Best BBQ in Dallas: Brisket, Ribs and How to Order

The best BBQ in Dallas is built on a few simple things: beef brisket cooked for many hours over Texas oak, a salt and pepper crust, sausage and ribs on the side and a counter where you order by the pound. Deep Ellum is the part of town people mention first.

Dallas has absorbed the Central Texas style without the small barbecue towns, so go on a weekday, early in the service, and expect popular items to run out later in the day.

Dallas does not have the small-town barbecue towns of Central Texas inside its city limits, but the city has absorbed that tradition, and the pits in Deep Ellum now cook brisket the Texas way for lines of regulars.

Which places have the best BBQ in Dallas?

Three kinds of pit recur in recent coverage. The Deep Ellum pits are the ones people mention first, largely for brisket and a loaded sweet potato piled with chopped beef. Some began life as a stall at a farmers market before moving into a permanent building. Other pits in the same part of town are known for brisket, large beef ribs and a jalapeno cheddar sausage, with seating and a bar, which makes them the easy choice for a group. A third kind sits out in the suburbs and is often called the strongest brisket in the area, but it serves barbecue only a few days a week, at midday.

None of these is the only right answer. Lists are mixed on the order, and diners are blunt about preferences.

What makes Dallas brisket different?

Texas brisket is two cuts in one: the lean flat and the fatty point, sometimes called the moist end. Most counters will ask which you want. If you cannot decide, ask for a mix, or "half and half." The slices should hold together on a fork and still pull apart with a gentle tug. A black, peppery bark is a good sign. Sauce is optional and usually served on the side.

Dallas brisket often comes with white bread, pickles and onion. That is not a lack of sides; it is the point. The bread soaks up the juice and the pickle cuts the fat.

Is Deep Ellum barbecue worth a trip?

Deep Ellum barbecue suits a night out, because the area is full of music venues and bars, and two of the city's best-known pits are there. The trade-off is the line. Weekends and lunchtime are the busiest, and people who know the area suggest a weekday lunch or an early dinner.

If you arrive and the line wraps the building, you have a few choices. Order a smaller amount and go back for more, find a table first and send someone to order, or try another counter nearby. Whichever you pick, read the menu board while you wait so you can order fast.

How to order Texas barbecue at the counter

Order by the pound, in half pounds or by the slice. A quarter pound of meat is a small portion and a half pound is a fair lunch. Say the meat and the amount ("half a pound of brisket, two ribs, one link") and add sides at the end. The cutter will ask if you want lean or fatty brisket, so have an answer ready.

The meat usually comes on butcher paper, not a plate. Ask for extra napkins. Wait to taste before you reach for the sauce; good brisket needs little of it.

What about Dallas ribs and sausage?

Dallas ribs come in two main forms. Pork spare ribs are cooked until the meat just leaves the bone, not falling off it, and beef ribs are a very large single bone that looks like a prop from an old cartoon. Beef ribs tend to sell out first, so go early if you want one.

Sausage is a quiet star. Many Texas pits make a link of beef and pork with plenty of pepper, and some add jalapeno and cheese. A link is a good way to sample a new place for a small cost.

When is the best time to go?

Go on a weekday if you can, early in the service, and expect that the most popular items may be gone late in the day. A pit that serves only a few days a week runs on a different schedule from a restaurant with a bar, so check before you drive. Hours change, and a pit that sells out will say so on its social pages.

For a big group, a restaurant with seating and a full menu is easier than a counter with a few picnic tables.

What else is worth a bite near these places?

If the day also includes lunch, brunch or a quieter dinner, the guide to date night restaurants in Dallas and the Uptown and Knox-Henderson guide cover other parts of the city. For another take on Texas meat, read the Fort Worth chicken fried steak guide. The US guides page has more cities.

Barbecue arguments are never settled, so keep your own record. In the Mosey app you can rate each plate of brisket as you eat it, add notes about the bark and the sides and build a list of the pits you would take a visitor to.