Smyrna

My 5 favorite barbecue bites in 2025 so far

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Monk: It’s been a lighter year, barbecue-wise for me but I have managed to hit several big hitters across the southeast (including four restaurants on the Texas Monthly United States of Texas Barbecue list from Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina). I’m looking at it as trying a few worthwhile places instead of a bunch of mediocre ones, and hopefully in the second half of the year I’ll get to a few more places to round out my list by the end of 2025.

In chronological order, here are the best things I have eaten from the first half of the year:

Smoked half chicken from Union Barbecue (review from 2024)

Last year, the carnitas from Union Barbecue was one of my favorite bites of the year (not to mention the brisket and the out-of-this-world Big Deborah oatmeal cream pie). On a subsequent stop in January I tried the smoked half chicken topped with white sauce, salsa macha, and cilantro for a change of pace and found it to be a nice, lighter alternative to the heavier meats.

Pork from Shotgun Willie’s (review)

Shotgun Willie’s outside Nashville did a lot of good things fairly well – brisket, sausage, Brunswick stew – but their pork shoulder dusted with pork rub was my pick of the platter.

Smoked brisket burger from Dampf Good BBQ (review)

While there was a lot to like at Dampf Good BBQ earlier this year, the smoked brisket burger took the cake over the brisket, ribs, and sausage. So much so that I forgot to take photos of it until I had taken a few bites of the delicious burger made from smoked brisket trimmings and topped with cheese, pickles, and mayo on a potato bun. It was a special on that day, but be on the look out if you are checking them out in Cary.

Beef cheek from Owens & Hull (review)

I live by a simple rule: if I see beef cheeks on the menu, I’m going to buy it. Maybe I’ve been lucky but the two places I’ve tried – Palmira Barbecue in Charleston and Owens & Hull in Smyrna – have put out some seriously tasty renditions that are must orders at their respective restaurants.

Chopped pork with crispy skins from City Limits Barbeque (review)

Robbie Robinson mixes in pork belly with his whole pork shoulders and then chops in some crispy skin to finish it off. It’s going to take a lot to knock this sandwich from the West Columbia restaurant off its perch as my favorite bite of barbecue in 2025. Honorable mentions to the barbecue hash and the sweet jalapeno pimento cheese.

How does Owens and Hull compare to the best Texas barbecue I’ve tried this year?

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Name: Owens and Hull
Date: 5/3/25
Address: 6255 Riverview Rd SE Building 4000 STE 100, Smyrna, GA 30126
Order: Whole beef cheek, half pound brisket, half pound turkey, cole slaw, cheese grits, mac and cheese, collards (link to menu)
Pricing: $$$

Monk: Gymnastics travels for the eldest Monkette recently brought us to the greater Atlanta area so the wheels started spinning when it came to a potential barbecue stop. Should I revisit the awesome Heirloom Market which I’ve only been to once but loved? Or take the family to the ever dependable Fox Bros? Perhaps revisit DAS BBQ or try and hit one of the old school spots still running like Old Brick Pit or Old Hickory House?

But referencing the United States of Texas Barbecue list of the best Texas barbecue outside of the state from last year, I realized there was a name I wasn’t familiar with at the number 3 spot located in the town of Smyrna outside of Atlanta: Owens and Hull. My plans were made.

After our gymnastics obligations were fulfilled, we made our way towards a newish mixed-use development in a an industrial area along the Chatahoochee River northwest of Atlanta proper. Owens and Hull is the brainchild of owners Robert Owens and Bryan Hull who rebranded what was formerly a Grand Champion BBQ (a restaurant that Owens owned) a few years back when Hull came on board. I can’t speak to the smoker setup before the switch but now they now have two rather large Primitive Pits offsets in the parking lot. By all accounts, the change in focus to Texas barbecue with Georgia wood and ingredients seems to be working.

The first thing that caught my eye was that they had beef cheek on the menu, an automatic order whenever I see it, and it was the standout of the proteins I tried that day and comparable to the beef cheek I had at Palmira Barbecue (#1 on the United States of Texas Barbecue list). My hope is that more places get on the beef cheeks train.

The brisket, a Friday and Saturday only offering, was not too far behind the beef cheek. Without asking, I was provided a mix of fatty and lean along with some burnt ends. This was probably the best of the true central Texas-style briskets I’ve tried in Atlanta over the years.

I opted for turkey instead of another protein like ribs or sausage, and boy was I glad that I did. Not only did it give me a respite from the heavier, fattier beef offerings but on its own merits it was rather good. Moist and juicy with a nice peppery bark, this was one of the better turkeys I’ve tried recently.

I did also get to try the pork from the sandwich of the youngest Monkette and it had a nice, smokey bark and was well smoked. As for the sides, the collards passed the Mrs. Monk test and the smoked macaroni was a winner.

For Owens and Hull, the more I think about it post-visit the more I am impressed. My initial impression was that the beef cheek was the standout by far but in hindsight the brisket and especially the turkey weren’t really all that far behind it. I really need to get back to Heirloom Market for a revisit soon (sadly that didn’t happen on this trip) to compare but for me, these two sit alone in the top tier of Atlanta barbecue (that I’ve tried).

As for how it compares to other places I’ve recently visited that are also on the United States of Texas Barbecue list like Matt’s BBQ in Portland, Shotgun Willie’s in Nashville, or Dampf Good BBQ in Cary? For me, its comparable with Dampf Good but a notch above Matt’s and Shotgun Willie’s. Certainly some of the best barbecue I’ve tried in 2025.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Beef Cheek – 4.5 hogs
Brisket – 4.5 hogs
Turkey – 4.5 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs

Linkdown: 8/3/16

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– Congratulations to Buxton Hall on being named one of Bon Appétit’s 50 Best New Restaurants (full list here)

– Washington Post critic Jim Shahin visits the barbecue scene in Charleston and calls it “the future of barbecue”

– Extra Crispy has a new bacon critic and he leans on two folks for advice heading into the job: Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn and the Denver Post’s cannabis critic Jake Browne

– The Raleigh News & Observer is doing a “Best-Kept Secrets” series of articles and has one on barbecue

– The story of a “cowboy barbecue” at the Fortuna Cowboy Rodeo in California

– While Grant and his family moved to Chattanooga a few weeks back, his impressive backlog of stories about Atlanta-area restaurants is just now winding down; as he now shifts his focus to his new home, he looks back on his favorite Atlanta restaurants, including two barbecue joints: Old Brick Pit and Heirloom Market

– The Smoking Ho joined the Chicago-based Man Meat BBQ podcast for a conversation recently

– City Barbeque is opening their first Charlotte-area restaurant later this month; check out Speedy’s review of the Cary location here

– Beer and barbecue, pt 1

– Beer and barbecue, pt 2

– A Toronto Star travel writer visits Picnic in Durham and calls it a “bellwether for social change”

House Bill 2 (a.k.a. HB2, a.k.a. “the bathroom law”) exploded out of nowhere in March. Dickson promptly ordered new bathroom signage showing Picnic’s disdain for the state government edict that people must go to washrooms that match the gender on their birth certificate.

Thing is, the law only applies to public buildings and schools, not private businesses. North Carolina, he says, has a “proud tradition of being a progressive Southern state,” and HB2 is not a true reflection of it.