The Family Tree of Texas Barbecue

The current tastemakers of the state’s ‘cue can be traced to four key pitmasters

Franklin Barbecue, Austin


John Lewis

La Barbecue, Austin; Lewis Barbecue, Charleston and Atlanta

Chris McGhee

Briscuits, Austin

Esaul Ramos

2M Smokehouse, San Antonio

Nick and Elliott Reese

2M Smokehouse, San Antonio


Jonny White

Goldee’s Bar-B-Q, Fort Worth; Ribbee’s, Fort Worth

Cooper Abercrombie

Bar A BBQ, Montgomery

Chuck Charnichart

Barbs B Q, Lockhart

Amir Jalali

Redbird BBQ, Port Neches

Freedmen’s + LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, Austin


Joel and Jesse Garcia

Teddy’s Barbecue, Weslaco

Bradley Robinson

Chuds BBQ, online educator and product line

Layne Milne and Jalen Heard

Goldee’s Bar-B-Q, Fort Worth

Bodacious BBQ, Longview


Bryan Bingham

Sunbird Barbecue, Longview

Russel Roegels

Roegels Barbecue Co, Houston and Katy

Interstellar BBQ, Austin


Kareem El-Ghayesh

KG BBQ, Austin

Holden Fulco

Parish Barbecue, Austin

From the September 2026 issue

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