SAN ANTONIO – During the filming of “Texas Eats” latest episode on Central Texas barbecue, which you can watch above, I caught myself imagining all the mouth-watering barbecue joints around San Antonio.
Then I remembered back to 2017, when Texas Monthly released their list of the top 50 BBQ joints in the state.
“The List," as it’s called, is considered one of the go-to sources for ranking Texas BBQ joints and restaurants that make the list wear it as a badge of honor.
Some say San Antonio barbecue joints were snubbed on that list because the Alamo City is only represented by 2 of the 50 restaurants. One of those restaurants, The Granary, is now closed and the other, 2M Smokehouse, is still slow cookin’ on the Southeast Side.
So, as the magazine is hard at work preparing its next list, set to be released in 2021, there are a lot of new contenders on the ballot and several of those are from the Alamo City.
So we decided to provide a list of possible inclusions from San Antonio for the Monthly, or anyone else ranking the holy grail of Lone Star State cuisine.
READ MORE: The ultimate San Antonio barbecue map, 10 best chicken wing spots in San Antonio for 2020, according to Yelp
Which of these San Antonio BBQ joints deserve to make the upcoming best-of list:
2M Smokehouse
From their website: “Pitmaster Esaul Ramos began his journey as a backyard griller who eventually found himself rotating briskets in Austin, Texas. After a few years in Austin, he called me up to partner up with him and finally put our high school dreams of barbecuing for a living into action in our hometown of San Antonio, Texas.”
Black Board Bar-B-Q
From their website: “We refuse to compromise on quality in our restaurant. That’s why we source our fresh ingredients from local growers and producers as much as possible.”
Alamo BBQ
From their website: “Our Peach Glazed Baby Back Ribs, Texas Pit Smoked Creekstone Brisket, Smoked Sausage, and Turkey Breast are prepared in-house daily.”
Check out their peach-glazed ribs in the video below.
B&D Ice House
From their website: “B&D means “Beard & Dady”, “BBQ & Draft” and so much more to these Two Bros. and the Beard. “To keep the soul of B&D intact and take this Southtown icon into its next 50 years is a privilege.”
B-Daddy’s BBQ
From their website: “BBQ Restaurant and food trailer providing real wood smoked brisket, ribs, sausage, pork and all the trimmings along with some daily specials!”
The Big Bib BBQ
From their website: “In true Texas-style, The Big Bib’s barbecue is slow-cooked for up to 14 hours every day with aged oak and mesquite woods.”
Dignowity Meats
From their website: “Smoked meat sandwiches by day. Fried chicken, ribs & more by night.”
Smoke
From their website: “The ALL NEW Smoke BBQ Brew Venue located in Downtown San Antonio offers a Premier Sports Bar atmosphere complimented with some good ol’ Texas BBQ!”
Smoke Shack BBQ
From their website: “We satisfy the high demand for quality BBQ in San Antonio and serve it straight out of a truck. Voted best BBQ in SA. Restaurant open for lunch and dinner.”
David Elder visited Smoke Shack, 2M Smokehouse and others for his first episode of Elder Eats. Watch below.
South BBQ
From their website: “South Texas Style BBQ & SidesBeef 🐄 • Pork 🐖 • Chicken 🐓Wed - Sun 11am to 5pm”
Two Bros. BBQ Market
From their website: “Our philosophy is to smoke ‘em low and slow in our custom-made smoke pits. The process begins with a secret and flavorful dry rub and is followed by a rich smoke bath, which results in a deep charred edge and robust flavor.”
Augie’s Barbed Wire Smokehouse
From their website: “The Barbed Wire started back in 2000 on S. Presa by Augie Cortez Jr. The Barbedwire was an awesome spot for BBQ, Beer and Live Music. Now we’re back! We are located at 3709 N. St. Mary’s right next to Sunken Gardens.”
225° Urban Smoke
From their website: “Where barbecue meets cajun”
B&B Smokehouse
From their website: “B&B’s Smokehouse opened for business in September 1984. The father of Bruce Finley (current owner), Harold Finley had operated Hal’s Drive-In and Bar-B-Que at the same location starting in 1958. We have served great bbq and more for over fifty years!”
Dee Willie’s BBQ
From their website: “Dee Willie’s is a family owned smokehouse in San Antonio, Texas. We love to cook real smoked BBQ and giving our customers the best food and service possible. We are known for our Brisket, Ribs, Chicken, Turkey and Sausage along with all of our great sides.”
See more from Dee Willie’s in our Flavor Favs series below.
Viewers can catch “Texas Eats” on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m., or on the KSAT-TV Livestream app available on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and most smart TVs, as well as on KSAT.com, and KSAT’s YouTube channel.