Fort Worth’s favorite barbecue restaurant? See why readers named this place the best
Cooking at Hickory Stick BBQ is all owner Mark Jones has ever known.
Jones was 14 when his father opened the Everman barbecue restaurant in 1976. He started working 70 hours per week the day he graduated high school. More than 40 years later, it’s the only job he’s ever had.
Jones, who said he loves being around people, said his employees feel like family. Many of his employees have worked at Hickory Stick for two to three decades. He’s seen friends become customers and customers become friends.
It makes sense Jones’ restaurant feels like family, because the property is quite literally his home. A few years before he opened the business, Jones’ dad purchased a house with adjacent land. Jones’ father was semi-retired and always loved cooking brisket and ribs at home. He thought, “Why not use their extra land to open a restaurant?”
“When they opened, it was my dad and one other person who did all the work,” Jones said. “It turned into something bigger.”
What started as just a kitchen and small front room with space for about 40 customers, grew to be a town favorite and popular gathering place for locals. Over the years, Jones and his father added rooms, so the restaurant can now seat nearly 150. And the restaurant fills up, Jones said, especially during lunch.
The barbecue joint at 900 East Enon Ave. also just won the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Readers’ Choice vote for best barbecue restaurant in the Fort Worth area. Hickory Stick BBQ garnered more than 39,000 votes in the last round of voting among the top six finalists. Jones lives on the property with his wife of 40 years, Marci. The location makes it easy for him to come at night to start preparing menu favorites like St. Louis style ribs and brisket that takes 16 to 18 hours.
Marci said customers have been coming back for 20 to 30 years, because they love her husband’s cooking.
Jones still makes his father’s secret sauce, and Marci makes some of her own recipes for dessert, including chocolate cakes made with hot coffee and cinnamon, fresh banana pudding, peach cobbler and buttermilk pie. Back in the day, Jones’ mom would make her own pie recipes too.
“We always say that we’re the best kept secret, because we’re just kind of out here,” Marci said. “Word of mouth is how customers find out about us.”
The restaurant, open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, is certainly off the beaten path in this city of 6,000 surrounded by Fort Worth in southern Tarrant County. Marci said customers have called it “the hole in the wall you didn’t even realize you’re missing out on.”
The restaurant may not be anything fancy or flashy on the outside, but customers come from all over Tarrant County and across the country, Jones said. The restaurant displays pictures and signs of guests visiting from Tennessee to Virginia to Venezuela.
The restaurant has never advertised, and instead relies on Yelp reviews and word of mouth referrals. They also don’t skimp on portions, Jones said.
“I always tell my employees, ‘If you have to ask me if there’s enough meat on there, add some more,’” Jones said. “I’d rather have too much meat than not enough. You give away a lot of your profit margin, but it keeps customers coming back.”
Some loyal customers have even asked to display their decorations on the restaurants’ nearly filled walls. The restaurant is decorated with family photos, sports flags, animal taxidermy, pictures of locals, display shotguns and more.
Four seats from the old Texas Stadium that once belonged to Marci’s dad are now a permanent fixture in the restaurant. Elsewhere, bar stools are engraved in memory of long-time friends and customers who would frequently visit.
Almost every decoration has a special meaning, Marci said.
Marci also said customers’ responses during the COVID-19 pandemic was a testament to their loyalty. When the pandemic left many small businesses struggling, Hickory Stick BBQ pivoted to curbside service for months. The business had many customers visit daily and over tip to bring them business.
“One customer would religiously tip $100 on a daily basis,” Marci said with tears brimming. “He said he loved the restaurant so much and wanted to keep us in business.”
Jeremy Rexroat, a loyal Hickory Stick customer for nearly 50 years, said he has been eating at the restaurant since the day it opened when he was a child growing up in Everman. Rexroat moved out of state for a decade, but recently moved back to Texas and lives in Waco.
Rexroat hadn’t been to Hickory Stick in nearly 10 years, but when he walked in the doors, he said, Jones recognized him instantly and immediately came to welcome him and make him feel at home.
“The food here is amazing,” Rexroat said. “I’ve had every item on the menu at some point, and there is nothing I’ve ever had that I would not order again.”
Rexroat most recently visited the BBQ joint on Thursday and brought his whole family along. He also packed an ice chest in the back of his truck to take three pounds of chopped brisket back home.
“You can’t go wrong with the chopped brisket,” Rexroat said. “That’s their No. 1. You can get good barbecue in a lot of places around Texas, but it’s very rare to come across great barbecue as well as a great staff that runs the place.”
Rexroat said he arrived at the restaurant at 10:45 a.m. to beat the lunch crowd and noticed there was already a line of at least ten people at the counter by 11:30 a.m. eager to try some of Jones’ cooking.
“This place becomes a part of people: the excellent service, food and everything,” Rexroat said. “It becomes so ingrained in you no other place compares.”
Today, the Joneses have two adult daughters and four grandchildren who often visit the restaurant to help out. And they couldn’t do what they do without their employees, Marci said.
“Mark’s philosophy is he won’t ask anybody to do something he wouldn’t do,” Marci said. “They pitch in to help him, because they see how hard he works. Nobody complains or gripes. They just get in and make it happen.”
Here’s a look at the rest of our top six finalists:
Second Place: Hurtado Barbecue
Location: 205 E. Front St, Arlington; 1116 Eighth Ave., Fort Worth
Hours: 11 a.m. until sold out daily in Arlington; 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Fort Worth.
About: Husband and wife duo Brandon and Hannah Hurtado opened their Arlington restaurant in 2020 after years of serving their food at pop up events. The Hurtados put a Tex-Mex twist on classic barbecue. The restaurant has a concession stand in Globe Life Field and frequently caters with the Texas Rangers, which dubbed them the official Rangers barbecue restaurant. Hurtado opened a Fort Worth location in July of last year. The restaurant garnered more than 30,000 readers’ choice votes in the final round of voting.
What you have to try: Brisket, pork spare ribs, beef ribs and birria tacos are some of the restaurant’s most popular items, said general manager Creighton Barnhill. The restaurant is also known for the Texas Twinkie, its own version of a jalapeño popper. It’s a jalapeño stuffied with pimento cheese, cream cheese and brisket and wrapped in bacon.
What makes people love Hurtado Barbecue: “The love and passion that’s put into the food. A lot of the guys who cook the protein have been at it a long time, including the owner, Brandon, who is the pitmaster,” Barnhill said.
Third Place: David’s Barbecue
Location: 2224 West Park Row, Arlington
Hours: Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. (Temporarily closed from July 2 to July 17 for family vacation.)
About: Restaurant owner Jimmy Harris is the fourth generation to continue his more than 100-year-old family business. After graduating college, Harris got pulled into the business by his father. The restaurant hasn’t changed much over the years, Harris said, and the menu is largely the same as when his dad started in 1965. To this day, Harris said he does 95% of the cooking.
What makes people love David’s Barbecue: “We’ve been around so long,” Harris said. “These people have been eating with us for three or four generations now. It’s about relationships. We’ve got a great product for a great price and great relationships with customers.”
Why the owner does what he does: “You find something that you’re good at, and you just learn to love it,” Harris said. “There’s a lot of emotions when you’ve been in the business for over 50 years like I have.”
What you’ve got to try: The beef brisket and pork ribs are the most popular menu items.
Fourth Place: Sammie’s BBQ
Location: 3801 E. Belknap St., Fort Worth
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday; 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
About: Sammie’s BBQ first opened in Fort Worth more than 75 years ago as a drive-in with carhops. When the business went up for sale in 2017, the owner of another nearby barbecue restaurant, Smoke Pit, bought the restaurant and combined it with his own.
What you have to try: The restaurant touts the coldest, cheapest beer in town and menu offerings include chopped beef sandwiches, two-inch thick pork chops, brisket, ribs, onion rings and Sammie’s sauce.
What makes people love Sammie’s BBQ: “We have a very unique experience with our customers because we merged two restaurants,” Gibbins Jr. said. “We do the best of both worlds and try to stay true to both restaurants.”
Fifth Place: Panther City BBQ
Location: 201 E. Hattie St., Fort Worth
Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
About: Long-time friends Chris Magallanes and Ernest Morales worked in the audio/visual industry for most of their careers, but always enjoyed barbecuing together on the weekends. In 2018, the business partners opened a barbecue trailer in Fort Worth. After growing in popularity, the business moved inside the Republic Street Bar in Fort Worth’s Near Southside.
What you have to try: The restaurant is popular for its brisket elote, pork belly jalapeño poppers, chicken, ribs and sausage. Its menu also includes sandwiches, street tacos and a list of classic barbecue sides.
Sixth Place: Heim Barbecue
Location: 1109 W. Magnolia Ave, Fort Worth; 5333 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily; White Settlement location open until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays
About: Owner Travis Heim’s passion for barbecue began when he was 13 and grew through adulthood. Heim Barbecue first opened as an East Hattie Street food truck in 2014 before opening the Magnolia brick and mortar location two years later. The White Settlement location has live music on the weekends, and the restaurant has a third location in Dallas.
What you have to try: Heim is known for its candied pork belly “bacon burnt ends.” Its menu includes brisket biscuit sandwiches, breakfast tacos, burgers, corn dogs, smoked chicken and sausage.
MORE: Check out winners of Star-Telegram Readers’ Choice:
