Is Texas’s Barbecue Bubble Ready to Burst?

[Sid Post]

Hey, good bbq is expensive, but so is lousy bbq...I've had some very mediocre brisket in Texas, so it's a crap shoot if you get what you might consider your moneys worth.

Local place here just opened, tried the ribs, edible but not worth the cost, I doubt he's gonna last..

normal people are holding back spending money, everything is going through the roof, I bought 2 bagels and 2 coffes a few weeks ago, 12 bucks, thats ridiculous. cheaper now to stop at mcdonalds...

I understand restaurants have it tough, always been that way, but I don't have to pay their inflated prices just so they stay in business.

Not around where I live. And, it is a total crapshoot that you get what you ordered if you aren't willing to go back and complain with the manager and have your receipt!

 

[jimstocks53]

I don't know if BBQ places are at any special risk but 80% of new restaurants fail within their first 5 years. It isn't just meat prices which have gone out of sight. That being said, everyone believes they can cook BBQ and wanting a piece of that action has indeed spawned a bubble here in Texas. Just a few miles South in Jacksonville TX we lost a fledgling BBQ place, Big Franks, who served at my birthday last month only to announce his closing up shop a few weeks later.

 

[Get’n Smokey]

We were approached by a event/venue owner a few weeks ago to be his full time caterer or doing catering. He does 90 events a year and uses Hard8 for people that need help with food. Hard8 is a major bbq joint around here and we killed that place with our backyard family style bbq.

How does Dickies stay open? They get pre-made briskets to warm up. Hell they don’t even own a smoker

:doh::roll:

 

[Get’n Smokey]

We are thinking about catering for him.

He’s a super nice guy and his venue is one of those…. million plus!!!

Maybe these restaurant guys using electric smokers have been out classed by the backyard wood burners :bow:

We have known our stuff is decent but having a venue owner say our food was the best he has had to date made us feel good for sure.

 

[Mikhail]

This!

"The harder truth to swallow is that we simply have too many great options in Texas and across the country."

Yep. 30 years ago there was 1 bbq joint in Cincinnati and it was not very good. Now there must be 30 or 40 of them. Only a few are decent and only a couple I would consider really good.