First Look: Work Bar & Grill in Deep Ellum, Dallas

Brisket plate with sides of cole slaw and tortellini mac & cheese at Work Bar & Grill. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

A philosophical question: Can a place that has more salads on its menu than smoked meats be called a barbecue joint?

After sampling the brisket, pulled pork and chicken at Work Bar and Grill in Deep Ellum, the Posse answers "Yes."

We also are better able to answer a couple of other pressing Dallas barbecue questions.

Where's a good place to have a sit-down barbecue dinner with drinks?

Lockhart Smokehouse used to be our only recommendation. Now, we can add Work. Both have great bars.

And, if the lunch line at Pecan Lodge is way too long, where's a good nearby alternative?

Work is only a few blocks away.

Yes, we're all riding the wave of this Texas barbecue phenomenon

Lockhart Smokehouse pitmaster Will Fleischman. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/Fotobia.com)

A while back, after the lunch rush and long before dinner, I was sipping a beer and talking to Will Fleischman, the pitmaster-philosopher at Lockhart Smokehouse in Dallas.

Is the Texas barbecue bubble going to burst? I asked. Will the culinary accolades from around the country and the long lines of customers here eventually go away?

Fleischman acknowledged that the frenzy for Texas barbecue might someday cool. But, he said, he was going to ride the wave of popularity as far as it goes. He had been employed at Lockhart since it opened in 2011. From his point of view, he said, he hadn't worked a day the whole time. It was fun.

There's no argument that Texas barbecue is hot. We have VIP tastings, $150-a-head custom bus tours of top Texas joints, and long lines of regular barbecue lovers happily queuing up for hours just to get served.

I know all that. You could argue that the Posse is just a byproduct of the Texas barbecue resurgence.

But the true extent of this phenomenon didn't become entirely clear to me until this past week.

Mac's Bar-B-Que of Dallas makes a surprise visit on Men's Journal Top 10 Texas BBQ list

Brisket Frito Pie at Mac's Bar-B-Que in Dallas. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Another day, another Top 10 Texas BBQ list.

It's gotten to the point where every publication, whether they've ever actually ever stepped foot in the state, is coming out with their own top 10 Texas BBQ list.

Outside of Texas Monthly and the Posse's recent Best of Texas BBQ rankings, I pretty much ignore all the often silly lists coming out these days.

However, I couldn't resist the temptation to open a link this weekend from Men's Journal, trumpeting "EXPERT ADVICE: Daniel Vaughn's Top 10 BBQ Joints in Texas."

When Daniel speaks, barbecue fans listen. Thus is the power of the pulpit when you are Texas Monthy's BBQ ambassador.

From the Posse's view, Pecan Lodge holds all the cards in negotiations with Dallas Farmers Market

Meats on the smoker at Pecan Lodge in the Dallas Farmers Market. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse)

Posse member and Dallas Morning News assistant metro editor Bruce Tomaso gives us more details on the sweeping changes at the Dallas Farmers Market and how that might affect Pecan Lodge's decision on moving to a new location.

OK, let’s be honest:

In the $64 million makeover of the Dallas Farmers Market, there’s only one thing that barbecue aficionados care about:

What’s gonna happen to Pecan Lodge?

That’s the $64,000 question.

Our two-cent answer: No one knows.

Owners Diane and Justin Fourton have made it clear for months that they’re weighing their options. Justin told Texas Monthly’s Daniel Vaughn that he and Diane have been scouting other potential locations as “part of a contingency plan depending on what happens at the market.”

Updated: Some thoughts on Pecan Lodge and a potential new location

The lunch line queues up at Pecan Lodge in the Dallas Farmers Market. (Photo ©Daniel Goncalves/Fotobia.com)

UPDATE: we received a Tweet from Pecan Lodge: @texasbbqposse @jimrossman: Thx for your thoughts. Adding 2nd cash register in next few wks. Already hv 2 cutters in kitchen. Doing our best.


So the BBQ blogosphere seems to be full up on stories about Pecan Lodge and whether or not it'll remain at the Dallas Farmer's Market.

The City of Dallas sold the property and there are plans to redo Shed 2, which apparently include tearing it up while a new sewer line is installed. Not exactly the right environment for any restaurant.

Nancy Nichols over at D Magazine's SideDish blog talked to owners Justin and Diane Fourton:

“They are going to gut Shed 2 and put in a new sewer line,” said Diane. “I just wish somebody would say ‘here is how we will help you run your businesses while we’re under construction.’ I don’t see how we, or any of us, can operate under those conditions. It’s crazy.”

So the thinking is Pecan Lodge may just move to a more hospitable location.

Why I love and hate -- at the same time -- Tim Byres' new cookbook, Smoke

Filets with Tim Byres' BBQ Beef Coffee Cure (Photo by Gary Jacobson)

My friend, Martha Gooding, says if you get one good recipe out of a cookbook, the book is worth the price.

By that measure, Tim Byres' new cookbook, Smoke, is a tremendous bargain.

I got two great recipes, and if you stay to the end of this post you'll get one of them: Byres' BBQ Beef Coffee Cure. So far I've used it twice, on New York strip steaks and filets. It's wonderful. Hope to try it soon on brisket.

The other great recipe is for homemade sour cream. What an unexpected treat!

So, why am I also down on this new offering from the celebrated chef at Dallas' Smoke restaurant?

It wasn't written for cooks like me. It was written to bolster the culinary cred of Byres.