Hard Eight BBQ

Hard Eight BBQ is a Texas barbecue restaurant in The Colony, north of Dallas, cooking over mesquite — a wood that burns hot and lends the meat a sharper, more assertive smoke than the post oak most Texas pitmasters reach for. It anchors a small statewide chain, and the ritual is the same at each: walk up to the open pit where the brisket, ribs and sausage sit over the coals, point at what you want, and carry your tray to a table. Open daily, later on Fridays and Saturdays — mesquite and fire, worked until the meat is ready.