Guide to Texas Barbecue

Backyard barbecues with beefy protagonists are about as Texan as it gets, but the tradition of Texas barbecue actually traces its roots to the state’s earliest immigrant and Native American influences. To be fair, there’s not just one type of Texas barbecue. There are four major styles across the state, where the only thing sacred is the meat … specifically the “Texas Trinity” (the actual term pitmasters have for their plates of sausage, brisket, and ribs). 

Styles vary by region: East Texans sweeten their meat with a marinade before slow cooking to fall-off-the-bone doneness, West Texans prefer cooking over an open flame with mesquite wood, South Texans blend Mexican influences for a more barbacoa style, and Central Texas ‘cue gets its smoky flavor from fresh cut hardwoods like mesquite or post oak wood smoldering in an offset smoker (i.e., a smoker that utilizes indirect heat with a main chamber “offset” from the firebox).

But the style that started it all — and the style most people are referring to when talking about “Texas barbecue” — is Central Texas barbecue. The tradition dates back to the mid-19th century when German and Czech immigrants arrived and sought a means for preserving their abundance of beef. “Animals were raised and harvested for meat which was sold fresh,” explains Bryan Bracewell, owner and pitmaster of the oldest barbecue joint in the state of Texas, Southside Market & Barbeque in Elgin. “The sausage and BBQ were simply derivatives of having fresh meat and no refrigeration. It was either sold fresh or preserved to sell the next day, and smoking the sausage or the meat to make BBQ was the easiest, quickest way to preserve it to sell the next day.”

The preservation led to aspiration, and the art of Texas barbecue was born. Like many other legacy barbecue joints in the state, Southside started as a small-town German butcher shop in 1882, selling meat door-to-door from the back of a horse-drawn wagon. They eventually opened a brick-and mortar shop in 1886 to sell fresh meat in the shop and smoked meats in the back. “They weren’t restaurants, they were meat markets,” Bracewell adds.

To this day, that focus on meat is the defining trait of Texas barbecue, where the sauce will likely be served on the side as a condiment … so as not to disturb the meat until absolutely necessary, if even necessary. Beef is the obvious star in Texas (i.e., brisket, all-beef sausage, beef-blended sausage, beef ribs, etc.), but pork, chicken, and other proteins make their way onto most pits these days, too. In terms of sides, as long as there’s meat on the plate, what’s served alongside can vary. Texas sides can range from time-tested staples — like coleslaw, pickles, potato salad, fresh onions, and jalapeños — to salsas and curried vegetables or even kimchis and elotes. More often than not, you’ll be served a slice of white bread on the side — a tradition as old as the state’s original meat markets — although freshly made tortillas are gaining popularity across the state.

In a state as big as Texas — with as many big opinions about the best in state — there’s no question that there are some necessary stops along any Texas barbecue trail. Here’s where to sample the best in Texas barbecue on a visit.