Texas > Dallas: Cattleack Barbecue

[Dustin Dorsey]

Cattleack BBQ
13628 Gamma Rd
Farmers Branch, TX 75244

Cattleack BBQ - Cattleack Barbeque

Cattleack BBQ. Hands down the most mouth-watering, homemade Texas BBQ your tastebuds have experienced! Voted top 3 BBQ spots in Texas by Texas Monthly.

cattleackbbq.com

Recently the long awaited Texas Monthly Top 50 Barbecue Joints came out. This list comes out only once every 4 years. The were some pretty big shakeups this year. One was that last year's number 2, Pecan Lodge didn't make the top 10 and this place came in number 3. I had only vaguely heard of it. It's only open thursday and friday for lunch. On the first saturday of every month they do a whole hog cook.

This place is in a sort of industrial area of Dallas. Their customers are mostly people from the nearby office buildings. I heard more than one patron bemoan all the "hipsters" in line after the Top 50 list came out. There were a few. We showed up at about 9:30 and got a good space in line. The door opened at 10:30.

There were some intriguing specials like smoked bologna (made in house) and smoked Pastrami. We stuck with brisket, pork ribs, 2 of the in-house made sausages and the pulled pork. We also got the mac and cheese and potato salad which were both great.

I noticed they take some cues from Franklin. The brisket is wrapped in butcher paper and they hold the brisket at 140 in alto shaam ovens for a long time.

There wasn't anything we got that wasn't top notch. The brisket was perfectly tender and moist with a peppery bark. There was hint of sweetness I couldn't quite place that I've only experience at one other place, Louie Mueller's. There's gotta be something else in this rub than salt and pepper and whatever it is it's delicious. The pork ribs were also outstanding with sweet but still peppery flavor. The pulled pork was also excellent with a nice vinegar kick.

One of the things that makes Texas barbecue really special to me is barbecue sausage. If I know a place makes their own I have to try them and this place didn't disappoint. One was a really well executed Texas-style hot gut. The other was called "Original mild #17" It seemed to be a mixture of of beef and pork with some garlic thrown in for good measure. It was absolutely outstanding. Perfect snap on the casing, perfectly succulent.

My son demanding I cut more sausage up for him. He wouldn't touch anything else. He's picky.

I like to think I know what I'm doing as a backyard barbecue cook. Most places I go to, I think to myself "I can do this!" This place was eye opening. I'm not even close. As far as lists go on this particular day, this is the best barbecue I've ever had, Franklin included.

 

[James N]

Great review Dustin, And there food looks awesome to.

 

[Pat G]

Thanks for the review Dustin. Nice shot of the little man, you can tell he's focused on that sausage.

 

[Brad Olson]

Looks like a great place - thanks for checking it out!

 

[BrianJ]

Went to Cattleack today. Got there a few minutes after they opened, about 10:35am. Line looked somewhat short, about 10 people deep outside. Then....we got inside. It wrapped around the entire seating area, then three laps around the register area. In total, we waited 85 minutes from arrival to payment. Sat down at one of their picnic benches inside the restaurant to enjoy the meal. I ordered 1lb of Brisket (1/2lb lean, 1/2lb moist), 1lb of pork ribs, and 1 beef rib (weighed in just under 1lb). No, that wasn't my lunch...that was my lunch and dinner for me and my wife. Probably some lunch the next day as well. The brisket was too fatty for me, even the lean portions. The owner who was cutting had to cut off pieces that were not even close to rendered down, it was...unappetizing to be honest. I had to work around the un-rendered areas, but the taste of the brisket that I could eat was great! Not quite up to Franklin's, but better than City Market in Luling. The pork spare ribs were peppery and tasty. They do leave the membrane on. The star of the show was the beef rib....holy cow! (pun intended). That was like butter, it was so good! And at $20/lb, it should be! Haha. I would definitely go back again but would ask for a different slice of the brisket, I just didn't want to offend or come across poorly. These people pour their hearts into this stuff, it just wasn't the best cut of brisket.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

What did you think of the picture of the brisket I posted, out of curiosity? Mine was damn near perfect. I wonder if you just got an off brisket or if they are just having a hard time keeping up with the vastly increased popularity. Some people really don't want to see brisket fat, but if you ordered the moist and you liked the beef rib, I'm guess it's not you. Now I wish I got the beef rib.

 

[BrianJ]

What did you think of the picture of the brisket I posted, out of curiosity? Mine was damn near perfect. I wonder if you just got an off brisket or if they are just having a hard time keeping up with the vastly increased popularity. Some people really don't want to see brisket fat, but if you ordered the moist and you liked the beef rib, I'm guess it's not you. Now I wish I got the beef rib.

Your brisket looked perfect. Mine had 1/4"-3/8" thick fat layer that did not render down at all. Almost like they were rushed with the cook maybe? The gentleman at the carving area even cut some off that was extremely unsightly. I carved around the fat and threw it away...broke my heart.

 

[Rich G]

Texas > Dallas: Cattleack BBQ

I only get to Texas rarely, and on prior visits, either I was in the wrong area, or didn't have time to hit any BBQ places. Earlier this week, I hit up Post Oak in Irving, which is a small, local place in a strip mall, and it was good. Not blow your mind, talk of the town good, but Good (capital G.) The customer I was visiting told me that if I could possibly fit it in, I HAD to visit Cattleack BBQ (http://www.cattleackbbq.com/) in Dallas before heading home (and I had gotten the recommendation from TVWBB for this place, too!) Well, I had some time after my last meeting and before my flight, so off to Dallas I went......

Cattleack BBQ is located in an office park sort of neighborhood, and, I would get a job at one of the local businesses if I lived in Texas, so I could just walk over for lunch every day!! I arrived at about 12:20, and the line snaked through the dining area. That gave me a chance to check the place out..... They have ~14 8 foot picnic tables in the dining area that each can seat about 6-8 people. The tables are shared, and in addition to the standard roll of paper towels and squeeze bottle of sauce, each has the Cattleack logo nicely seared right into the middle of it. There are lots of decorations on the wall, a ring of banners from Texas college and professional sports teams, and a row of hats from other BBQ places along the wall (Chris, might need to get a TVWBB hat up there!)

Eventually, the line made it's way out of the dining area into the "Disneyland" style line that snakes around and leads to the promised land of meats. While I spent my time in that part of the line, I got to drive myself crazy going over the menu again and again to figure out what I was going to have. All of the standard stuff is on there....lean brisket, moist brisket, pork ribs, beef ribs (these are 1.5lb each on average.....@$20/lb!), pulled pork, sandwiches made from the aforementioned, etc. The day I was there one of the special items was a "Pastrami Beef Rib". There was a piece of white butcher paper taped to the bottom of the menu with the title "Meats Sold Out". Each time one of the employees approached that sign to write something, everyone in line stared hoping it wasn't what they planned to order.

I finally got to the front of the line (45 minutes after I joined the back of it), and was waved up to the carving station by the man with the large knife in his hand. I ordered three slices of moist brisket, two pork ribs, and a hatch chile and cheese sausage (I'm going back to Dallas in three weeks, and plan to revisit so I can order a beef rib....) I skipped the sides, but they looked really good. In particular, my customer had recommended the hatch chile mac and cheese which was made with large pasta shells instead of elbows. There were also beans, potato salad, grits, greens to be had as sides.

Here's the goods:

Ok, onto the main event. This is by far the best brisket I have ever had (and I expected it to be really good, since Cattleack is considered to be one of the top 10 brisket places in Texas.....which I'm sure engenders lots of debate! I was really in such a state of nirvana that I didn't pay attention to how it was seasoned, I was just lost in the perfectly tender meat, great bark, mixed with some good fat (I did get the moist brisket from the point end after all.) I wish I could give more details, but suffice it to say, this was a mind blowing brisket experience for me!! Onto the pork ribs.....these were spare ribs that were seasoned with a rub that seemed to lean a bit toward sweet, but had a nice savory finish to it. The ribs were well cooked, took a nice tug to get the meat from the bone, but quite tender. I think that these just didn't stand up to the level of the brisket, but they were very good. The sausage was excellent. Hatch and cheese is a great combination, and this sausage is well made. The texture was a fine grind, quite juicy, and well smoked with a nice snap to the casing.

In my (very) limited experience with Texas BBQ, I can totally see why this place is the talk of the town, and has a solid place in the Texas top 50. I will definitely go back the next time I am in town, and my customer has also promised to take me to a couple others (Heim and Lockhart), so hopefully I can add another review or two next month (I better get back on my exercise regimen!!!)

Short version of this.....if you are near Dallas, you really must carve out time for Cattleack!!!!

Cheers,
Rich

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

It's pretty amazing. The brisket was phenomenal. What really got me was their sausages

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Superb review Rich. Thanks for taking the time to document your visit and sharing it with us.

 

[Rich G]

It's pretty amazing. The brisket was phenomenal. What really got me was their sausages

Yeah, that hatch/cheese sausage was really good, Dustin! Do they do a rotating sausage thing based on what they make? I wasn't sure if they made their own or not.....Like I said, I'll be back in a few weeks. Looking forward to trying some additional items. That pastrami rib looked crazy good!

R

 

[Lynn Dollar]

The bark on the ribs is amazing.

Dallas just two hours south of me, gonna have to make a trip.

 

[Chris Allingham]

It's been a while since anyone posted about Cattleack BBQ. It's still cranking out great 'que in the same location, but they dropped from #3 to #6 on the 2021 Texas Monthly Top 50 list...but still ahead of perennial favorites Franklin BBQ (#7) and Snow's BBQ (#9).

Cattleack BBQ was awarded a prestigious Michelin Bib Gourmand award in November 2024.

We visited Cattleack BBQ on October 16, 2024. They've got unusual hours of operation:

• Wednesdays 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
• Thursdays 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
• Fridays 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
• 1st Saturdays Pits & Punch 9:00 am -- a Q/A behind the restaurant around the pits
• 1st Saturdays 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

They had just started Wednesday operations around the time we visited, and I guess no one got the word because we were first in line when we arrived at 9:00am. By the time we'd ordered and eaten and were leaving, there were less than a dozen people there...so few that I got a photo of the folks behind the serving counter with no one in line!

We ordered the Cattleack Platter for $109.95:

• 2 pork spareribs
• 1 dino beef rib
• Approx. 1/3 pound each of:
  • Burnt ends
  • Brisket
  • Whole Hog
  • Turkey
  • Sausage

We also tried:

• Pork steak
• Smoked bologna
• Burnt end beans
• Cornbread
• Banana pudding
• The usual freebies of sliced bread, onions, pickles, pickled onions, and sliced jalapenos.
• Two sauces were offered on the side at the picnic table seating inside the restaurant.

Needless to say, we boxed up a lot of leftovers to-go and enjoyed them over a couple of days.

Friendly folks, nice atmosphere, and really top-notch barbecue. We enjoyed all the meats, but the beef rib, burnt ends, pork steak, spareribs and sausage were the standouts for us. As good as the brisket was, it had a hard time competing with that dino beef rib! The only criticism from us was that they seem heavyhanded with the black pepper, which I know is a Texas thing, but pepper on top of pepper on top of pepper and after a while your tastebuds just need a break--it's not a subtle flavor profile!

Cool screened-in pitroom behind the restauant where you can scope out the equipment, and some really nice murals of famous pitmasters on the side of the building. Can you name them all? Names are revealed at the end of this post.

Here are some pics from our visit. Enjoy!





































Pitmasters in the murals:

• Mike Mills (deceased), 17th Street BBQ, Murphysboro IL
• Roy Perez, Kruez Market, Lockhart TX
• Aaron Franklin, Franklin BBQ, Austin TX
• Sam Jones, Sam Jones Barbecue, Raleigh NC
• John Lewis, Lewis Barbecue, Charleston SC
• Wayne Mueller, Louie Mueller Barbecue, Taylor TX
• Tootsie Tomanetz, Snow's BBQ, Lexington TX

Murals were painted by Steve Hunter at https://huntercreates.com/

 

[Rich G]

My sample size is small, having only been able to visit a few places in TX, let alone Dallas......CattleAck was my first, and still favorite, genuine TX BBQ joint.

Glad you made it, Chris. Nice write-up!

R