Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn recently took to social media to call out a Top 50 Texas barbecue joints list that was made using artificial intelligence (AI). Vaughn rightfully called out the list for including places that had closed (Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ, Brett’s Backyard BBQ), having wrong locations (Rosemeyer Bar-B-Q, Dayne’s Craft Barbecue), including an Arizona restaurant, naming places that don’t exist (Leroy’s Smokehouse, Andrew’s Barbecue) and rounding out the list with Bill Miller and Rudy’s.
The list was a reminder that as AI becomes more prominent in our daily lives, you can’t rely on it 100%. So, we at MySA decided to test out AI’s Texas barbecue smarts. We asked ChatGPT to create a list of the Top 50 barbecue joints in Texas — with the note that it couldn’t copy and paste Texas Monthly’s list from 2025. Here’s how it came out.
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- No. 50 – Opie’s Barbecue, Spicewood
- No. 49 – Lum’s BBQ, Junction
- No. 48 – Brotherton’s Black Iron Barbecue, Pflugerville
- No. 47 – Teddy’s Barbecue, Weslaco
- No. 46 – Kafi BBQ, Irving
- No. 45 – Victorian’s Barbecue, Mart
- No. 44 – Stanley’s Famous Pit Barbecue, Tyler
- No. 43 – Smitty’s Market, Lockhart
- No. 42 – Black’s Barbecue, Lockhart
- No. 41 – Kreuz Market, Lockhart
- No. 40 – The Barbecue Company / Louie Mueller Barbecue, Taylor
- No. 39 – Eaker Barbecue, Fredericksburg
- No. 38 – Smoke-A-Holics BBQ, Fort Worth
- No. 37 – Hurtado Barbecue, Arlington
- No. 36 – Slow Bone BBQ – Dallas
- No. 35 – Pecan Lodge, Dallas
- No. 34 – Hutchins BBQ, Frisco/McKinney
- No. 33 – Feges BBQ, Houston
- No. 32 – Roegels Barbecue Co., Houston
- No. 31 – 1701 Barbecue, Beaumont
- No. 30 – LJ’s BBQ, Brenham
- No. 29 – Miller’s Smokehouse, Belton
- No. 28 – Terry Black’s Barbecue, Lockhart
- No. 27 – Briscuits, Austin
- No. 26 – Micklethwait Craft Meats, Austin
Texas Barbecue’s Middle of the Pack
- No. 25 – Killen’s Barbecue, Pearland
- No. 24 – Reese Bros BBQ, San Antonio
- No. 23 – Sunbird Barbecue, Longview
- No. 22 – Dayne’s Craft Barbecue, Aledo
- No. 21 – Bar-A-BBQ, Montgomery
- No. 20 – Schoepf’s BBQ, Belton
- No. 19 – la Barbecue, Austin
- No. 18 – KG BBQ, Austin
- No. 17 – Pinkerton’s Barbecue, Houston
- No. 16 – Blood Bros. BBQ, Bellaire
- No. 15 – Panther City BBQ, Fort Worth
- No. 14 – Evie Mae’s Pit Barbecue, Wolfforth
- No. 13 – Rejino Barbecue, Olton
- No. 12 – Cattleack Barbeque, Farmers Branch
- No. 11 – Snow’s BBQ, Lexington
Texas Barbecue’s Top 10-2 joints
- No. 10 – Burnt Bean Co., Seguin
- No. 9 – Barbs B Q, Lockhart
- No. 8 – Franklin Barbecue, Austin
- No. 7 – Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue, Tomball
- No. 6 – Truth Barbecue, Houston
- No. 5 – Goldee’s Barbecue, Fort Worth
- No. 4 – 2M Smokehouse, San Antonio
- No. 3 – InterStellar BBQ, Austin
- No. 2 – LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, Austin
ChatGPT ranks CorkScrew BBQ as Texas’ No. 1 barbecue joint
Located in Spring, outside of Houston, CorkScrew BBQ took the top place for its “repeatability,” the AI wrote. CorkScrew earned praise for its brisket, ribs and sausage and its recent Michelin star. For comparison, CorkScrew didn’t even make the Top 10 in Texas Monthly’s 2025 list.
Find it:26608 Keith St., Spring, TX 77373
How ChatGPT ranked Texas’ top barbecue joints
The AI wrote that it used data points such as the 2026 Michelin Guide, regional criticism, newer statewide rankings, local reputation and “evidence of what is happening at the pits now” to create the Top 50 list. It then ranked them by meat quality and pit craft (40%), consistency (20%), overall menu, including sausages and sides (15%), distinctiveness/sense of place (10%), current reputation and momentum in 2026 (10%) and destination-worthiness (5%).
Biggest takeaways from ChatGPT’s Texas barbecue rankings
The AI made a point of not including a smokehouse just because it’s famous, but that seems contradictory. Leroy and Lewis, Burnt Bean, Goldee’s, Truth and Tejas were all ranked in the Top 10, just like they were on Texas Monthly’s list, and LeRoy and Lewis even repeated in the No. 2 spot. 2M Smokehouse likely got a boost thanks to its recent win on Food Network’s Pitmasterscompetition. Sure they all may be in different spots, but there’s no doubt all of these mentions are among the most famous smokehouses in the state.
The list may not include Rudy’s, Bill Miller or Smokey Mo’s, but it does include Brotherton’s Black Iron Barbecue, which closed on August 30 after almost a decade in Pflugerville. If a real person had made this list, that would’ve been a fatal mistake. Meanwhile LaVaca BBQ in Port Lavaca, the No. 8 joint on Texas Monthly’s list, didn’t even make the cut with ChatGPT.
The main thing to remember is ChatGPT did not do any of its own work. Yes, it pulled from the internet and “read” through reports, but the AI did not visit any of these places, it did not talk with any pitmasters and did not eat any of its own barbecue. This list is its best guestimation for who is king in Texas barbecue right now based off other people’s work. So, if you’re looking for advice on who has the best beef, keep trusting the real people.
