{"id":175509,"date":"2025-04-07T12:37:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T12:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/barbecue\/the-bbq-posse-journeys-into-the-heart-of-texas\/"},"modified":"2025-04-07T12:37:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T12:37:02","slug":"the-bbq-posse-journeys-into-the-heart-of-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=175509","title":{"rendered":"The BBQ Posse journeys into the heart of Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Flores<\/p>\n

Pitmaster & owner Michael Wyont greets customers at Flores Barbecue in Whitney. (Photo @David Woo\/Texas BBQ Posse)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re sorry to report that\u00a0<\/b>Flores<\/span>\u00a0Barbecue has closed effective Sept. 2019, after moving to a new location in Fort Worth.<\/b><\/p>\n

If the Texas BBQ Posse has a fault, it might be it\u2019s bluntness. We talk bluntly \u2014 positively and otherwise \u2014 about our favorite food, barbecue.<\/p>\n

So, on a recent Saturday while I was telling Michael Wyont, pitmaster and owner of Flores Barbecue in Whitney, how much the Posse liked everything he served, I added that at least one of us could have used a little vinegar sauce on the side with Wyont\u2019s wonderful pulled pork.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go to Carolina, get you some, and bring it back,\u201d Wyont said.<\/p>\n

Boom! Bluntness, it seems, is not the sole domain of the Posse, especially when, like Wyont,\u00a0 <\/span>you follow the Texas creed of no-sauce.<\/p>\n

Flores Barbecue, located an hour or so south of the Dallas area, was the first of three stops on this meat-eating journey into central Texas. Other places visited were Guess Family Barbecue in Waco and Green\u2019s Sausage House in Zabcikville, east of Temple.<\/p>\n

The Posse contingent started 11 strong, including long-time members who are retirees from \u2014 like me \u2014 and former employees of The Dallas Morning News, and newbies like Jason Shane of HangryQ.com<\/span><\/a>, who shot video.<\/p>\n

\"Flores<\/p>\n

Posse members Michael Meadows, left, and Gary Jacobson order at Flores Barbecue. (Photo @David Woo\/Texas BBQ Posse)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But the weather \u2014 it rained on and off all day \u2014 and a related\u00a0 <\/span>equipment failure on my car cut our numbers. Only Morning News photographer Tom Fox and his brother, Tracy, made it to all three places. Tom drove 333 miles roundtrip from his home in Arlington. From my house in Austin, the trip to Flores is about 140 miles one way.<\/p>\n

As usual, Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins, set the itinerary. He had wanted to get the group to Flores since he first visited the joint a couple months ago. He loved the food and the prices: $20 a pound for brisket and beef ribs, $8 a half-pound for pork ribs and pulled pork, $12 for a two-meat plate with two sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat two-meat plate is a steal,\u201d Wilkins said, noting that the plate includes a half-pound of meat.<\/p>\n

We sampled brisket, pork ribs, pulled pork, jalape\u00f1o sausage and a beef rib, served on Saturdays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s crazy good,\u201d Posse member Jim Rossman said of the beef rib.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not often that you eat pulled pork and go, wow!,\u201d Wilkins said. He was also fond of the jalape\u00f1o corn side dish, calling it one of the best sides he has ever had at a barbecue joint.<\/p>\n

\"Flores<\/p>\n

A plate of brisket, pork ribs & pulled pork with jalape\u00f1o corn & Spanish rice\u00a0sides at Flores Barbecue. (Photo \u00a9Chris Wilkins\/Texas BBQ Posse)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cDid anyone have anything that wasn\u2019t outstanding?\u201d Bruce Tomaso asked the group after we ate.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d was the unanimous answer.<\/p>\n

Even the homemade tortillas, served instead of the white bread that many places offer, drew praise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the best tortillas I\u2019ve had in my life,\u201d said Brandon Lesley, creative director at Funimation, who was making his first trip with the Posse. \u201cNice and soft. Not dry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flores, named in honor of Wyont\u2019s mother\u2019s maiden name, is a relatively new operation. Wyont and his wife, Hali, opened a trailer in San Marcos in 2016, moved it to Whitney at the end of that year and into the current building, a former bar, in mid-2017.<\/p>\n

Texas Monthly included Flores in its Top 50 list of the best joints in the state that year. The Posse would put Flores in its Top 10. It\u2019s that good. On barbecue tours, Posse members are usually pretty disciplined about how much they eat at any one place. At Flores, some of us broke that rule.<\/p>\n

Wyont says that some days his place is very busy and sometimes not. On the day we visited, there were 12 people in line at 11:15 a.m., a few minutes after opening. Just before noon, there were about three dozen people eating in the dining room and at tables outside, and only seven people in line. Can\u2019t imagine what that line would have been if Flores were located in Dallas or Austin.<\/p>\n

\"Guess<\/p>\n

Pitmaster Ryan Amthor shows off a lunch tray at Guess Family Barbecue in Waco. (Photo \u00a9David Woo\/Texas BBQ Posse)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Our next stop was Guess Family Barbecue in Waco, a trailer operation located about a block from Chip and Joanna Gaines\u2019 Magnolia Market. As you might surmise from the popularity the couple gained with their TV show, Fixer Upper, parking was tough. We found a spot on a side street a couple blocks away.<\/p>\n

Walking into Guess, the first thing you notice is the lettering on the end of the serving trailer:<\/p>\n

“Old School
Texas Barbecue
The Same Kind
Jesus Ate.\u201d<\/p>\n

You might dispute the slogan\u2019s accuracy, but it\u2019s certainly catchy.<\/p>\n

Guess, open for about two years, is truly a family operation. When we arrived about 1:30 p.m., Sara Guess was there with her two children, Elliot, 7, and Emmi, 3. Reid Guess was in a nearby garage working on a pit he was building for a customer.<\/p>\n

\"Guess<\/p>\n

Elliott Guess, 7, takes orders at his family’s Guess Family Barbecue. With him are his friend, Ryan Hayes, right, also 7, and server Brandi Alejandro. (Photo \u00a9David Woo\/Texas BBQ Posse)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When we ordered a big sampler plate of brisket, ribs, pulled pork and jalape\u00f1o sausage, Elliot and a friend were helping behind the counter.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe likes the business side of things,\u201d Reid told us later about his son. \u201cHe\u2019s all into marketing and advertising.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been doing this since we started,\u201d Sara said of her son.<\/p>\n

Note to Aaron Franklin: Keep an eye on Elliot Guess.<\/p>\n

Ryan Amthor is one of the pitmasters at Guess. From this location near Magnolia, he also helps cook for three other Guess trailers around town. The pit is literally fired around the clock, Amthor explained, with different items going on and coming off in regular rotation.<\/p>\n

On the menu board, the chicken and turkey offerings were already crossed out. \u201cOur chicken and turkey are really good,\u201d Amthor said. \u201cBut our first three customers today bought me out of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Guess<\/p>\n

The Posse digs into a platter of meats & sides at Guess Family Barbecue in Waco. (Photo \u00a9David Woo\/Texas BBQ Posse)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

On barbecue tours, the order of hitting joints can be important. Such was the case with Guess. The food was good, but most of the meats did not quite compare to those we had just eaten at Flores.<\/p>\n

The exception was the sausage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sausage is the bomb,\u201d Posse member Michael Meadows said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last place, the meat and the cheese were separate,\u201d Tom Fox said. \u201cThis place, it was like they were all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not a sausage fan, it may be a little hard to understand exactly what Tom was getting at. But if you are a fan, you\u2019ll know.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlores probably had Guess on the other meats, but this is good stuff,\u201d Wilkins said. \u201cThis is the best barbecue anywhere around here (Waco), no question.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Reid Guess finishes with the pit for his customer, he plans to build three 1,000-gallon pits for a bricks-and-mortar location that the family hopes to open in Waco at the end of this year or early next year.<\/p>\n

The Posse is already planning a return trip.<\/p>\n

\"Guess<\/p>\n

Guess Family Barbecue owner Reid Guess takes a break from welding a new smoker for a customer. (Photo \u00a9Chris Wilkins\/Texas BBQ Posse)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As we left Guess and started out of town, it began raining heavily. I turned on my windshield wipers and a wiper blade flew off onto the road behind us. After I pulled over, Meadows, who was riding with me, and I both ran back. Michael found the blade, thankfully. And it snapped right back into place. But we both got soaked.<\/p>\n

Dripping wet, we decided to call it a day. Wilkins, driving another car, circled back to pick up Meadows and return to Dallas. I headed to Austin.<\/p>\n

That left the Fox brothers as the only ones continuing on to Green\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Both Tom and Tracy were born in Minnesota. They called Zabcikville a throwback and compared it to a small Minnesota town where a bar and\/or a store would be the center of activity.<\/p>\n

The fare at Green\u2019s is different, not typical Texas BBQ. The brothers ordered deep fried boudin balls made with pork meat, rice and pepper jack cheese. And, they tried the sausage burger, which is served like a hamburger in a basket, with a large sausage patty spilling slightly out of the bun, garnished with mustard, pickles and chopped onions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe mustard makes it taste like you\u2019re eating a hamburger,\u201d Tom said.<\/p>\n

Tracy said biting into the boudin ball was like biting into a Cadbury egg. Crispy on the outside and gooey in the center.<\/p>\n

\"Guess<\/p>\n

Slogan on the side of Guess Family Barbecue’s trailer in downtown Waco. (Photo \u00a9Chris Wilkins\/Texas BBQ Posse)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Later, I called owner Marvin Green and told him I was sorry to have missed his place. He said Green\u2019s makes 12,000 to 15,000 pounds or so of sausage a month, and supplies a few barbecue joints in the area, including Cyclone Corral BBQ.<\/p>\n

The Fox brothers said there was plenty of room to sit down and eat at Green\u2019s, but there was a steady line of customers getting food to go. Both the Texas A&M and University of Texas football teams were playing at home that night. In our conversation, Green said his place gets business from tailgaters at both schools.<\/p>\n

On the way back to Arlington, Tom and Tracy stopped at Health Camp in Waco, a local institution serving malts, shakes and burgers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both got large vanilla malts,\u201d Tom said later when he gave me his report on Green\u2019s. \u201cAfter a day of eating meat, we had to get something to put out the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so it goes on the Texas BBQ Trail.<\/p>\n

Heart of Texas BBQ Tour<\/b> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a09\/8\/18<\/p>\n

9am: Leave DFW<\/p>\n

10:45am: \u00a0PERMANENTLY CLOSED AS OF SEPT. 2019<\/strong> —\u00a0Flores Barbecue<\/strong>, we visited the old location in Whitney, but Flores Barbecue is now at 4801 Edwards Ranch Road in Fort Worth,\u00a0254-580-3576. Open Thurs-Sun 11am-4pm.<\/p>\n

1:30pm: Guess Family Barbecue<\/b>, <\/span>324 S. 6th Street, Waco, 254-313-3436. Open Wed-Sat 11am-4pm. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3:30pm: Green’s Sausage House<\/b>, <\/span>16483 State Highway 53, Zabcikville<\/span>, 254-985-2331. Open Mon-Fri 6:30am-6:30pm, Sat 7am-5pm.<\/p>\n

4:30pm: Head back to DFW<\/p>\n