"I started working here in 1958 when I was six years old," third-generation pitmaster Kent Black recalls. And while the barbecue sauce now flows freely, the smoked meats are still served up on butcher paper just like they were so many years ago.
and his wife Norma Jean took over.įifty years after Black’s was founded, the barbecue part of the business had taken on a life of its own.įifty years after Black's was founded, the family got out of the grocery game, but by then the barbecue part of the business had taken on a life of its own. After he came back and finished his college degree he had a job lined up with Exxon but my grandfather said, Hey son, why don't you help me out at the store for a couple weeks?" Those two weeks turned into six decades, with father and son working side by side at Black's until Edgar Sr. "He was going to college at Texas A&M and when Pearl Harbor hit, he left to join the Navy. "My grandfather opened in 1932, and at that time my dad, Edgar Jr., was only seven so he was a little too young to be a pit man," third-generation pitmaster Kent Black laughs. As was typical in those days, leftover meat was utilized to fuel a brisk side business of barbecue. True to form, Black's Barbecue was originally founded as a meat market and grocery during the Depression after a poor farmer and cattle rancher named Edgar Black made a handshake deal with a friend who wanted to open a meat market. The meat was still sliced in front of the customer in line and served on butcher paper. Whatever fresh meat they couldn't sell, they would smoke and sell as 'barbecue.' … As demand grew, the markets evolved into barbecue joints, though the style of service didn't change much. As Texas Monthly's Katy Vine explained in 2012, "These pioneers with them a style of meat-smoking from the old country that involved salt, pepper, meat, and wood. Many grocery and meat market businesses were established by these immigrants, and it was from these markets that the institution of Central Texas barbecue was born. A Central Texas Barbecue Legend is Bornīeginning in the 19th century, scores of Germans and Czechs emigrated to Central Texas, bringing along traditional foods like sausage and kolaches (both now Texas roadside staples). 1024 to make Lockhart the official barbecue capital of Texas and the Senate followed suit in 2003, confirming what many Texans already knew to be true.
In 1999, the Texas House of Representatives adopted Resolution No. Each one is famous in its own right, but at 82 years old and counting, Black's Barbecue in Lockhart's picturesque downtown is one of the oldest family-owned barbecue restaurants in the state of Texas.Īnd while Texas barbecue is a topic that inspires near-religious fervor and heated debate from its devotees, many barbecue die-hards can agree on one thing: Central Texas is the pinnacle of all the smoked meat meccas. For such a small town - population roughly 13,000 - Lockhart, Texas is home to a mighty impressive lineup of time-honored barbecue restaurants that draws tourists from far and wide.