1701 Barbecue: 9.74/10

Address: 1701 Calder Ave Beaumont, TX 77701

Phone: 409-554-8009

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I pulled up at 10:33 a.m. and was the first in line. After this tray, I’d do it again without hesitation.

MEATS

Brisket: 10/10

Absolute perfection. Moist, tender, bark locked in, fat rendered exactly how it should be.

Pork Ribs: 9/10

Great bite, clean pull from the bone, balanced smoke. Just shy of legendary but still outstanding.

Turkey: 9/10

Juicy. Not dry in the slightest, which is rare. Beautiful smoke profile without overpowering the meat.

Green Onion & Pepper Jack Sausage: 10/10

This one steals the show. The snap, the seasoning, the creamy heat from the pepper jack—unreal. Order it.

SIDES

Pepper Jack Mac & Cheese: 10/10****

Four stars added for emphasis.

Creamy, bold, and indulgent without being heavy. Possibly one of my favorites thus far.

Dirty Rice: 7/10

Solid supporting cast member. Good flavor, just not the headline act on this tray.

Texas Beans: 8/10

Solid. I’m not the biggest bean fan but the added sausage and brisket push it past my expectations.

Cornbread Muffin Stuffed with Brisket and Cheese: 10/10

This is borderline unfair to other sides. Sweet cornbread meets savory brisket, cheese and jalapeños—a handheld masterpiece.

DESSERT

Banana Pudding: 9/10

Creamy, balanced, not overly sweet. The perfect finish to a heavy-hitting tray.

TOTAL DAMAGE

$52. Absolutely worth it.

If you’re chasing great Texas barbecue, this stop belongs on the list.

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I’M NOT USED to driving on single-lane roads in the middle of the night. And that’s a problem because I had to get up super early for a seven-hour drive to Lubbock.

I left my house at 4 a.m. I wanted to be there early by the time they opened and be one of the first in the line. I didn’t want to get there later in the day when the food isn’t as good and it ruins the experience.

It was before sunrise and there was enough traffic that I figured I didn’t need to keep my high beams on—I kept having to turn them off every 45 seconds.

There was a deer on the other lane, and I was going 75 miles an hour. All I could think was, “If this thing goes…”

And, of course, it walked from the oncoming lane.

And I was on cruise control.

And the brakes auto locked.

I had no chance to even…

I hit it dead on.

It was the scariest moment of my life.

The hood came up on my windshield. It was like Tommy Boy.

I couldn’t see. The seatbelt hurt my stomach. I thought something went through the windshield and hit me in the gut. There’s a split second where I was like, “This could be it.”

The deer went flying to another lane. An 18-wheeler ran him over. There was nothing left but a hoof.

I was four hours from my house. And it was February. And it was so cold. I was thankful to be alive. You can replace cars, but you can’t replace people.

The sheriff brought me back into town and I waited four hours for my wife to come pick me up.

When she got me, she was like, “Was this worth it to you?”

I said, “I’m too close to the finish line.”

I HAVE 50 stickers from the Texas Monthly top 50 spots.

I started July 3, 2025, and finished April 9, 2026.

When I turned my passport into Texas Monthly, they told me, “Congratulations, you’re the 19^thperson.”

I don’t know if you know this, but the first person who finished is from Hawaii. He finished in like 50 days.

The top 100 get a prize from Coca-Cola, including a mini-fridge, grilling kit, hat, and shirt.

I don’t really care about the prize. I was just doing it for the passport. I’m going to frame it with the cover of the magazine and put it on my wall.

I DIDN’T KNOW if I was gonna be able to do it when I first started.

I think everybody sets some goal that’s maybe not attainable and you go through a moment like, “Is this really worth it?” And then my wife is in my ear like, “You’re spending a lot of time and money.”

My brother challenged me to this thing. He was like, “I’m gonna beat you.” And I’m competitive. I was a college swimmer. My nickname was All-in AJ. I’m like, “I don’t think so. I don’t think you have a chance.”

He only got 13 by the time I got 50.

I visited a lot of them with my wife and kids. And then I have a buddy in Nacogdoches, and I did one out there with him. I have some buddies in Houston. I had a buddy come in from South Carolina and we visited three of them in the Panhandle. That was the part of the trip that made it a lot more fun.

It’s a lot better sharing barbecue with other people. Nothing beats good food with good people.

It ended up a lot easier visiting a lot of them because I live about an hour from Austin. Every weekend, I’d take my wife and kids to Austin and we’d visit one. She knew she was in it. But she can’t handle barbecue the way I can.

For nine months, I visited 1 ½ barbecue restaurants a week. I can feel it in my health.

I’m in the middle of five days of fasting.

I GREW UP in Houston, and I don’t really have any fond barbecue memories. It wasn’t until I came home in college and my parents said let’s go to Harris County Smokehouse. That kinda got me hooked right there.

When I would come back and visit, I’d want to visit Rudy’s. That was my place. About 10 years later, I come home and tell my brother we have to get Rudy’s. He’s like, “That’s not barbecue.” He takes me to Tejas Chocolate & Barbecue in Tomball, which at the time was in the Texas Monthly top 50.

That place opened my mind. Wow! There’s way better barbecue!

Then every time I came to town, he’d take me somewhere else—like Truth [Houston]. We’d go all over Houston. And that got me excited. This was around 2021, when the last Texas Monthly list came out, and my brother visited like 40 of the 50 places.

I moved back to Texas in 2024—I got stationed in San Antonio—and my brother said the new list was going to come out in the next year. That got me all excited about it, and from that point it was kinda like game on.

I CAME UP with a scorecard. I would write the scores for meats and sides and desserts. Then somewhere along the line I made it more complex: grading for how long it takes to get in, atmosphere, sodas, customer service.

Brisket was the most heavily weighted thing on my scorecard. If you don’t have good brisket to start with, your score didn’t go up much from there.

It was easy for me to do the top five of ribs, top five of sausages, top five of turkey. The brisket was hard because everything at the top end tastes the same—until you go to a place that’s like, Whoa!

That’s how I knew it was a top 10—it made me rethink my life.

When places like Evie Mae’s [Lubbock], Yearby’s [Pilot Point], LeRoy and Lewis [Austin], Goldee’s [Fort Worth]—it’s just the way the brisket melts in your mouth and gives you this almost…euphoric…moment. That’s the only way I can explain it.

I took my younger brother to Rosemeyer [Spring], and he doesn’t eat barbecue very often, and they gave us a sample of brisket. He took a bite and goes, “What is that?” I said, “It’s brisket.” He said, “No way.” I said, “You’re gonna learn today, son.”

Brisket is a different level at the top end.

THE BEST BARBECUE I had happened on back-to-back days. I went to Cattleack [Farmers Branch], which is the best barbecue I ever had. And then the next day I went to Dayne’s [Aledo], and I was like, “I don’t know if it can get any better.”

I fought with ChatGPT for two weeks to help create a scorecard total. And ChatGPT doesn’t agree with me when I plug in my scorecards—so I have my personal-feelings list and the computer list.

ChatGPT puts Cattleack as my number one. It’s the only one that gets a 10.

I know why: Cattleack has the best banana pudding in the whole trail; Dayne’s banana pudding, to me, is a 7/10—it didn’t have banana slices in it. But I didn’t care because I enjoyed everything else so much. And that’s why it was my favorite.

So, objectively, I know scorecard-wise, Cattleack is better than Dayne’s. But, to me, Dayne’s was a better experience—I enjoyed it more. So it got my top spot.

My trip to Briscuits [Austin] was the worst: it had no atmosphere, you can’t order from the truck, and there was no customer service. Their whole thing is meat between biscuits—and the biscuits are more like scones. I spent $35 for two breakfast sandwiches I had to eat open face that weren’t any good. And the strawberry jelly on the brisket was a no-go for me.

I’ll say this, Franklin [Austin] was one of my bigger disappointments.

For years, I’ve heard about Franklin. I remember watching barbecue cookoff shows living in Vegas, and they’re calling it the best brisket in Texas—that people start lining up at 6 a.m.

So it became this mythical spot to me.

I went there and the brisket lived up to the hype—it was a 10/10.

But what surprised me was it stopped there. They’re very old school and only serve three sides: coleslaw, potato salad, and pinto beans.

I sat there for three hours thinking, “I can go to Stiles Switch [Austin] and get there 15 minutes before they open.” Now, the brisket might not be as good, but I can get Frito pies, pork belly, burnt ends. You get all the meats—and they’re great. And you get all the sides you can choose from: corn souffle, baked beans, all this great stuff. And they have like four different desserts—they have a great peach cobbler.

For me, my ideal plate is brisket, jalapeño cheddar sausage, pork ribs, and turkey. I try to get those every single time. My ideal sides are baked beans and mac and cheese—preferably white cheddar with some breadcrumbs on top. And then for dessert it’s gotta be banana pudding or peach cobbler. And then a side of jalapeño cornbread.

And then I go to Franklin and it’s like, “Well, they don’t even have mac and cheese,” which is blasphemy to me when it comes to barbecue.

THE PLACES THAT really surprised me are the ones where I had no expectations. I think that’s part of the reason why Franklin and Snow’s [Lexington] were both disappointments to me in a way: I had super high expectations and I thought they were okay.

But places like Slaughter’s [Sulphur Springs] were absolutely phenomenal. It wasn’t just the brisket, it was everything—the sides, desserts, the service, atmosphere, line friction, the time it takes you to get in, even the drinks. All that stuff really sticks with you.

I typically don’t like food trucks because of things like atmosphere and their availability, but some were amazing. Rosemeyer, Jennings & Co. [Montgomery], North Texas Smoke [Decatur; now a brick and mortar].

With Texas BBQ today, you have to do more than just good meats. It’s about the sides and desserts, because while you can do a great brisket all day long, there are thousands of places that can do that.

Each place has its own specialty item. Ask them what it is and try it. My brothers told me to go to Smoak Town [Fate] on Wednesday because they have the best chicken tenders you will ever have. You have to get the beef cheeks at LeRoy and Lewis or have the smashburger at Mimsy’s [Crockett].

That’s why I put a top 5 of little one-offs.

If you go and have the exact same Texas Trinity, mac and cheese, and desserts at every place, why are you even traveling across the state?

I HAVE SOME spots lined up beyond the Texas Monthly list. I’m taking a break right now, but there are 96 places I’ve spotted within a two-hour radius of my house. And then after that, I don’t know. I’ll visit my dad in Fort Worth and visit Hurtado’s and Heim, and all these other places around town. I’ve still got my brothers in Houston, so going to try to hit up a bunch of places there.

I’ll say this about the Texas Monthly Top 50. Are all the top 50 the top 50? Absolutely not. But I would guarantee you the top 10 barbecue places in the state are on that list. It would be hard to believe there’d be a better one that’s not on the list that’s been established.

There was part of me that was bittersweet at the end because while I was ready for it to be over, I’d been doing it for nine months and there was another part that was going to miss planning my next trip, a new place to explore.

But financially—especially for my wife—it’s good that it’s over.

I drove a total of 13,258 miles. I spent $3,685 on barbecue. Another $1,600 on gas. And I had to buy a brand-new car.

Andrew Livingston is a contributor to Texas BBQ.

Texas BBQ is now on Instagram: @bettertxbbq. We’d love to hear from you. Give us a follow, tag us in your cook pics, send us your favorite memes, or drop us a DM with story ideas.