Latest Stories

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  Smoked Out: Phil-Paul's BBQ

  June 25 at 5 a.m.

  Sometime in late 2018, a small, nondescript barbecue restaurant quietly opened on Lyons Avenue in Houston's historic Fifth Ward. The family-owned smokehouse opened with no press and little fanfare beyond a few public Facebook posts by its proprietor. Eight months later, people are slowly taking notice. Phil-Paul's BBQ at 3206...

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  Smoked Out: Brookstreet Bar-B-Que

  June 18 at 5 a.m.

  Sugar Land is spoiled for choice when it comes to dining. The massive and affluent suburb turned micro-metropolis has more respectable culinary diversity than most areas outside the loop — thanks in large part to its sizable Indian, East Asian and Latino populations. And yet, good barbecue in Sugar Land...

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  Smoked Out: Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que

  June 11 at 5:30 a.m.

  We're stepping way, way, way outside the loop this week for a special edition of Smoked Out. As far out as New Braunfels, for a floating the river, summer day trip to the Hill Country kind of barbecue review. Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que is a Central Texas institution. For...

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  Smoked Out: Goode Company Barbecue

  June 4 at 5 a.m.

  The decision to include Goode Company Barbecue in this column was somewhat labored over. While the 42-year old smokehouse — and Goode family name — are something of a Houston institution, the decline in their barbecue quality has been well, and harshly, noted by both critics and online reviewers alike...

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  Smoked Out: Burns Original BBQ

  May 28 at 4 a.m.

  As Texas barbecue goes, smoked brisket is king. Sliced, moist and fall apart tender, it's both a protein and technique that separates Texas from the pulled pork and rib traditions of the South and Midwest from Kansas City to Charleston. And yet, within Texas that bias toward beef tends to...

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  Smoked Out: Tejas Chocolate & Barbecue

  May 21 at 5:30 a.m.

  Scott Moore and partner Michelle Holland don't just own one of the 50 best barbecue joints in Texas (top 10 in our books). They also founded Texas' first bean-to-bar craft chocolatier. What's more, both businesses are under the same roof. Hell, they even roast their cocoa beans in a meat smoker...