The city of Fulshear Texas was founded in 1824 by a Texas transplant from Tennessee by the name of Churchill Fulshear. It was sold to the Fulshear family as part of the original land grants given to Stephen F. Austin, making it a decade older than the State of Texas itself. It never knew much of any growth like its more famous big brother Houston but it did have the distinction of being a railroad stop at one point.
The town did, however, serve the local country folks as being the local place for goods and services. Fast forward to 1957 and the Dozier family saw a need to open a general store that specialized in the processing and sale of meat sourced from local ranchers. They also processed deer and wild hogs for consumption. Over the years Ed Dozier also did as many German immigrants did prior to refrigeration, he learned the art of smoking meat for preservation. That meat smoking led to his particular style of barbecue that he got so good at that he took first place in the inaugural Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo BBQ Cook-off in 1957.
Today Fulshear like its neighbor Katy (the area I live in) has been swallowed up by suburban sprawl. Long about 2019 the Dozier family found their operation to be pretty much obsolete for the area and sold out to a fella by the name of Jim Buchanan, a pit master who has had some notoriety around the State. Daniel Vaughn has written about this in a lot more detail in an article in Texas Monthly a couple of years ago (HERE).
Personally I discovered Dozier's back in the mid-90's when a friend brought me there to buy some meat and have some barbecue. To be honest when I moved to the area I was excited about having them so close but soon learned that the meat quality was only so-so and the barbecue even less so. The new venture once again got me excited but it too was good but not great. That said, there was something about the drive out to Fulshear, the old building and it's memorabilia, the smells of the smoking meat and the bustle of activity of butchers cutting meat that I always liked and looked forward to on a lazy Saturday afternoon. It wasn't the food as much as the place.
Sadly, their pit master has moved on and the business has suffered the same fate as many small businesses in the last few years. The pandemic, rising food prices for all manner of products and operations costs have overwhelmed the current owners. Sadly today, March 30th, they served their last meal. I went down there out of respect and had one last barbecue plate. The brisket was tender, had a nice peppery bark from the custom Moberg pit in the back, and the sides were country fresh.
I'll miss this place, maybe someone else will be able to resurrect this piece of Texas history. Today I once again lament the plight of the small business owner and the lost history that the Fulshear area may soon never see again. Yes it will live on as a busy suburban town that has a few old historic buildings that have been turned into some posh dress shop or modern cafe, but the old stained walls and smell of smoke is something I'll take any day. Sadly those days may be gone for good in all but a few places in Texas. So sadly I said goodbye today to an old friend.
The town did, however, serve the local country folks as being the local place for goods and services. Fast forward to 1957 and the Dozier family saw a need to open a general store that specialized in the processing and sale of meat sourced from local ranchers. They also processed deer and wild hogs for consumption. Over the years Ed Dozier also did as many German immigrants did prior to refrigeration, he learned the art of smoking meat for preservation. That meat smoking led to his particular style of barbecue that he got so good at that he took first place in the inaugural Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo BBQ Cook-off in 1957.
Today Fulshear like its neighbor Katy (the area I live in) has been swallowed up by suburban sprawl. Long about 2019 the Dozier family found their operation to be pretty much obsolete for the area and sold out to a fella by the name of Jim Buchanan, a pit master who has had some notoriety around the State. Daniel Vaughn has written about this in a lot more detail in an article in Texas Monthly a couple of years ago (HERE).
Personally I discovered Dozier's back in the mid-90's when a friend brought me there to buy some meat and have some barbecue. To be honest when I moved to the area I was excited about having them so close but soon learned that the meat quality was only so-so and the barbecue even less so. The new venture once again got me excited but it too was good but not great. That said, there was something about the drive out to Fulshear, the old building and it's memorabilia, the smells of the smoking meat and the bustle of activity of butchers cutting meat that I always liked and looked forward to on a lazy Saturday afternoon. It wasn't the food as much as the place.
Sadly, their pit master has moved on and the business has suffered the same fate as many small businesses in the last few years. The pandemic, rising food prices for all manner of products and operations costs have overwhelmed the current owners. Sadly today, March 30th, they served their last meal. I went down there out of respect and had one last barbecue plate. The brisket was tender, had a nice peppery bark from the custom Moberg pit in the back, and the sides were country fresh.
I'll miss this place, maybe someone else will be able to resurrect this piece of Texas history. Today I once again lament the plight of the small business owner and the lost history that the Fulshear area may soon never see again. Yes it will live on as a busy suburban town that has a few old historic buildings that have been turned into some posh dress shop or modern cafe, but the old stained walls and smell of smoke is something I'll take any day. Sadly those days may be gone for good in all but a few places in Texas. So sadly I said goodbye today to an old friend.
You may now return to your regularly scheduled shenanigans
Anyway, glad you got to go, nice writeup!
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