The Original Black’s Barbecue

Texas' oldest and best major barbecue restaurant continuously owned by the same family. Its offering include beef brisket, ribs, chicken, sandwiches, salads and vegetables, as well as desserts. Black's looks like you'd expect a barbecue restaurant to look. Framed photographs of local high school football teams and hunting trophies cover the walls. A photograph of former Texas Governor Ann Richards, back when she was still state treasurer, fills a spot on the wall, too. This restaurant has been in the family since 1932. Norma remembers a time when women did not go inside most barbecue restaurants. At Black's, women went to a side window to order. Things have changed a lot since then, but the recipe for brisket is still the same. "It's simple," Edgar says. "You just need salt, pepper, the right wood and a few family secrets that I can't tell you." "We didn't have a sauce when we first started," Edgar explains. "My wife, she makes it. We added it after a lot of people from the North came down. They'd ask for it." Norma's sauce is red-orange, hinting of lemon and a little cumin; "eight" days a week it simmers in an electric cooking pot not too far from the restaurant's cash register.