Pecan Lodge

In Deep Ellum, on a stretch of Main Street that has been remade around it, Pecan Lodge serves Central Texas barbecue from a converted building with a line that often reaches the corner before the doors open. Justin and Diane Fourton started out as a stall at the Dallas Farmers Market, with one smoker and a following that grew faster than they could feed it. The move to Deep Ellum in 2010 turned that following into an institution.

This is barbecue measured in bark and patience. The brisket is smoked low and slow over post oak until the outside is a dark, peppery crust and the inside still folds like cloth, and it is sold until it is gone — on a busy Saturday that can mean early afternoon. The beef rib, sold as a plate called the Trough, is the showpiece: a single bone-in rib the size of a forearm, glazed and lacquered, with a seam of fat running through it that bastes the meat from within as it cooks. Around those two landmarks are burnt ends, pulled pork, house sausage and a macaroni and cheese thick enough to pass as both a side and a dessert.

Plan as though it matters. Arrive before opening, expect to queue outside, and do not assume the whole menu will still be there when you reach the counter. Buy by weight, ask for the moist end of the brisket if you want the fattier, more giving slices, and take the sauce on the side without protest — in Texas the meat is the argument, and this meat does not need the help.

Guy Fieri came through for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and did what he does best: found a family operation cooking one regional tradition properly, without shortcuts or a marketing budget. Pecan Lodge is the reason people plan trips around lunch, and the reason the line is worth joining.