Texas barbecue’s fame isn’t constrained by borders. People travel from all over the world to try award-winning smoked brisket and ribs, so it only makes sense that its variations should be equally far-reaching. But it wasn’t always that way.
For years, Texas barbecue hewed close to the basics, even among the newer crop of craft barbecue joints that have raised the cuisine’s stature to new heights, scoring Michelin recognition for their efforts. Brisket, beef ribs, pork ribs, snappy sausages, turkey, and sides such as coleslaw and potato salad form the basis of most menus. But a handful of restaurants are adding their own unique spins to Texas barbecue by incorporating flavors from outside the state — and the country.
Kafi BBQ has been open for less than three months, but the Irving, Texas, restaurant is quickly drawing crowds thanks to founder Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi’s halal, wagyu beef-centered menu.
Abdul-Kafi got his start cooking for friends about six years ago after a Costco salesman convinced him to buy a Traeger smoker.
“My first brisket was not a very good one, but it was good enough for people to want me to make more,” he said. That led to catering gigs and eventually his restaurant, and he left a career in tech to focus on his new venture.
Kafi BBQ serves halal wagyu beef brisket, back ribs, “dino ribs,” and Iraqi sausage. The sausage is based on his dad’s kebab recipe, which features ember-roasted vegetables inside the casing and seasonings like allspice and sumac.
“My goal isn’t to be fusion,” said Abdul-Kafi. “I’m trying to provide Texas barbecue for a community that’s never really been served by the Texas barbecue scene before. And I’m incorporating a few flavors that I’m familiar with.”
Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi honors his background with select dishes at Kafi BBQ, like Iraqi sausage and cardamom banana pudding. Photo credit: Kafi BBQ
Those flavors extend to the desserts, including a cardamom-spiked spin on the classic banana pudding, and his mom’s recipe for basbousa, a sweet semolina cake.
At KG BBQ in Austin, Kareem El-Ghayesh is enlisting North African and Middle Eastern influences in his menu, including bright, fresh flavors absent from the typical Texas barbecue plate.
He left a finance career in Cairo, Egypt, and moved to Austin in 2016 to pursue his passion, kindled a few years prior during his first barbecue-fueled trip to Texas. He began by attending culinary school and working at other barbecue joints to learn the craft. Then he started hosting pop-ups, and eventually opened his food truck in 2022.
“I changed the course of my whole life for this,” said El-Ghayesh. He’s been rewarded with a James Beard semifinalist nod for Best Chef, Texas, and a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide, which expanded to Texas last fall.
KG BBQ adheres to Central Texas tradition for its slow-smoked meats, including its brisket, which is rubbed with salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano. But the pork ribs are rubbed in Egyptian spices and glazed with pomegranate barbecue sauce. Lamb shoulder is seasoned with sumac and cinnamon and topped with dukkah, and rather than white bread, KG serves pita. Rice bowls, available with a variety of proteins, also include tahini, candied nuts, pomegranate seeds, and baladi salad, an Egyptian dish that’s bright and vinegary and made with tomato, cucumber, and red onion.
“Traditional barbecue is a rich meal,” El-Ghayesh said. “You might eat it today but not crave it again for a month. Now we have customers that come back multiple times per week, especially for the rice bowls.”
Several other barbecue joints are also expanding the bounds of Texas-style barbecue. Goldee’s in Fort Worth — currently ranked first on Texas Monthly’s Top 50 list — makes smoked Lao sausage that’s inspired by co-owner Nupohn Inthanousay’s Lao heritage. The sausage is laced with lemon grass, makrut lime leaf, cilantro, mint, and basil and is served with sticky rice and a sour sauce called jeow som.
Kafi BBQ exclusively serves halal wagyu beef across its menu. Photo credit: Kafi BBQ
Sabar, also in Fort Worth, complements traditional brisket with Pakistani-influences seen in dishes like seekh kebab sausage, burnt ends nihari (a South Asian beef stew), and tandoori turkey marinated in yogurt and spices.
Smoke’N Ash BBQ in Arlington is a self-described “Tex-Ethiopian smokehouse” that rubs meat in awaze, an Ethiopian sauce that begins with berbere seasoning, and serves smoked doro wat, the spicy chicken stew.
Blood Bros. in Houston leans into the city’s diversity and enlists flavors across multiple cultures, including Asian, Cajun, and Mexican. Pork belly burnt ends come in varieties including char siu, gochujang, or Thai sweet chile and can be paired with dishes like a cheesy suadero torta and stir-fried rice noodles topped with brisket, Chinese broccoli, and bean sprouts.
Tex-Mex and Mexican-accented barbecue is also found across the state at operations like 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio, Zavala’s in Grand Prairie, and Vaquero’s in Allen.
For many of these pitmasters, barbecue is about more than just serving food — it’s a way to bridge the gap between cultures.
El-Ghayesh hopes to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Austin and maybe expand into Houston one day, noting that such physical spaces would serve food, but also serve as a community center for Egyptians and other Arabs.
“There’s a lot of crossover and similarities in the hospitality culture, family values, and gathering around food,” El-Ghayesh said about Texas and the Middle East. “I want the restaurant to be a hub that brings people together to celebrate food, art, and culture.”
