Lockhart Love

Legendary Texas barbecue family returns to their roots with new Lockhart location

Terry Black's third location is now at 900 North Colorado Street in downtown Lockhart.

Terry Black's / Instagram

One of Texas' multi-generational barbecue families is heading back to their roots, opening a new joint in Lockhart. Terry Black's Barbecue is now cooking at 900 N. Colorado St., in downtown Lockhart. From Terry, Patti, Christina, Mike, and Mark Black, the new outpost will bring brisket, beef ribs, and cold beer back to the family's hometown.

“Lockhart was designated the barbecue capital of Texas by the Texas State legislature, so it’s been a dream to come back home and open a Terry Black’s barbecue location there," said Mike Black in a release. "We're excited to get back to where it all began for our family and give the community some amazing barbecue.”

According to the release, the family's cooking cooking techniques trace back 90 years, and their connection to Lockhart is deeply rooted. Mike and his brother Mark Black opened the first Terry Black's Barbecue in Austin in 2014 before launching a second location in Dallas in 2019.

The new pit is home to six 1,000-gallon offset smokers focusing on the quality of the meats and old-school style of smoking. As at the Austin and Dallas locations, the menu features the classic array of mouthwatering meats by the pound, including options like sliced brisket, beef ribs, turkey, pork ribs, chopped beef, and sausage. Each meat comes either a la carte or as a sandwich, and sides include potato salad, coleslaw, mac-n-cheese, cream corn, beans (pinto and green), and more. Peach cobbler, banana pudding, and pecan pies all vie for attention on the dessert menu.

“I think the thing that really sets our family apart is that we take pride in every product we put out there. We have such a passion for what we do, and it’s exciting to see the Lockhart community welcome us with open arms,” said Mark Black. “You don’t come in here and get a set plate of food. You can order a slice of brisket, a rib, and a sausage link all at once to get a taste of each unique menu item, perfected after several hours of smoking and preparation.”

The new Lockhart location is open seven days a week: Sunday through Thursday from 10:30 am to 8 pm, Friday and Saturday from 10:30 am to 9 pm.

Best of BBQ

Austin favorite declared best BBQ joint in Texas by Southern Living

Franklin Barbecue/Instagram

Franklin Barbecue has topped another Texas barbecue list.

Don’t be surprised if the almost ever-present lines grow even longer outside East Austin’s Franklin Barbecue, one of the darlings of the local barbecue scene. Offering yet another culinary accolade, Southern Living has crowned Franklin the best barbecue joint in Texas for 2025.

In all, the magazine singled out one barbecue restaurant in each of 16 states — although Texas had plenty of influence elsewhere, too. Southern Living based its 2025 winners on the results of an online survey of the magazine’s readers.

Here’s Southern Living’s take on Franklin Barbecue:

“In 2009, Aaron Franklin helped launch the craft barbecue movement from a small Aristocrat Lo-Liner camper trailer parked near I-35 in downtown Austin. Flawless prime-grade brisket, tender pork ribs, and snappy jalapeño cheddar sausage — plus a dose of nascent social media — rocketed him to Internet celebrity. Franklin Barbecue moved into its current blue and white building on East 11th Street in 2011, and barbecue fans from around the globe have been lining up for hours to experience it.”

Franklin himself is no stranger to professional kudos. For instance, he won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest and is a member of the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame.

Southern Living spiced up its 2025 barbecue list by mentioning winners in other states that have embraced Texas-style barbecue.

“Texas-style brisket continues to spread across the South, winning over fans from Charleston to Little Rock,” the magazine pointed out.

Here’s a taste of this year’s Texas copycats, as cited by Southern Living:

Wright’s Barbecue, the 2025 winner in Arkansas, “is a noteworthy practitioner of the Texas-inspired craft style that is taking the South by storm, and barbecue fans in Arkansas are eating it up.” Wright’s even serves a combo of meats known as the Texas Trinity: thick-sliced brisket, tender pepper-spiked ribs, and juicy sausage links. The barbecue chain smokes meats for Arkansas customers in Johnson (near Fayetteville), Bentonville, Little Rock, and Rogers.
In Kansas City, where barbecue icon Arthur Bryant’s BBQ grabbed Missouri’s top spot, the barbecue scene “has shifted in recent years thanks to a parade of aspiring pitmasters bringing the styles of Texas and elsewhere to this storied smoked meat capital.” It’s worth pointing out, though, that Arthur Bryant’s hasn’t adopted this Texas trend.
Former Austin pitmaster John Lewis, who grew up in El Paso, opened South Carolina’s top barbecue joint, Lewis Barbecue, in Charleston in 2016. He added a second barbecue joint in Greenville in 2022. As you might have guessed, both restaurants specialize in Texas-style barbecue.

Aside from rating barbecue joints, Southern Living readers identified the South’s 10 best cities and 10 best beach towns for 2025 based on the survey’s findings. Charleston landed at No. 1 on the list of the best cities, and St. Simons Island, Georgia, snagged first place on the list of the best beach towns. No Texas community showed up in either ranking.

“Southern hospitality is more than just a saying — it’s a way of life — and no one knows the best experiences better than the locals. That’s why, year after year, we turn to our readers to share their favorite places that define the South,” said editor in chief at Southern Living Sid Evans in a press release.

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