UPDATE: If you follow @TMBBQ’s Twitter account (and if you’re reading this, you should), then you’ll know that the best joint in the state is Franklin Barbecue. Rounding out the rest of the Top 4, in alphabetical order: Louie Mueller Barbecue, in Taylor; Pecan Lodge, in Dallas; and Snow’s BBQ, in Lexington. We’ve bolded the Top 4 joints in the list below. Read the reviews for all fifty by picking up a copy of the issue, on newsstands May 23, or visiting texasmonthly.com next Wednesday (the full story will be available to subscribers only).

Every five years or so (since 1997), this magazine dispatches a team of trained eaters to travel around Texas incognito, ingesting huge amounts of barbecue. Their goal is to visit as many of the state’s approximately two thousand barbecue joints as possible in order to come up with a list of the fifty best. At each joint, the eaters sample at least three meats, a couple of sides, and a dessert. In areas of high barbecue density, they may visit as many as nine places in a day. Immediately after each visit, our eaters fill out a detailed score sheet. The final score considers intangibles like setting, service, and history, but mainly it is based on the meat. The brisket score counts the most. This time, eighteen places from the 2008 top fifty made it onto the list. (The joints with asterisks are ones that were featured on the list in 2008.)

The team consisted of fifteen staff members and one carefully vetted freelancer. The group was led by food editor Patricia Sharpe and barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn. Their eating took place over the past eight months. In all, they logged 33,168 miles and visited 658 places, the most ever in the history of our top fifty list. In case you can’t tell, we take this pretty seriously.

Alamo

The Original Willie’s Bar-B-Que

Amarillo

Tyler’s Barbecue

Austin

Franklin Barbecue (#1)

John Mueller Meat Co.

La Barbecue

Lamberts Downtown Barbecue*

Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew

Belton

Miller’s Smokehouse

Bryan

Fargo’s Pit BBQ

Cypress

Brooks’ Place

Dallas

Lockhart Smokehouse

Pecan Lodge

Eagle Lake

Austin’s BBQ and Catering*

Fannin

McMillan’s Bar-B-Q*

Fort Worth

Cousin’s Bar-B-Q*

Longoria’s BBQ

Fredericksburg

Cranky Frank’s Barbecue Company

Galveston

Leon’s World’s Finest In & Out Bar-B-Que

Garland

Meshack’s Bar-B-Que

Giddings

City Meat Market*

Grapevine

Bartley’s Bar-B-Q

Henderson

Bob’s Bar-B-Que

Houston

Gatlin’s BBQ & Catering

Virgie’s Bar-B-Que*

Jasper

Billy’s Old Fashion BBQ

Jefferson

Joseph’s Riverport Barbecue

Kerrville

Buzzie’s Bar-B-Q*

Lexington

Snow’s BBQ*

Livingston

Hitch-N-Post BBQ

Llano

Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que*

Lockhart

Black’s Barbecue

Kreuz Market*

Luling

City Market*

Marlin

Whup’s Boomerang Bar-B-Que*

McKinney

Hutchins BBQ

Mexia

Kirby’s Barbecue

Peadenville

Hashknife on the Chisholm*

Pearsall

Cowpoke’s*

Pecos

Pody’s BBQ

Rockport

Hatfield’s BBQ & Blackjacks Beer Garden

San Antonio

The Granary ‘Cue and Brew

Two Bros. BBQ Market

San Marcos

Hays Co. Bar-B-Que and Catering

Smithville

Zimmerhanzel’s BBQ

Spicewood

Opie’s Barbecue*

Spring

Corkscrew BBQ

Sweetwater

Big Boy’s Bar-B-Que

Taylor

Louie Mueller Barbecue*

Tyler

Stanley’s Famous Pit Barbecue*

Victoria

Mumphord’s Place BBQ



View Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ Joints in the World 2013 in a larger map

(Thanks to @ChrisCreel for map!)