It’s a done deal: Popular Texas BBQ restaurant to open in Arlington near AT&T Stadium
Now we know.
One of North Texas’ most storied barbecue families is coming to north Arlington, when The Original Roy Hutchins BBQ opens on Interstate 30.
Restaurateur Chris Carroll confirmed this weekend that The Original Roy Hutchins BBQ will open in Carroll’s former barbecue restaurant and steakhouse, 1600 E. Copeland Road, on the corner at Nolan Ryan Expressway.
The location faces Interstate 30 on the north edge of the Globe Life Field and AT&T Stadium parking lots used by the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys.
The Hutchins family has teased about an Arlington location and has been parking a catering truck at the intersection.
But Carroll is the first to confirm the location, a daunting 7,900-square-foot space vacant for years after its days as a Texas Land & Cattle.
“I think they’re special,” said Carroll, himself the owner of the Spring Creek Barbecue and Shady Oak Barbecue restaurants.
“They do a wonderful job and I’ve known the family for years. I feel real good about it.”
The Hutchins family story is complicated.
Just say the family started a barbecue restaurant in 1978 in Collin County, and built a reputation in McKinney and Frisco before two family members split to open The Original Roy Hutchins in Trophy Club.
The family has settled its differences but continues to operate slightly different restaurants. Hutchins BBQ and The Original Roy Hutchins BBQ are near identical, both top-50 caliber in a city already known for Goldee’s BBQ and Hurtado Barbecue.
Hurtado, a mile south of the stadiums, operates stands inside the Rangers’ Globe Life Field.
Lockhart Smokehouse, another Hill Country-style restaurant from relatives of Lockhart’s Kreuz family, operates inside the Texas Live! complex.
The first Original Roy Hutchins BBQ is a cavernous, two-story Hill Country-style barbecue restaurant and serving line at 3000 Texas 114 in Trophy Club, in far north Tarrant County near the Denton County line.
The restaurants were spotlighted last year when TikTok food critic Keith Lee visited both, not knowing the difference. He told his millions of viewers the two Hutchins flavors are different — the oak is different, for starters — but he still rated The Original Roy Hutchins a 9 out of 10.
The Original Roy Hutchins BBQ is also the official barbecue restaurant at Texas Motor Speedway.
This story was originally published February 8, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
