The annual BBQ Tour took place this past weekend and thrown in the middle of it is my 2nd oldest nieces wedding. Their wedding took place in Texarkana, TX and so for my 10th trip I decided to do a best of Texas tour since I’ll be in Texas for my nieces wedding. Since I was limited on where I could go for this trip, I decided to do the best of Dallas, TX for this BBQ Tour. I’m simply looking for the best overall BBQ experience. When judging “Best Overall BBQ Experience” I take into account (3) criteria: #1 – Appearance of the Food, #2 – Atmosphere of the Restaurant, & #3 – Overall Taste of the food. Traditionally I have others go with me and we do an average score that is weighted based on the (3) criteria but since this trip was just me, I simply did a straight up score out of 10.
Terry Black’s BBQ – Dallas, TX
My first stop took me to Terry Black’s BBQ in the Deep Elum district of Dallas. Terry Black’s is based out of Austin, TX and has a long history and a strong reputation as being of the best not only in Texas but in the country. For this particular visit, I was able to be joined by my sister Kay, her husband Jesse, and my youngest niece Evie and we enjoyed the spread below of beef brisket, pork spare ribs, smoked sausage, green beans, mac n cheese, and seasoned rice.
The atmosphere of Terry Black’s in Dallas is a modernized industrial space. Open ceilings with a painted exposed structure above with metal siding and sealed concrete floors provide a great look. Lots of signage on the walls and a really neat mixture of strip and pendant lights provide a comfy vibe on the inside. I didn’t sit outside as it was hot but the outside had a patio on the main level and. araised upper level patio/mezzanine which looked really cool. Terry Black’s had an open pit room where you can see their wood stick burner smokers.
Since we eat with our eyes first let me talk a little bit about the appearance of the food. The food comes served on a plastic tray lined with parchment paper. The meats are sliced fresh and in front of you and placed on the paper and sides are put into cardboard boats. A small boat garnish of pickles and red onions are available if you desire. Overall, the look of the tray is amazing! Great colors on the meats and visible smoke rings. The sides that I choose provide great color as well to the tray.
My favorite thing to eat here was the pork spare ribs and the mac n cheese. The pork spare ribs were that perfect tenderness that I like which is a little bit of a tug but still easy to eat. They were packed with a good smokey flavor and that tried & true Texas style BBQ rub that’s heavy in the salt & black pepper. They were so good that I didn’t even need sauce to eat them. The mac & cheese was a nice large elbow macaroni with a super creamy cheese sauce that made it absolutely delicious. The brisket was great and had a solid smoke ring, tenderness, and flavor. The green beans were crisp, buttery, and well seasoned.
My only negatives were the smoked sausage and the seasoned rice. The sausage was a bit dry and the casing didn’t have that “snap” that I always appreciate and look for in a good smoked sausage. It was definitely smoked and had good smokey flavor though. The seasoned rice was just something I didn’t expect from a BBQ restaurant and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen it at any previous BBQ restaurants I’ve been to. Most likely a Texas thing which I get but at the end of the day I had hard time differentiating the seasoned rice to a typical Mexican restaurants seasoned rice.
With all that being said, I’d give Terry Black’s a score of 9.5 out of 10. Some small dings for the smoked sausage and rice but overall still really really good food and definitely the best ribs on this trip.
Ferris Wheeler’s Backyard & BBQ
After eating lunch at Terry Black’s with some of my family, I attempted to burn some of those calories going for a walk but it was too hot and so I went to my hotel and relaxed for a few hours until dinner took me to Ferris Wheeler’s Backyard & BBQ south of Dallas Love Airfield & near Trammell Crow Park. This place didn’t look like much from the outside looking at it from the street but when you get inside AND go to the backyard it’s like a whole new world. Inside the restaurant wasn’t anything fancy but it had a rustic cafeteria vibe which I can appreciate for a BBQ restaurant. Speaks to my laid back, let’s have some fun attitude when it comes to BBQ. The backyard though is when the fun begins! There’s a live band stage area and a wonderful bar area with a great view of the stage. Rope lights strung everywhere provide ample lighting for eating outside. Oh, and did I mention that there’s legitimately a ferris wheel in the backyard?
For this meal I enjoyed a wonderful platter of smoked turkey (what they’re most famous for apparently), beef brisket, campfire beans, and mac n cheese. The food is served to you on a metal tray/platter lined with butcher paper. The sliced turkey is layered nicely allowing you to see the wonderful smoke ring and excellent bark on the outside of the slices. The sliced brisket is kinda just stacked up but it still provides a nice visual smoke ring and the top piece of the brisket was an end piece so you know that bites going to be packed with flavor. The side dishes are served in cardboard boats. The macaroni is actually wheels which is a nice touch and topped with some crumbled up doritos for a little extra crunch. The beans look thick and flavorful and you can see the array of beans used in the mix. Pickles are added to the tray for added garnish along with a serving of their house mustard sauce and house BBQ sauce.
My favorite things to eat here were surprisingly the smoked turkey and the campfire beans. Turkey,, similar. tochicken, is very difficult to make really good on the smoker. Turkey tends to dry out very easily. Ferris Wheeler’s though did an absolutely awesome job on the turkey as it was moist, tender, smokey, and super flavorful. It had a solid bark showing the dry rub which also added to the overall flavor. The campfire beans were great! You can see the array of beans that they used to make the side dish. The flavors are smokey, peppery, and nice bite of heat. The mac n cheese was good and I appreciated the fact that they used wheels as the macaroni to go with their name of Ferris Wheelers. The cheese sauce was nice and smooth and they crumbled up some chips to add a nice texture similar to that of bread crumbs.
My only negative was sadly on the beef brisket. I know brisket can be fatty and that fat is flavor but there was just too much fat in the slices I got and I really only ate about half of the brisket. Once I got through the excess fat the brisket I did eat was flavorful, moist, but I could tell it was a little over done as it pretty much fell apart on me.
Overall, Ferris Wheeler’s was a nice surprise. The turkey and beans were PHENOMENAL but the brisket did force me to knock it a little bit but still give it a solid 9.4 out of 10.
Day #2 of the BBQ Tour took me back to the Deep Elum district and to a spot from my OG trip in 2013: Pecan Lodge. This go around my parents and my oldest nieces husband Griffin was able to join me for this meal. Pecan Lodge is another BBQ place that is consistently found in lists. asone of the best not only in Texas but also around the country. In a rustic brick building with exposed ceilings and pendent lighting it provides a classic and modernized twist to an industrial building.
When I first visited the Pecan Lodge in 2013 we ordered brisket, beef ribs, spare ribs, and a whole spread of sides to feed a crowd. This go around we were more selective and had meats of smoked turkey, brisket, and smoked sausage. We had sides of mac n cheese, potato salad, and collard greens. All the food gets served on a metal tray with butcher paper and the meats are placed directly on the tray. The sides are served in cardboard boats. A garnish of pickles and onions accompanies every tray and the tray definitely looks full and delicious.
Pecan Lodge was on my OG trip in 2013 for a reason and even though I tried different meats this go around they were still really good all around. The smoked sausage and collard greens definitely steal the show for me. The smoked sausage is smoked perfectly, has some jalapeno inside, and has an excellent snap when it comes to the casing which I absolutely love in smoked sausage. The collard greens are sweet…not traditional for collard greens but it is a very pleasant surprise and they taste amazing. The mac n cheese with bacon was tasty and a classic good side dish along with the potato salad. The turkey was moist and tender but didn’t quite have the smokey flavor that I was hoping for. The brisket looked amazing and had a solid smoke ring but it was thick cut which means that it was a bit too tender for my liking and it was a tad fatty and greasy. It did taste good though…fat is flavor!
The Pecan Lodge is a staple place for me to visit everytime I visit Dallas because they are consistently really good. This visit was no different as the food, atmosphere, and platters were all really good. Small ding for the fatty and greasy brisket puts the Pecan Lodge at a solid 9.5 out of 10 on this trip.
After a day and a half of not eating BBQ because my niece Ember decided to get married I made one final stop on my BBQ tour before flying back to Indy and it was to Heim Barbecue. Heim Barbecue is a little bit of the “new kid on the block” when it comes to BBQ in the Dallas area with their first location opening in 2016. The location I went to is their newest one right next to Dallas Love Airfield. The building looked fresh and newly renovated (being a construction guy I can notice these things). Nice vaulted exposed ceilings with sealed/polished concrete floors on. the inside and a nice covered patio with picnic tables offers a cozy outdoor seating area.
The food is served on a metal tray with butcher paper. The meats are placed directly on it and the side dishes are served in cardboard boats. For my final BBQ meal of this tour I had beef brisket, bacon burnt ends, coleslaw and green chile mac n cheese.
I’ve ate A LOT of BBQ over the years and ever since I’ve started this food blog I’ve always been balanced in my reviews and I’m always one to be able to find a critique or something that I would do differently or prefer vs. what was done. I can officially say that this platter was pretty much the MOST COMPLETE BBQ plate I’ve ever had! Literally everything on this plate was top notch, excellent, & delicious. Let me start with the bacon burnt ends. Also called pork belly burnt ends, these nuggets of joy were sweet and smokey and sticky and tender and absolutely wonderful to eat. The beef brisket was super thick so I was expecting them to be too tender and fall apart but they pulled really well (maybe just maybe a slight tug) and they had a solid smoke ring and flavor. The crust owas top notch and flavorful and it was delicious. The green chile mac n cheese was AWESOME! My friend Krista has traditionally made the best mac n cheese I’ve ever had and sadly, the throne has been taken over (sorry Krista!). The green chile’s add such a great flavor and it was very balanced in the amount of heat, smoke, and earthiness to the well cooked macaroni and creamy smooth cheese sauce. The cole slaw was simple…red cabbage, carrots, and a cream based sauce but it was so fresh and crisp that it would cleanse the pallette every time you ate it.
The photo above says it all! I can’t give them a perfect score so a 9.9 out of 10 will have to do!
Some other highlights from the trip…
IndyBBQGuru 
Overall, an 11.3 on The J-scal e for great fullsome writing
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