Want the quick rundown before you dig in?
Quick rundown: Beef prices are squeezing Texas BBQ joints, and brisket is where the pressure shows up first. This week’s issue is about why the answer is not staying home. It is showing up and supporting the whole tray: ribs, sausage, turkey, sides, specials, and desserts.
If this sounds like your kind of BBQ trail, the full issue has the rest.
The brisket math is getting harder
Brisket is still the king of Texas BBQ.
That has not changed.
But the math behind brisket is getting harder.
You feel it at the grocery store. BBQ joints feel it even more. Beef prices are up, margins are tight, and brisket is one of the hardest items on the menu to make profitable. By the time a pitmaster trims it, seasons it, cooks it overnight, manages the loss, holds it properly, slices it, and serves it by the pound, there is not always as much room in that tray as people think.
So the answer is not, “Let’s wait until BBQ gets cheaper.”
That may sound reasonable, but it misses the point.
If everybody waits, the places we care about have a harder time keeping the lights on.
The better answer is to keep supporting your favorite BBQ joints, but think beyond brisket.
Order the ribs. Try the sausage. Get the turkey. Add the sides. Check out the sandwich special, the burger night, the pork chop, the smoked chicken, the beans, the dirty rice, the banana pudding, or whatever that joint is trying to make work that week.
Those items matter.
They help a BBQ restaurant build a menu that is not completely at the mercy of brisket prices. They let the kitchen show more range. They give regular customers a way to keep showing up without every visit becoming a full brisket tray commitment.
That does not mean brisket stops mattering.
It means Texas BBQ has always been bigger than one cut of beef.
A good joint tells you who they are through the whole tray: the sausage, the sides, the smoke, the hospitality, the specials, and the way they make the meal feel worth it.
So this week, the move is simple.
Do not wait for prices to magically settle down before going back to your favorite BBQ spot.
Go support them now.
Maybe order brisket. Maybe do not.
But show up, buy something good, bring a friend, and help the places you care about stay part of the Texas BBQ map.
Reader question: What non-brisket item do you order when you want to support a BBQ joint without building the whole meal around beef?
This week’s BBQ Passport move: Log a visit to a BBQ joint you want to see stick around.
See you at the smoker,
Mike
Co-Founder, BBQ Fandom | ExploringBBQ.com
This week’s Around the Fire looks at the pressure behind brisket prices, why Texans still care so much about the cut, and how modern BBQ joints are adapting beyond the old model.
Beef prices are squeezing Texas BBQ, and brisket is taking the hit
The headline is loud, but the pressure behind it is real. Beef prices are squeezing Texas BBQ joints, and brisket is where many feel it first.
The move is not to stay home until prices come down. The better move is to keep supporting the whole menu: ribs, sausage, turkey, chicken, sides, sandwiches, specials, and desserts.
Brisket may be king, but the whole tray helps keep the lights on.
NY Post | May 26, 2026 | Free
Read here
Texans still know where they would go for brisket
Ask Texas BBQ fans where they would send someone for brisket, and the opinions come fast. The reader favorites in this MySA piece are a good reminder that brisket still carries real emotional weight in Texas BBQ culture.
Franklin, Burnt Bean, 2M, Reese Bros, Pinkerton’s, Interstellar, LeRoy and Lewis, Snow’s, and plenty of smaller favorites all came up in the conversation.
MySA | May 28, 2026 | Free
Read here
Burnt Bean shipping nationwide shows another path for top Texas BBQ joints
Burnt Bean going nationwide is good news, but it also raises a bigger question for BBQ fans: what parts of Texas BBQ can travel, and what parts still belong to the line, the pit room, and the actual visit? Either way, it is another sign that modern Texas BBQ joints are having to think beyond the old model.
MySA | May 30, 2026 | Free
Read here
If this one made you hungry to hit the road, forward it to your favorite BBQ road trip partner. It helps us grow this community one brisket at a time.
This week’s Pitmaster Picks keep the brisket conversation from getting too heavy. We have a San Antonio video celebrating National Brisket Day, a behind-the-scenes Bar-A-BBQ visit that shows the craft behind Texas-style cooking, and a local 10EATS! BBQ feature that reminds readers the whole menu matters, not just brisket.
Texas Eats NOW: National Brisket Day Celebrations and Viral Texas BBQ
Video | May 28, 2026 | KSAT / Texas Eats
After talking about beef prices and tight brisket margins, this is a good reminder that BBQ is still supposed to be fun. Brisket may carry the crown, but the wider scene is full of personality, creativity, and plates that go well beyond the standard tray.
Cooper Abercrombie visits Kafi Barbecue
Video | May 29, 2026 | YouTube, Bar-A-BBQ
Cooper Abercrombie of Bar-A-BBQ visits Sahadin at Kafi Barbecue for a behind-the-scenes look at Wagyu beef, spice blends, trimming, smoking, and the craft decisions that shape a Texas BBQ operation.
10EATS! checks out brisket, ribs, and more
Video | May 31, 2026 | YouTube, KFDA NewsChannel 10
This 10EATS! stop at Tyler’s Barbecue in Amarillo works well for Issue #12 because it shows a joint known for brisket and ribs, while also pointing to half chicken, turkey, sandwiches, and in-house sausage made with pork shoulder and brisket trimmings.
The rib segment is the hook: texture left on the bite, clean pull from the bone, and a sweet-heat crust. Brisket may get the headline, but the rest of the menu often tells you just as much about a BBQ place.
This week’s BBQ Events Radar gives readers three ways to turn BBQ into an outing: a lakeside festival in Little Elm, a free family-friendly BBQ stop in El Paso, and a Fort Davis road-trip cook-off with mountain air and small-town Texas flavor.
Click the city links below to see BBQ joints in each city and build the stop into a bigger Texas BBQ outing.
Little Elm Brew & Que [Festival] [Music + BBQ]
June 6, 2026 | Little Elm, TX
This is probably the strongest reader-friendly event to add. Brew & Que returns to Little Elm Park with BBQ, craft beer, live music, shopping, contests, and fireworks over the lake. It gives readers a true festival option instead of another cook-off listing, and it fits the North Texas thread we already have in Pitmaster Picks.
Famous Dave’s All Star BBQ Series [Free] [Family Friendly]
June 6, 2026 | El Paso, TX
This one gives West Texas readers a free, easy-to-understand BBQ outing: local pitmasters, samples, giveaways, music, and a people’s choice wing competition. It is a chain-hosted event, so it does not have the same destination-joint feel as a traditional Texas BBQ festival, but it is very reader-friendly.
Smoke in the Mountains [Competition] [Road Trip Worthy]
June 5–6, 2026 | Fort Davis, TX
If you like your BBQ weekends with more road under the tires, Smoke in the Mountains is worth noticing early. The Fort Davis cook-off gives readers a Davis Mountains road-trip option built around barbecue, small-town Texas, and a different kind of smoke-filled backdrop.
Brisket may get the spotlight, but the whole tray tells the story.
This week on ExploringBBQ.com, the idea is simple: if you want to support your favorite BBQ joints, do not stop at brisket. Pay attention to the ribs, sausage, turkey, sides, sandwiches, specials, desserts, and the little details that make a meal feel worth it.
A good BBQ order can do more than feed you. It can help you understand what a joint does well beyond the most famous cut of beef.
Start here:
If a BBQ joint gave you more than just a good slice of brisket, log the visit and remember what else made the tray work.
From the ExploringBBQ shop
Supporting BBQ culture does not always mean ordering the biggest tray on the menu. Sometimes it is showing up, bringing a friend, logging the stop, and wearing something that says you are part of the smoke trail.
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