Barbecue in Austin
Austin has 26 barbecue spots mapped on The BBQ Atlas, spanning Texas and Modern. You'll find Black's BBQ, Churchrow Tejas BBQ and Franklin Barbecue here, among others. We don't rank them — explore each below and decide where you're eating in Austin, United States.
Black's BBQ
Austin, United States
This is the Austin outpost of the barbecue business Edgar Black Sr. started in 1932. The method hasn't changed: post-oak wood, low and slow, Texas through and through. What began nearly a century ago now runs across multiple locations, and this one sits on Guadalupe Street serving brisket, ribs, and sausage the way the Blacks always have. Open seven days. They close at nine most nights, ten on Fridays and Saturdays. The pit doesn't care what day it is.
Churchrow Tejas BBQ
Austin, United States
A Tex-Mex barbecue joint that opened in October 2025, Churchrow handles smoked meats with mesquite and offset heat — the kind of straightforward approach that doesn't require explanation. Brisket, tacos, and the rest arrive without ceremony. Open most days from mid-morning through evening, closed Tuesdays. Cash or card accepted.
Franklin Barbecue
Austin, United States
Franklin Barbecue is Aaron Franklin’s legendary Central Texas joint on Austin’s East Side, where USDA Prime brisket and other meats are smoked low and slow over post oak until they sell out daily. The menu centers on sliced brisket, pork spare ribs, pulled pork, house and jalapeño cheddar sausages, turkey, and weekend beef ribs, paired with simple sides like coleslaw, potato salad, pinto beans, pickles, and onions, plus house sauces and pies. Guests line up early (or pre-order) for the Tuesday–Sunday lunch service that typically wraps by mid-afternoon. The spot also offers private events at Franklin Backyard, merch, sauces, and nationwide shipping.
InterStellar BBQ
Austin, United States
This Michelin Star BBQ powerhouse is owned and ran by John Bates. Open from Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. until the pit empties. It's closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and shuts down for the holidays (Dec 23–26 and Dec 30–31). The kitchen moves fast enough that you'll want to call ahead or order in advance if you're counting on lunch. Find it on Ranch Road 620 North in North Austin. The website and Instagram are live if you need the menu or want to check what's left before you drive over.
KG BBQ
Austin, United States
Kareem El-Ghayesh opened this spot on Manor Road in 2022, and it's already landed on Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ list and claimed a Michelin Bib Gourmand. They're open Thursday through Sunday, closing when the meat runs out — which happens early most days. Online ordering is available if you plan ahead. No pretense, no waste. Just smoking and selling out.
La Barbecue
Austin, United States
La Barbecue opened in 2012 on East Cesar Chavez Street in Austin. They cook over Texas post oak and keep to a simple schedule: closed Mondays and Tuesdays, open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Find them at 2401 East Cesar Chavez Street, or online at labarbecue.com.
LeRoy and Lewis
Austin, United States
The barbecue joint opened in 2017 and runs Wednesday through Sunday, closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Hours stretch to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. It's a restaurant, not a trailer or a side hustle — a proper sit-down operation in the £ range.
Loro Asian Smokehouse & Bar
Austin, United States
Tyson Cole and Aaron Franklin — both James Beard Award winners, one known for fish and the other for smoke — opened Loro as an Asian smokehouse where Texas barbecue meets Southeast Asian flavour. It's a fusion that sounds unlikely on paper and works on the plate, served fast-casual at a bar on South Lamar. Order at the bar. The patio welcomes dogs. No reservations, no fuss — just two chefs doing what they do best, together.
Micklethwait Craft Meats
Austin, United States
Micklethwait Craft Meats is a straightforward operation on Tanney Street in Austin: they smoke meat over oak and serve it during a compressed window — four days a week, lunch hours only. No flourish, no mystery. You know what you're getting.
Moreno Barbecue
Austin, United States
Moreno Barbecue is what happens when Tex-Mex meets the offset smoker. Bo Moreno cooks brisket, spare ribs, sausages, pork belly, tri tip and prime rib over post oak, and the state's barbecue paper has taken notice. The menu runs until sold out most days; if you want whole meats, order ahead — three-pound minimum. It's a strip-mall operation on South IH-35, the kind of place that closes Mondays and opens Sundays at nine. No ceremony. Just smoke, post oak, and whatever's still on the board when you arrive.
Moreno Barbecue
Austin, United States
Moreno Barbecue runs offset smokers fueled by post oak, turning out brisket, spare ribs, sausages, tri tip, prime rib, and pork belly in a modern style that's earned mentions in Texas Monthly. Bo Moreno's approach is straightforward: good cuts, clean smoke, no detours. This Austin outpost opens Tuesday through Sunday — eleven to eight most days, an hour later on weekends — and runs until it's gone. If you're after brisket or pork belly, don't arrive late.
Parish Barbecue
Austin, United States
Parish cooks Central Texas barbecue from a truck on Springdale Road — Louisiana roots, Texas pit. Open Thursday through Sunday and closed the rest, the schedule of a place that smokes a set amount and stops. Show up when they're open, and early if you can.
Pok-e-Jo's Smokehouse
Austin, United States
The Brodie Oaks location sits on South Capitol of Texas Highway, serving the same Texas-style barbecue that's carried the Pok-e-Jo's name for more than four decades. It's open daily, eleven to eight, no day off. What started in 1979 has grown into multiple locations across Austin, each one turning out smoked meat in the Texas tradition. This one holds its own stretch of South Austin real estate and does what the brand has always done: barbecue, steady and reliable, no fanfare required.
Pok-e-Jo's Smokehouse
Austin, United States
Pok-e-Jo's Smokehouse has smoked Texas barbecue on West Parmer Lane in Austin for decades — brisket, ribs and sausage over the pit, the standards done properly. It's grown into a small Austin chain, but this is where it started. Order at the counter and find a table.
Rollin Smoke BBQ
Austin, United States
Rollin Smoke BBQ operates from within Chalmers Bar, a setup that works: smoke, meat, and a drink within arm's reach. Kyle Stallings tends a Moberg smoker fueled by post oak, turning out barbecue in a space that doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is. Mondays run a limited menu; weekends are 21+ after dark, though children are welcome on weekdays before six. Hours shift through the week — call ahead or check the website to be sure.
Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q
Austin, United States
On North Lamar in Austin, Rudy's runs the format it's known for — pump gas, buy groceries, and eat oak-smoked barbecue at the same stop. It opens at six most mornings (seven on Sunday) at 3914 N Lamar Blvd. Brisket, ribs and sausage sold by the pound over butcher paper, with the bottled Sause people take home by the case. Cash or card; the rest is between you and the pit.
Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q
Austin, United States
This North Austin Rudy's on Research Boulevard runs the chain's country-store-plus-barbecue format — oak-smoked brisket, ribs and sausage sold by the pound, a convenience store and gas alongside. It traces back to Rudolph Aue's 1929 Leon Springs filling station, which added barbecue in 1989. Walk in, order, eat.
Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q
Austin, United States
Barbecue by the pound, oak in the pit, and a convenience store attached — that's the Rudy's format, and this Austin location on Ranch Road 620 runs it north of the city. The chain grew out of a 1929 Leon Springs country store that added barbecue in 1989; the brisket and sausage still come off oak, and the bottled "Sause" is on every table. Order at the counter, sit where you can.
Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q
Austin, United States
This Austin Rudy's on South Capital of Texas Highway opens at six most mornings (6:30 Sunday) and runs late on weekends — a working country store attached to a working oak pit, barbecue by the pound. The format goes back to Rudolph Aue's 1929 Leon Springs grocery, barbecue added in 1989.
Southside Market & Barbeque
Austin, United States
The Bracewells bought Southside Market in 2010, inheriting a Central Texas barbecue operation that's been turning out sausage for more than a century. This location on North Mopac runs the same playbook: brisket, pork steaks, and that sausage, all smoked low and slow over post oak fired pits. There's a meat market attached, because some things shouldn't change. Open daily until eight most nights, nine on weekends. The line moves. The smoke doesn't lie.
Space Kat BBQ
Austin, United States
Space Kat is an Austin barbecue truck going since 2017 — smoked chicken thighs, baby back ribs, coppa, lamb chops and tri tip, Thursday through Sunday, 11 to 5. Order at the window and eat where you stand. No to-go, no pre-orders: you come when they're cooking, or you don't.
Stiles Switch BBQ
Austin, United States
Stiles Switch BBQ is what Shane Stiles built in 2011: a Central Texas craft-style barbecue restaurant on North Lamar that runs a straightforward operation and doesn't ask you to queue at dawn for it. Pitmaster Lance Kirkpatrick works the pit, and the place has earned its keep — Texas Monthly put it in the Top 50 twice (2013, 2017), and Austin Monthly named it Best BBQ in 2022. It's part of a small group of locations now, but this is where it started. No sold-out-by-noon drama, no ceremony — just a restaurant that opens Tuesday through Sunday, serves until close, and charges fairly for what comes off the pit. Walk in most evenings and you'll actually get fed. That's the point.
Stiles Switch BBQ
Austin, United States
Stiles Switch started in 2011 and made Texas Monthly's Top 50 twice (2013 and 2017); Austin Monthly called it the city's best in 2022. Shane Stiles owns it, Lance Kirkpatrick runs the pit. This Belterra location on Hargraves Drive serves Central Texas barbecue Tuesday through Sunday, past eight most nights.
Terry Black's Barbecue
Austin, United States
Twin brothers Michael and Mark Black opened Terry Black's on Barton Springs Road in 2014 — fourth-generation Lockhart barbecue carrying their family's name (their father Terry, the line running back to Edgar Black Sr's Black's Barbecue, founded in Lockhart in 1932) after branching out on their own. Central Texas barbecue that earned Texas Monthly's notice and grew into several Texas cities. This is the flagship.