Higher Costs and Fewer Customers Are Killing Texas BBQ Joints

[WI Bubba]

Same here. My BBQ is better than what I can get at any of the 3 places within a 40 minute drive. I've got my fish fry dialed in to the point that I only go out for fish if I really want perch. And even with the cost of buying prime grade beef, it's still a lot cheaper than going out and getting a lower quality steak. My pizza game is my weak point right now, but I'm improving that pretty quickly, so my days of ordering pizza is going away soon.

We might go out for dinner five or six times a year, and those are usually special occasions of some sort. 10 years ago we were going out three or four times a month. I just can't justify the cost anymore.

It makes me feel bad when a restaurant I liked closes but then I realize that I haven't been there in a few years or more, so I'm definitely part of the problem in that regard.

[DaveD]

We never returned to our pre-pandemic habits, and I'm certain we never will. We'll get something delivered once or twice a week, and always it's something that provides enough leftovers for a second meal. We went to some restaurants when we first moved here, but haven't in months. Being mostly retired now, I have time to do most of the cooking, and there are few restaurants in our area we can't outperform at home. Plus our income has been drastically reduced. Sadly, there are no Indian or Vietnamese places anywhere in the region, and only one decent sushi place, the only real ethnic options are Italian and Chinese.

I don't know if it's advancing age or what, but going out to a restaurant just doesn't appeal to us much anymore. And we find ourselves not missing being around a lot of other people these days...

[RichieB]

Don't recall the last time I was in a restaurant. Pick up and delivery is our means. I want a steak and a couple of glasses of wine at $10 a pop and the $ of the steak? Fugettaboutit. And mine is better. Local place for pizza and other Italian cuisine. Then, Chinese. That's it.

[58limited]

Like many of us, I cook at home more than I go out. The reasons? Cost is a biggie but at this point every time I've ordered a steak in a restaurant I've been disappointed. Mine are so much better. Same is true for other foods. One local exception is the local Indian restaurant. I like cooking Indian cuisine but the local place has great food for a really good price in my opinion.

[ecowper]

There are some specialty cuisines …. Indian and Thai …. That I simply don’t feel like I do as well as a couple not too far away restaurants. But I’ve got my “NYC Chinese Take Out” dialed in, I just need to get some white cardboard boxes with some inscrutable Chinese on it :-D

[LA Pork Butt]

ecowper Speciality restaurants like Indian, Thai and Chinese require speciality ingredients. I don’t cook them very often so the speciality ingredients go bad. So, eating out at those restaurants makes sense to us.

[dpearce]

We don't eat out as much as we used to. In my case, partly from a dietary standpoint, but in my wife's case, very particular eating habits and tastes. I found out I can survive on about $30 a week during the 5 weekdays, and maybe another $10-$15 on the weekends, depending on what I can find to put on the smoker, with leftovers to carry me through into the following week. Yeah, the grocery budget is really manageable at this point.

BBQ joints around here, they've raised their prices, but when I really feel like it (usually $2 Rib Tuesdays), I'll spring for a few bones. But like others have mentioned, I've figured out how to cook pork and yardbird at home pretty damn well (Thanks Amazingribs.com!). If I find spares, shoulders, or chicken parts on sale, it's game on, so very doubtful I'll be paying for the same food, with consumer level tastes, at a restaurant. I prefer my own spices and mixtures at this point.

In this era of digital awareness, people latch onto the "latest greatest", whatever is on the "hot" list, which includes eateries. Around here, it's Korean Fried Chicken. But honestly, that only lasts so long. I appreciate good Indian, Chinese, Mexican, and Italian, you name it food, as well as BBQ. But there's only so much you can stand to eat.

Of course, when we see prices rising like we did for the past few years, that puts a damper on any thoughts of going out to eat.

I look at the crazy-ass German restaurants around here. Staple foods, done right with good flavor, a stable menu, and no one willing to go up against them. They've been here for 100 years, and they're still going strong.

All that being said, personally, we're in a period of paying down debt. Once that's accomplished, we will probably treat ourselves a bit more.

The more I learn to cook, the less I feel like eating out.

[captainlee]

We are in Islamorada and have in the past made eating out a priority. Other reason is there just aren't places really worth going to at home, small town, so this is a treat. This year we are going to our favorite Ziggy and Mad Dog steaks and seafood, high end, twice and that's it for eating out. We have a grill here, friends and concluded that it's more fun hanging out here, not dealing with crowds and parking. Also you can drink and not deal with driving. We originally planned to eating out often but once we got here we just decided to cook more at our unit. Yes the food cost, liquor and tip have made dining out not as enjoyable.

[klflowers]

I eat out probably a couple times a week, but it is usually fast food - mostly Wendy's or Jack's. Lately I have made an effort to explore more local places. I had that fantastic reuben at Tremont Tavern, and today I had a way above average burger at a place called Lo Main (which has a record store next door that sells beer and has couches - I'll probably be there a lot). But some of the places I like, like Windy City Eatz, don't seem to get lots of foot traffic. As for Q, I haven't found a local place that is so much better than mine to make it worth my time. Q is pretty expensive at restaurants.

[ecowper]

I have found lately that our local pub food prices are not much more than going to a fast food joint (not counting the beer, of course) and the food is much better quality.

[Finster]

We certainly don’t eat out near as much as we used to all due to rising costs.
our household income has been a reduced a bit over the last couple of years as well.
We used to eat out at least weekly, if not a couple of times if our schedules were really busy and we just didn’t feel like cooking. Now, when we don’t feel like cooking, we cook anyway. If we do go out, if it’s just the Mrs and me, we’ll often split a meal. Even inexpensive places are getting harder to afford. Even fast food prices are out of hand. I can certainly see why places are falling by the wayside

[ecowper]

I really wonder how my BBQ cooking would have evolved if I lived somewhere with convenient, good BBQ. I suspect much differently. I decided to learn how to cook brisket, ribs, pork butt, etc BECAUSE it wasn’t easy and convenient to get in western WA ….. 20+ years ago the best you could do around here was Famous Dave’s. I’ve always found it interesting that folks in the Carolina’s, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Kansas, etc decided to master BBQ in their backyard when they could just drive 5 minutes away and get a really nice 2 meat platter and sides for an entirely reasonable price.

Obviously, COVID had a lot to do with changing this over the past 5 years, but what about all the years before that? Also, for us COVID was a bit different. 2021 was the first year that we were empty nest as our last kid moved out. So, lockdowns were even worse for us and led to us going out MORE as soon as we could.

Side note: Apparently, reading this thread, Meathead is more responsible for the death of the steak and BBQ restaurants than any other single person. Congrats!!!

[ecowper]

Meathead I do mean that in a good way. You’ve taught tens of thousands to cook great ribs and that’s pretty awesome

[Meathead]

LOL. I got it. It's a compliment. But now I will lose sleep...

[ecowper]

Hah, hopefully not too much

[randy.56]

We eat out at a local place for our anniversary, every year,The best prime rib, best salad bar, no drinks, we drink water. It's $100, about once a week we eat lunch out. Or do a drive through and take it home. That's reasonable $25 to $30 Pizza delivery about once a month $30. That makes two meals for both of us. There are not any BBQ places I will eat at here. The good ones went out years ago.
Real estate taxes have gone sky high, gas a electric Is most likely $5000 a month for a restaurant. The "30 30 30 rule" in restaurants, often part of a 30/30/30/10 framework, is a budgeting guideline suggesting 30% of revenue for food costs, 30% for labor, and 30% for overhead, leaving 10% for profit. Well that's the business model they shoot for.
I don't see how or why anyone would do it.

[SheilaAnn]

randy.56 my last corporate gig had us trying to hit 17% labor and less than 23% food cost. Our bonuses depended on it. And this was over 10 years ago.

I know finer dining restaurants can go upwards of 40% FC. And with FC like this….. labor is through the roof.

[randy.56]

SheilaAnn Just curious did you hit those numbers? Was that a one time deal?

[SheilaAnn]

randy.56 We hit them or came dang close. I actually wore a stopwatch around my neck to keep an eye on the time clock. Every morsel was accounted for. Always. Full store inventory done EVERY single month.

[RichieB]

Here's the menu for our local place. More than just pizza. Pick up and delivery only. Opened by 2 former chiefs. They're had it with the high end restaurant business.

https://sleighcitypizzaco.com/menu

[captainlee]

Very reasonable pricing.

[RichieB]

Yes prices are reasonably-priced and the food is really good.

[mrichie1229]

My kids started ordering off of the adult menu and eating higher end meals, which has kept us from eating out as often as we used to. Like Finster said, we used to go our more (to cheaper restaurants) when we didn't feel like cooking. Now we just cook anyway, but something simple/quick like breakfast, spaghetti, etc.

When we do go out to eat, we avoid the cheaper places.

[Lynn Dollar]

The above article was from Texas Monthly. And not living in Texas, my view is worthless.

That said.

I've listened to a podcast out of Texas called " Tales From the Pits " for a long time, going back well before the pandemic, maybe 10 years. There's two hosts and they hit all the top barbecue joints in Texas.

What I've noticed in the last 3 or 4 years, is they're bored with brisket and ribs. They began talking up sides. And joints that make their own bread or their own pickles. And barbecue that's more " cheffy " than S/P brisket. I quit listening a year or so ago.

I'm also reading there's now a lot of international fusion in Texas joints, something Steven Raichlen has done for , IDK, 30 years ?

So maybe the problem in Texas joints is the barbecue fad is just running its course.

There is a business cycle. Something new or innovative comes along, its popular, its profitable, lots of people jump in and it grows. Then the market becomes saturated and there's a shake out. Some go out of business, some merge , some survive, until the next new thing comes along and the cycle starts again.

[Panhead John]

From the perspective of a Texan….

I think the title of the article is a little bit overblown. I’m not downplaying the fact that several BBQ joints have closed recently for whatever reasons, but it’s been tough in the restaurant industry as a whole. When you have the proliferation of outstanding BBQ joints in our state like we do, yeah, we’re gonna lose some of em……survival of the fittest. Here’s an important message in the article to remember……👇

Restaurants nationwide are seeing fewer visitors. The National Restaurant Association reported last year (https://restaurant.org/research-and-...tomer-traffic/) that November 2025 was the tenth consecutive month “in which operators reported a net decline in customer traffic.” Barbecue fans have seen the prices rise at their favorite joints all over Texas; Moon also raised hers to keep up with costs. “That’s what’s happening with the barbecue,” she said. “You can’t go in for an inexpensive meal.”

The price of brisket—more than any other ingredient—affects the profitability of Texas barbecue joints. Customers demand the meat, and Texas barbecue joints deliver it. But they can only mark up menu items so much.

Me here again……I’m not one to believe it’s all doom and gloom as the title suggests, me as well as many other members here have seen and experienced the long lines at most all of the BBQ joints we’ve visited. And brisket and ribs has not become boring to me at all! It’s the most popular meats at all the BBQ spots. If I ate brisket/ribs every week or two, yeah, I’d be bored with it, but that’s true of a lot of things. For several years now I’ve noticed how most of the places we’ve visited have really upped their sides game! For me and a lot of the Pit Members at the MeatUps, we spend just as much time raving [or not] about the side dishes as much as we do the meats!….. The Burnt Bean is just one example that comes to mind. If the BBQ fad has run its course, does that mean our days at Amazing Ribs are numbered? Of course not! BBQ will always be popular, especially here in The Lone Star State.

[jayjordan]

I’ve read and watched many reviews of Goldee’s in Ft Worth where the reviewers raved about their bread. After having it I agreed.
Many places cook great meat and sometimes the sides are the deciding factor in where we go.

[TripleB]

Lynn Dollar +1. I never choose a restaurant based on their "sides". But Texas BBQ is a bit different and I can see John's point. Every BBQ joint is basically selling the same thing, smoked meat. And there is not much difference in taste between those top BBQ restaurants. So sides can be a determining factor. When we went to Barb's BQ in Lockhart, everyone raved about the "green spaghetti". I did not try it. I wanted the meat and Barb's pork ribs w/ lime zest was the bomb. Sides meh.

[Lynn Dollar]

TripleB I get that. Its not what I meant. If deciding on whether to eat barbecue or burgers or fried chicken or steak, sides aren't gonna matter to most people. People go for barbecue for the meats.

And the topic here, is fewer customers for Texas bbq. That's what the OP linked.

[TripleB]

It seems to me that the older you get, the less you go out to restaurants. And I mean nicer, more expensive establishments. Not your fast food or local diners. AR posters are on the older side.

[Panhead John]

“ AR posters are on the older side.”

Speak for yourself! 🤓

[randy.56]

We are?

[TripleB]

Panhead John and randy.56 Age wise yes, but we are all definitely young at heart. And that is all that really matters.