Monk: LJ’s BBQ started as a side hustle by owners Corey Cook and Matt Lowery in 2015 and moved into a brick and mortar in 2017. Outside of the kitchen they proceeded to get the building ready by themselves to save money. This first part of a two-part video explores the origins of LJ’s before heading back to the pitroom to check in on pitmaster Josh Jalomo, who cooks by touch.
Description: LJ’s in Brenham, Texas, began as a pop up by Corey, Leah, and Matt and now it’s a Texas Monthly Top 50 joint. They talk to us about their journey.
Monk: YouTuber Alvin Zhou Films spends a day embedded with Goldee’s BBQ in Kennedale, Texas, the #1 barbecue joint in the most recent Texas Monthly Top 50 in this almost 30 minutes video.
Description: Hundreds of pounds of brisket, ribs, sausages, and turkey are smoked at this somewhat hidden spot in Kennedale, Texas. Long lines start piling up 5 hours before the place even opens. People come from all across the country just to try their food, especially their house-baked bread (which is unheard of in Texas). I had the honor of shooting with the team at Goldee’s BBQ, and it was an unforgettable experience (: 2 months of editing later, this might actually be my favorite video I’ve ever made.
Monk: I can’t say that I’m all too familiar with Phil Rosenthal outside of work on “Everybody Loves Raymond.” But he’s turned into a sort of Anthony Bourdain travel docuseries guide in his most recent career turn (albeit a less-knowledgeable-but-more-agreeable version of Anthony Bourdain). The show’s clearly been a success for Netflix, as it somehow just released its sixth season of episodes, including one that focuses on the Austin food scene.
Phil starts the episode in a studio talking directly to camera relaying anecdotes from when he was shopping his show to various networks including Travel Channel and Food Network. According to them, barbecue was apparently all that anyone wants to watch these days. So when he finally visited Austin in season six, Phil obliged.
Along for the ride is Daniel Vaughn, BBQ Editor of Texas Monthly Magazine, and together they embark on a barbecue crawl across Austin. But their goal is not to hit the obvious spots in the Franklins or the La Barbecues, but rather to visit the newer joints.
At LeRoy & Lewis (3:55), Phil and Daniel of course get the standard Texas platter but with LeRoy & Lewis’s “new school barbecue” including beef check, sausage, bacon rib (aka pork belly on the bone), smoked burger, and cauliflower. LeRoy & Lewis is located in a food truck park in South Austin and has reached must-visit status for any serious barbecue fans, as evidenced by it #5 ranking in 2021’s Texas Monthly Top 50 list. And word on the street is that a brick and mortar is in the works.
Next on the trail is Distant Relatives (8:30), where traditional southern barbecue is influenced by sauces and spices from Africa in addition to the usual southern traditions. Owner and pitmaster Damien Brockway currently serves at Meanwhile Brewing in an industrial park in south Austin and was recently named to the most recent Texas Monthly Top 50 list as an honorable mention.
Fast forward to 15:38 where Phil and Daniel visit Interstellar BBQ and before eating we get a little bit of Vaughn’s backstory and how he got into Texas barbecue from his former life as an architect from Ohio. At Interstellar, Chef Jon Bates serves a typical central Texas platter of typical barbecue meats including turkey, which Jon jokingly considers a vegetable at his place. Bates honors Texas barbecue with some fine dining touches here and there. While I’m sure its all good (after all, it was #2 on last year’s Top 50), this is the most classic Texas barbecue of the places featured on this episode.
After taking a break from barbecue Phil treats the friends he’s met along the way in Austin to a family meal at Salt Lick Barbecue (43:30). The famed restaurant and winery is located just outside of Austin proper and while its not going to a show up on a Texas Monthly Top 50 list anytime soon, it certainly seems to hold a soft spot in the hearts of many barbecue snobs in Texas. It was one of our first stops as the Barbecue Bros in 2012, and I can understand why.
The Austin episode of “Somebody Feed Phil” was my first exposure to the series, and I will certainly be on the lookout for any more barbecue-related content in future seasons. While no Anthony Bourdain, Phil’s likable nature makes it an easy watch.
Not that we’re anywhere close to being qualified enough to evaluate books but more so as a public service announcement we will periodically discuss barbecue and barbecue-related books. And in this case, barbecue magazine issues.
Every four years, the most anticipated issue of Texas Monthly is awaited not only by Texas barbecue fans but also by just about all Texas barbecue restaurants as well. The Top 50 is the end product of “32 Texas Monthly editorial staffers and 3 freelancers [who] visited 411 barbecue joints over eight weeks during the spring and summer, driving many thousands of miles in the process.”
As for the issue itself, the Texas Monthly Top 50 and its related features takes up about 30 pages of the November issue of the magazine. That covers: the top 10 with extended write ups, shorter write-ups on the remaining 40 of the 50, a list of the 50 honorable mentioned joints, plus a couple of short articles. Beautiful photos are featured throughout.
I can’t help but be struck by the newness of the joints in the top 50 but also the youth of several of the top joints. The five pitmasters at #1 joint Goldee’s BBQ in Fort Worth are all under 27, the five listed pitmasters at #3 Truth Barbeque in Houston are all under 35, Evan LeRoy of #5 LeRoy and Lewis is 35, and four of the other joints in the top 10 have pitmasters under 40 (Franklin Barbeque, Evie Mae’s Pit Barbeque, Snow’s BBQ, and Panther City BBQ). And as noted in the lead-in, 29 of the top 50 are new to the list.
Goldee’s Barbecue in particular is one I hope to visit soon. Besides the youth of the pitmasters noted above, I love the multi-culturality. Black, white, Laotian; these are some of the new faces of always changing barbecue scene.
Also included in the issue is the updated Top 50 BBQ Joints Passport, a highly coveted item for all Texas BBQ hunters. As folks visit the various joints, they get a stamp in the hopes of completing the passport. Who knows if I’ll get the opportunity to get stamps of my own, but I urge folks to practice civility when visiting these joints in the coming weeks and months. I recall anecdotal evidence of impatience and ugliness after the last list drop in 2017.
The Texas Monthly Top 50 issue is available through the Texas Monthly Store online(now sold out) for those of us not in Texas but be warned that you will be paying about $15 for the single issue after shipping. It’s also available as part of “The Ultimate Texas BBQ Guide Bundle” which will run you $50 before shipping (also now sold out). Even with the increased price for those out of state, it’s worth having for any serious barbecue fan.
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