2017 - Dallas Road Trip

Texas Passions - Dallas Road Trip.  Season 2, episode 8.

A look at the barbecue served at Top 5 Barbecue in DeSoto and at Cattleack Barbeque in north Dallas.

The dog days of summer continue to drag on, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Players have reported to training camp, two-a-day practices are starting, and the football season is just around the corner.  Sounds like a great excuse to eat BBQ to me.  As if I needed one. . .

My Dad - Art McCourt

I recently traveled up to the Dallas area to visit family, in particular my 91 year old Dad.  He is now living in a retirement home, but when he was still active, he was a cartoonist.  For my 50^th birthday, my wife asked him to draw the two framed cartoons I now have hanging above my desk.  Anyway, if I’m going to be in Dallas for a couple of days, I might as well sample some of the local barbecue joints.  That Texas Monthly Top 50 list sure comes in handy. . .

Top 5 Barbecue - DeSoto

My first stop was Top 5 Barbeque.  They are located in a small strip shopping center at 209 E. Pleasant Run Road in DeSoto, where Pleasant Run intersects with Hampton.  To say the restaurant is small is an understatement: three tables and a row of chairs for people to use while they wait for their to-go order.  Their entire restaurant would probably fit inside a two car garage with room to spare.  But don’t let the small size fool you, the barbecue was huge on taste.

I ordered my usual half pound of brisket and a couple of pork ribs from a nice young man named Josh.  I forgot to get utensils with my order.  When Josh handed me a fork, I teasingly said I wouldn’t need it if the barbecue was good.  He gave me a complimentary scoop of their corn (which was very good) so I would have a use for the fork.  The brisket was outstanding – moist and tender, great outer bark, deep smoky flavor.  The ribs were also very tasty – meaty, juicy, and had a nice glaze on them.  The meat easily bit from the bone and went down real good.  Their sauce was a typical red sauce, kinda sweet without much of a spicy kick, but it was a good compliment to the meat.  Had it not been for the corn, no fork would have been needed.

I got to Top 5 around 1 PM, so I can’t comment on the size of the lunch crowd.  I was the only person dining in while I was there, but they did have several people get orders to go.  When I finished eating, I had a chance to talk with Kendon Greene, the owner/pitmaster of Top 5 Barbecue.  He said they use a mix of oak and mesquite to smoke their meats.  He mentioned that the restaurant had been open for about a year.  My Dad had lived in the neighborhood for many years (we used to rent movies from the Blockbuster just across the street), but moved in with my sister when his health took a turn a few years back.  Had Top 5 been in business back then, no doubt we’d have become good friends with Kendon years ago.

Kendon Greene

There wasn’t much stuff hung on the walls to give Top 5 atmosphere, but they did proudly display their plaque from Texas Monthly showing them to be on the 2017 Top 50 list.  They may be small now, but as word spreads about just how good their barbecue is, Top 5 will take off like a rocket.

This barbecue gets my highest rating: two Hook ‘Ems!

Cattleack Barbeque - Dallas

My second stop was Cattleack Barbeque. They are located in an office park at 13628 Gamma Road in north Dallas, near the Addison Airport.  It was a little strange finding barbecue in a neighborhood where other businesses sell furniture, do printing and graphics, or sell precious metals, but Cattleack was ranked #3 overall in the Texas Monthly Top 50 list.  Check out their website to see some beautiful barbecue porn.

Cattleack is only open on Thursdays and Fridays (and the first Saturday of the month).  They begin serving at 10:30 AM and the line forms as early as 8:30. I got in line around 9:50 and feared I would be in for a long wait.  At least it gave me an opportunity to talk with other people in line.  Some were newbies to Cattleack like myself, others had been there many times.  By the time the doors opened at 10:20, the line behind me was even longer than the line in front.

The line actually moved very quickly.  I ordered my standard half pound of moist brisket and a couple of pork ribs.  The brisket had a nice outer bark and a deep smoky flavor, but was just a wee bit dry. It turns out I had been given nearly a pound of brisket.  I could not finish it all, so I took some with me to eat with my Dad.  But Dad didn’t get any of the ribs. They were meaty and tender, with a crunchy outside.  The meat easily bit from the bone and melted in my mouth.  Literally some of the best pork ribs I have eaten.  There was a squeeze bottle of sauce on the table (typical red sauce with a little pepper), but it didn’t add much.  A couple of the gentlemen I spoke with in line had ordered beef ribs.  It figures that since I had resisted the temptation to get one, I would miss what they said was the best thing on their plates

Unlike Top 5, Cattleack is huge.  There is one room where you order food and a large dining area in the second room.  One of the walls in the first room is covered with photos of many of the great pit masters from around Texas (Tootsie Tomanetz of Snow’s, Aaron Franklin, John Mueller, etc.).  That was really neat.  After the doors were opened, the line snaked through the dining room so people could get out of the heat. 

Tootsie Tomanetz of Snow's BBQ (lower right corner)

Aaron Franklin

As one gentleman in line said, Cattleack is not going to be open more days or have longer hours.  They are not going to add more locations.  Owner Todd David has found his sweet spot and has no plans to change.  So if you want to eat some of this really great barbecue, plan on getting in that line.

This barbecue gets my highest rating: two Hook ‘Ems!