6th Stop, 10 Days of BBQ, Dayne's Craft BBQ, Aledo

 

https://daynescraftbarbecue.com/

sampled about 10:45 am

One of my go-to spots for visitors and my buddy Dave came up from Austin, specifically for Dayne's.  Then he got the burger!  He did get some Q to take back to Austin, though.  I got my usual Texas Trinity with a couple of slices of Pork Belly Brisket added to the mix.  All was well until I noticed that the Chocolate Lasagna was no longer on the menu!  Wah!  It has been replaced by a new peanut butter/banana/nutter butter thing.  Not my thing, but I did grab one for my wife.  The receipt still says Chocolate Lasagna, so they owe me one.  It says so on the receipt. :)  A staff member told us they are unhappy with the consistency of the Chocolate Lasagna so they are trying new stuff.  I do hope it returns.

There were only about 6 people in front of us when we arrived but by the time we left the line snaked out the door.  That's why we usually go on week days.  Making #7 on the latest Texas Monthly list has probably brought them many new customers.

5th Stop, 10 Days of BBQ, Green's Texas Bar-B-Que, Euless

 

https://www.facebook.com/greenstexasbbq/

Sampled 7/12/25 about 11 am

This is the only food truck BBQ we're sampling on this 10 day tour and is definitely one of my favorite local spots.  On the good side, it's only 2 miles from my house and the BBQ is excellent.  On the bad side he's only open on Saturday from 11 am til sell-out.

Scott, Dave, Bonnie and I cued up about 10:30 am and we were second in line.  By the time he opened at 11 there were only a few more behind us.  Usually there are 12-15. I opted for brisket, ribs, twinkies, pork belly bites, and brisket biscuits.  All were mighty fine, as always.  This will probably be our cheapest stop for brisket, "just" $30/lb.  He has a new sandwich called the "Sloppy Don".

He has new labels for his All N One seasoning as he now has some on shelves at a retail spot.  He will be closed a few days in August and September so make note of the sign below.

Fourth Stop, 10 Days of BBQ, Zavala's Barbecue, Grand Prairie

 

https://www.zavalasbarbecue.com/

sampled 7/11/25 about 11 am

Conveniently located between Brisket Lane and Sloppy Juan Way, Zavala's is always a great stop and this is my favorite meal, so far, out of the first 4 days.  Patti, Scott, and David, joined me to start the line.  Ribs and brisket were great but the sausage was outstanding.  Many, many places offer jalapeno cheese sausage, but few bring the real jalapeno flavor and heat like Zavala's.  They chop their jalapenos fresh for their sausage and that makes the difference.  The poppers were excellent, too.  They usually sell those as a soft taco, but I convinced them to just serve me the individual pieces.  Good eatin' either way.

Third Stop, 10 Days of BBQ, Panther City Barbecue, Fort Worth

https://www.panthercitybbq.com/

Sampled 7/10/25 about 11 am

Scott and I were first in line at Panther City today and even got to visit with El Jefe a bit while we waited.  Another day and another of my favorite DFW BBQ joints.  Sadly, their excellent twinkies are only available on weekends, but I made due with pork belly poppers.  

    

Second Stop, 10 days of BBQ, Hurtado Barbecue, Arlington

 

https://hurtadobbq.com/

Another great stop today with Scott and Patti.  It's a great thing when you can't decide what the best thing on your plate is, because it's all great.  It might have been the pork belly burnt ends, but maybe not.  My to-go box had a belt around it.

First stop, 10 days of BBQ, Meat U Anywhere BBQ, Grapevine

 

https://www.meatuanywhere.com/

First stop on our celebration was Meat U Anywhere in Grapevine.  We rolled up about 11 am and found no line inside.  Scott and Jack joined me.  I got the Texas Trinity and everything was excellent.  The brisket was moist, tender and had plenty of smoke flavor.  The ribs were so good I went back and got 3 more.  The sausage had lots of gooey cheese and a nice jalapeno bite.  

More  meat tomorrow!

20 years of BBQ!

Hard to believe, but it has almost been 20 years since I started this little BBQ blog.  This all started when my friend Scott, who was raised in New York City, said he always wanted to drive around Texas and try different BBQ joints.  That sounded fun to me, so we just started doing it.  We made our first stop on July 24, 2005 and there have been many, many plates of smoked meat since.

We had two inspirations for our BBQ mania.  The first was the Texas Monthly Top 50 list.  Scott originally wanted to hit all their top joints and he continues to seek them out.  I was more interested in discovery.  Checking out every little joint we came across while traveling between the top Texas Monthly spots.  

Our second inspiration was Tex Smith's original BBQ blog.  Tex was a volunteer at the same community radio station where Scott and I volunteered.  I think he had the original web address TexasBBQ.com, or something close to that.  Tex seemed to always be eating BBQ and he had some great suggestions of places and methods while running around trying to find the best spots.  I'm sure there were probably other BBQ bloggers around back then, but Tex was our main inspiration.  He had to give it up when his BBQ diet started to seriously affect his health.  Fortunately, we have avoided such complications.  At least, so far.

Originally, I started blogging our adventures on Yahoo 360.  I figured that would be the best way to not have to answer the same questions over and over, plus it would help us remember where we had been.  After a few years, Yahoo ended their blogging app and I moved everything over to Google.  At first we used a numbered grading system, following what Tex had been doing.  That quickly went away and we have just been winging it ever since.

We have eaten BBQ all over Texas and a few in other states.  We have attended all the major BBQ Festivals, some, many times.  I've even learned to smoke some pretty good meat in my own back yard.  We have met many nice people and had lots of adventures along the way.

When I realized we were so close to the 20 year mark, I figured we needed to celebrate.  Scott is travelling on the actual anniversary date, so we moved the celebration up a couple of weeks.  Starting today, we'll be visiting 10 of our favorite DFW BBQ joints in 10 days.  That alone shows how much the BBQ world has changed in 20 years.  Back in 2005, I doubt there was any true craft BBQ in north Texas.  Today there are at least a dozen quality joints that can compare with any of the top joints on the Texas Monthly list.  One of my favorite joints is just 2 miles from my house.  Scott's favorite is only about 3 miles from his house.  Life is good.