If you’ve ever wondered where Texas’s first barbecue joint was, Daniel Vaughn may have an answer for you. Vaughn is the barbecue editor for Texas Monthly. His research has discovered what might have been the first-ever barbecue location in the Lone Star State. The location was in Bastrop, Texas, reports KUT. At least, says Vaughn, this is the oldest documented barbecue site.
It was near Lockhart, which has long been considered a barbecue mecca in the state. But this old forgotten place wasn’t exactly what you would think of when you imagine a barbecue joint. There were no waitresses, and no paper towel rolls on the tables—and there was no bottle opener affixed to the wall beside the cash register. The site was a simple butcher shop.
Vaughn found it through an old newspaper ad, which announced that the butcher kept on hand “a stock of readied barbecued meats and cooked sausages.”