Want the quick rundown before you dig in?
Quick rundown: This week’s From the Pit looks at how the old ways still show up in Texas BBQ if you know what to watch for. Around the Fire checks in on Smitty’s Market in Lockhart, Terry Black’s progress in San Antonio, and Ribbee’s search for a new Fort Worth home. Pitmaster Picks brings one old-school Lockhart video and one practical pork steak cook. BBQ Events Radar points toward live fire, cook-offs, and June road-trip ideas. Plus, ExploringBBQ has the June Passport sticker pack promo, smoked pork steaks, Fan Cooks, BBQ sides, June events, and gear for the next BBQ run.
If old smokehouses, sausage links, butcher paper, and meat-market roots are part of what you love about Texas BBQ, this issue is for you.
The old ways still carry the smoke
Texas BBQ did not start as a road trip.
Before the tray photos, rankings, Saturday lines, and destination restaurants, barbecue in Texas was practical. It was tied to meat markets, smokehouses, sausage-making, working lunches, family counters, and the everyday need to turn available meat into something that could feed people.
That is part of what makes Texas BBQ feel different.
When you walk into an old-school joint and see butcher paper, sausage by the link, meat sold by the pound, wood stacked outside, family photos on the wall, or a pit room carrying decades of smoke, you are not just seeing decoration.
You are seeing clues from an older way of feeding a town.
Those clues matter because the modern Texas BBQ joint did not appear out of nowhere. It grew from older habits, older foodways, and older ways of serving a community.
That is why some places feel like more than a meal.
They feel like they are still carrying something forward.
Then jump into The Pit Forum and tell us:
What old-school BBQ detail do you hope never disappears?
Butcher paper, sausage by the link, meat by the pound, pit room smoke, old signs, family photos, counter service, wood piles, or something else?
See you at the smoker,
Mike
Co-Founder, BBQ Fandom | ExploringBBQ.com
This week’s stories all come back to place: where BBQ history lives, where new joints are taking shape, and what happens when a good BBQ idea has to find a new home.
Around the Fire
Smitty’s keeps old-school Lockhart BBQ alive as the town changes
CBS Austin’s ATX Eats spotlighted Smitty’s Market in Lockhart, where the story is not just the barbecue, but the feeling of a place that still carries the old ways. Owner Nina Sells talks about Lockhart’s changing food scene, her family’s history in barbecue, and the smoke-stained walls that make Smitty’s feel like stepping back in time. For an issue built around Texas BBQ history, this one fits right in: sometimes the old ways are not nostalgia, they are still working.
Source: CBS Austin / ATX Eats
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Terry Black’s San Antonio location takes shape near the Pearl
Terry Black’s Barbecue is getting closer to its San Antonio debut near the Pearl, with construction taking shape at 2100 Broadway. The new location brings another major Central Texas barbecue name into a city with its own growing BBQ identity. For San Antonio BBQ fans, this will be one to watch, not just because of the brand name, but because it adds another layer to the city’s changing barbecue map.
Source: MySA via Yahoo News
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Ribbee’s loses its current Fort Worth home, but hopes to return
Ribbee’s, the rib-focused Fort Worth spinoff from the Goldee’s BBQ team, is closing its current location after June 21 because of a property sale and landlord change. The owners say they hope to reopen in a new home. It is a reminder that even when a BBQ concept has smoke, talent, and a following, the business still depends on place, timing, and a building that lets the fire keep going.
Source: CultureMap Fort Worth
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If this issue made you look at the sausage on a BBQ tray a little differently, forward it to your favorite BBQ road trip partner. It helps us grow this community one smoke stop at a time.
This week’s picks split the difference between place and practice: a brand-new look inside Smitty’s Market in Lockhart, and a backyard pork steak cook that proves Texas BBQ tradition does not always have to start with brisket.
Pitmaster Picks
Inside Lockhart’s 100-Year-Old Barbecue Landmark
Video | June 2026 | YouTube, CBS Austin
This pick continues the conversation from this week’s From the Pit, but from inside the room at Smitty’s Market in Lockhart. The video gives readers a closer look at the old-school details behind the story: hand-tied sausage, post oak-fired pits, smoke-darkened walls, a century-old building, and the feeling that Texas BBQ history is still being worked in real time.
Owner Nina Sells talks about Smitty’s place in Lockhart’s barbecue legacy, while pitmaster Jerry Mendoza brings the craft side into focus after 25 years behind the pit. Watch this one for the room, the smoke, the sausage, and the reminder that old-school BBQ is not just something we remember. In places like Smitty’s, it is still happening.
Pork Steaks: The Legendary Texas BBQ Staple
Video | June 17, 2026 | YouTube, Meat Church BBQ
Meat Church’s Matt Pittman takes on Texas BBQ pork steaks, thick-cut slices of bone-in pork shoulder cooked low and slow over live fire. This is a smart pick for the week because it gives readers a practical backyard cook that still feels tied to Texas barbecue tradition.
Not every weekend needs a brisket, and not every BBQ lesson has to start with the most expensive cut in the case. Pork steaks bring big pork flavor, rendered fat, smoke, char, and a little old-school nostalgia without turning the whole day into a full brisket project. If folks are looking for a more budget-friendly cut to put over fire, this one is worth saving.
This week’s BBQ Events Radar leans into live fire, small-town cook-offs, and Texas road-trip potential. Some events are public-facing food experiences, while others are competition-focused, so always double-check event details before you load the cooler and hit the road.
Click the city links below to see BBQ joints in each city and build the stop into a bigger Texas BBQ outing.
SMOKE: A Celebration of Fire & Flavor [Road Trip Worthy]
June 19 to 20, 2026 | Austin, TX
SMOKE returns to Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa for Father’s Day weekend with a curated two-day live-fire experience featuring pitmasters, chefs, tastemakers, cocktails, music, and regional barbecue traditions from Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama. For readers looking for a full BBQ weekend instead of a quick stop, this is the big Austin event to watch.
David Decker Memorial BBQ Cookoff at Holland Corn Festival [Competition] [Small-Town BBQ]
June 19 to 20, 2026 | Holland, TX
The David Decker Memorial BBQ Cookoff brings sanctioned competition barbecue into the Holland Corn Festival, giving Central Texas readers a small-town event built around brisket, ribs, pork, chicken, jackpots, and community. It is competition-first, but the festival setting gives it more local flavor than a standard cook-off listing.
S.M.O.K.E, Spending Money on Kids and Education [Competition] [Fundraiser]
June 19, 2026 | Montgomery, TX
This IBCA State Championship event in Montgomery brings the smoke to a cause-driven cook-off. The name tells you the heart of it: Spending Money on Kids and Education. It is a competition event, but the fundraiser angle gives readers a reason to care beyond the turn-in boxes.
21st Annual QCVFD BBQ Cook Off [Competition] [Plan Ahead]
June 26 to 27, 2026 | Victoria, TX
The 21st Annual QCVFD BBQ Cook Off is coming up next week in Victoria, and it is worth flagging now for readers who like to plan around cook-off weekends. This IBCA State Championship event gives South Texas readers another reason to mark the calendar before the month wraps up.
Smoke in the Pines BBQ Cook-Off [Competition] [Road Trip Worthy]
June 26 to 27, 2026 | Livingston, TX
Smoke in the Pines gets the Featured Monthly Event spot because it gives readers a late-June BBQ target with enough time left to plan. The Polk County Chamber lists it as the 7th Annual State Championship Smoke in the Pines BBQ Cook-Off, with cook teams, cornhole, a Kid’s Q, and an auto and bike show.
For readers looking toward East Texas or the Lake Livingston area, this could become more than a cook-off stop. It is the kind of weekend that can turn into a small road trip, especially if you build in a BBQ stop before or after the event.
This week on ExploringBBQ.com, the smoke trail keeps going. Cook pork steaks at home, share your own backyard cook, build a better BBQ plate, plan a June BBQ stop, log a Passport Visit Stamp, or gear up for your next run.
Visit It: June Visit Stamp Sticker Pack
If this issue has you thinking about smoke, road trips, or weekend cook-offs, the June Texas BBQ Events page is live on ExploringBBQ. Use it to scan cook-offs, festivals, and BBQ-friendly road-trip ideas before the month gets away from you.
Stamp it: June First Stamp Sticker Pack
Your next Texas BBQ stop can come with a little road-trip reward.
Log a BBQ Passport Visit Stamp during June 2026, then send us a quick screenshot and mailing address. We will send an ExploringBBQ sticker pack while supplies last. Each pack includes one 4-inch ExploringBBQ sticker and one 3-inch BBQ Passport sticker.
Here is how it works:
Create or log into your ExploringBBQ account.
Visit a Texas BBQ joint and log at least one BBQ Passport Visit Stamp in June 2026.
Add at least one note or detail about your visit, such as what you ordered, who you went with, what stood out, or whether you would go back.
Send an Email to [email protected] with the following:
Subject: June First Stamp Sticker Pack
Body: Include your name and U.S. mailing address.
Attachment: Mobile screenshot showing your completed June Visit Stamp
Promotion ends June 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM CT. To qualify, your BBQ Passport Visit Stamp must be logged in your ExploringBBQ account by June 30, 2026. Your screenshot submission must be received at [email protected] by July 3, 2026 at 11:59 PM CT.
No purchase is required to participate. Sticker packs are limited, one per person, and available while supplies last. Mailing addresses are used only to send the sticker pack.
Cook this: Smoked Pork Steaks
This week’s Pitmaster Picks included pork steaks, so here is the ExploringBBQ recipe path if you want to bring that idea into your own backyard. Pork steaks are a great reminder that BBQ does not always have to start with brisket. They bring smoke, fat, bark, tenderness, and big pork flavor without turning the whole weekend into a full packer project.
Share your cook
If you make pork steaks, brisket, ribs, sausage, sides, wings, or anything else over fire this week, share it with the ExploringBBQ community. Your cook does not have to be perfect. The goal is to show what you made, what worked, what you learned, and what you would try next time.
Read this: Build the plate around the meat
Great BBQ is not just the main protein. If you are cooking pork steaks, ribs, sausage, brisket, or pulled pork this summer, the BBQ Sides guide can help you build a better plate around the smoke.
For the next BBQ run
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.
Know about a BBQ event, new opening, road-trip stop, or story worth following? Send a note to [email protected].
We read every message and may feature reader tips in a future issue. BBQ Fandom follows the people, places, and moments that make barbecue worth following.
If someone came to mind while reading this issue, forward it their way.
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