Hungry Farmer Barbeque

3/22/13 - 11:45 - Wow, I have lived in Houston since 1994 and if it weren't for Yelp I would have never heard of this place. Texas Monthly owes a big fat apology to Hungry Farmer. Been in operation since 1975. Even the name is awesome. I knew I was in for something special when the line stretched out the door at 11:30am.

I scored Hungry Farmer a 90 out of 100. This is fo sho Grand Champion Texas BBQ.


Smoke: Had to park in back. First thing i notice are two large well used smoke stacks. Very encouraging. The whole smoke room is sealed up from public view, but as I left they were taking deliveries. I got a peek inside the smokey dungeon. Smoke is hickory and I saw the big black Olyer pits. They keep the hickory stacks inside close to the pits.

Brisket: Excellent. Until today, I have only given that rank to three places in Houston. I was beginning to think there were no others. Very respectable 5/16in big red smoke ring. A rich black crunchy bark. Tested tough of tender but ate oh so tender. Full smoke flavor. No sauce needed at all. I got a burnt end and I fell in Love.

Ribs: Very Good. Big meaty spare ribs. Cake soft tender, fall off the bone. No teeth needed. Overall flavor was OK needing an extra boost from a rub. Looked like grill marks so they may be grilled Memphis style before they are smoked. Good smoke flavor. No sauce needed

Sausage: Very Good. A simple pork beef traditional spice sausage with little after taste. However, there was this extra porky salty bacony yummyness to it that kept me eating more and more of it. No sauce needed.

Sauce: Good. My first thought was this is really bad. It was a bland ketchup based sauce. Not tangy, not sweet, not anything. But wait, sauce is made for meats not to drink. This sauce did the job it was invented for. Inside of masking or hiding the awesome barbecue it gave everything nice little boost in flavor. Get it on the side and dip every bite.