Here’s a look at Terry Black’s Barbecue, new near the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo
About 1.2 million visitors will find their way to the Fort Worth Stock Show this month, and more than a few will stop at the new Terry Black’s Barbecue.
The first Fort Worth location for Austin-based Terry Black’s brings the family’s 93-year legacy from Central Texas, tweaked with the updates made in 2014 when Terry Black’s split from the original Lockhart restaurant after a family dispute.
This is above-average commercial Texas barbecue, not as good as a small-batch craft place like Goldee’s or Dayne’s but open for lunch and dinner every day at 2926 W. Seventh St. near University Drive.
If you’re a Stock Show fan who loves Fort Worth’s old guard — Coburn’s inside the exhibit hall (since 1946), Angelo’s BBQ (1958) or the Railhead Smokehouse (1987) — keep going there.
Terry Black’s ordering system and Austin prices will leave you longing for the Railhead’s $12 specials, or for Angelo’s chopped beef sandwich on rye served the traditional Fort Worth way, with both barbecue sauce and yellow mustard.
But if you want to see what the buzz is all about, go to Terry Black’s and load up with a beef ribs, or brisket, or jalapeno sausage.
The first stop is for the sides, including a wide choice of items like Mexican corn, beans loaded with brisket or a purple-cabbage slaw.
It’ll all be tucked onto the tray for the next stop at the chopping block, where meat is ordered by the portion (or as a sandwich).
One highlight is at the table, where Terry Black’s offers three sauces — regular, spicy or sweet — along with a variety of bottled sauces such as chipotle-mustard, ghost pepper or habanero.
Dash the chipotle-mustard sauce on turkey or use a sprinkle along with regular sauce on the complementary bread for a brisket sandwich. The ghost pepper is a good addition for the beans in place of the usual Tabasco or Cholula.
Desserts include a typical banana pudding or an individual pecan pie.
In the city anointed Texas’ new “barbecue capital,” Terry Black’s is not alone at the top. But it’s a stop full of Texas flavor before the Stock Show.
More Stock Show dining
More places to eat near the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, covered more extensively Jan. 15 in this space:
▪ Reata at the Rodeo, inside the Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall at 3400 Burnett-Tandy Drive, is a full-service restaurant open for lunch and dinner most days, serving tenderloins, ribeyes, salads, lunch burgers and wines; 817-336-5766, reata.net/fwssr.
▪ Reata at the Backstage Club, a former private club above the horse show arena in the old Will Rogers Coliseum, is open for dinner weeknights, lunch and dinner weekends, serving chicken-fried steaks, tacos, burgers and salads; 817-348-0642.
▪ Since 1946, Coburn’s Bar-B-Q has operated a giant barbecue cafeteria in the Round-Up Inn serving hickory-smoked brisket. Now in its 80th year, it opens at 10 a.m. daily and serves as the iconic Stock Show meal for many families.
Coburn’s also operates a 24-hour restaurant, the Stockman’s Cafe in Cattle Barn No. 1.
▪ Pulido’s Rodeo Kitchen, a food stand from the owners of the Pulido’s Mexican Kitchen restaurants, will serve enchilada dinners, tacos, quesadillas and margaritas. It’s in the Moncrief Building at the corner of Burnett Tandy Drive and Rip Johnson Drive.
▪ Mama’s Pizza is the only iconic Fort Worth restaurant inside the show. The 57-year local favorite is in the exhibits hall and Round-Up Inn; mamaspizzas.net.
What’s nearby
▪ For steaks, Michaels Cuisine, 3413 W. Seventh St., always gets rodeo-goers out in time for the show and serves a special Stock Show menu comparable to Reata’s. It’s also open for lunch Tuesday through Friday and has a patio; 817-877-3413, michaelscuisine.com.
▪ Terra Mediterranean Grill, a daily all-you-can-eat lunch buffet and restaurant from the owners of Dallas’ Ali Baba, is in the Artisan Circle shops, 2932 Crockett St.
▪ Hysen’s Nizza Pizza, 401 University Drive, is the family-friendly and inexpensive pizza-by-the-slice stop near the show grounds; 817-877-3900, hysensnizzapizza.com.
▪ Cafe Modern, inside the Modern Art Museum, has a Wolfgang Puck chef. It serves lunch or brunch daily and dinner Friday nights.
Where everybody really goes
▪ For burgers: Rodeo Goat, 2836 Bledsoe St., serving a wide variety of custom burgers, fries and sides.
Big plus: There’s a patio and online ordering, too, so you can order from the midway and pick up burgers on your way home.
It serves lunch and dinner daily, two blocks east of the show grounds; 817-877-4628, rodeogoat.com.
The old rodeo tradition is Kincaid’s Hamburgers, 4901 Camp Bowie Blvd., a 50-year favorite once ranked No. 1 in America; 817-732-2881, kincaidshamburgers.com.
▪ For breakfast, go to the Montgomery Street Cafe, 2000 Montgomery St., open for breakfast and lunch weekdays and breakfast Saturdays.
