Popular North Texas barbecue stand to open restaurant
North Texas Smoke BBQ, which gained fame as a roadside trailer hidden behind a fireworks stand and a motorcycle dealership, will move into a new restaurant space there in January.
Pitmaster Derek Degenhardt, a former truck driver who struggled in the brisket business until Texas Monthly magazine ranked his barbecue in the state’s Top 50, will move his stand into shipping containers stacked together at 2601 U.S. 287 North outside Decatur.
The new home will give North Texas Smoke BBQ a 50-seat dining room plus the current picnic tables and room for a waiting line.
“I’ve always wanted to build us something special and unique,” Degenhardt said.
Business is up 20% since the magazine came out last spring, he said.
Russian and European visitors have landed at DFW Airport, searched for “North Texas bbq” and found their way up U.S. 287 or Texas 114. The stand is about 15 minutes from the north edge of Fort Worth.
North Texas Smoke BBQ will continue to serve lunch only Wednesdays through Saturdays or until sold out, he said.
But he plans to add a “ridiculously good” Sunday brunch menu, he said.
The new space will open in mid-January, Degenhardt said. The current trailer will remain open till then.
North Texas Smoke BBQ opened in January 2022 during the COVID pandemic. Degenhardt drew a following by serving school groups, sports teams, church groups and firefighters in Wise County, he said.
He grew up in Kansas but met a woman from Chico, west of Decatur, nearly 20 years ago.
He got serious about barbecue about 10 years ago, and decided to try his hand when craft barbecue became a statewide phenomenon.
The stand offers brisket, turkey, house-made sausage and pork ribs, along with specials such as chicken, brisket chili, burnt ends fried rice and Frito pies.
It’s also known for standout side dishes like a loaded-baked-potato salad.
It will open at 11 a.m. the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, and usually opens at 11 a.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays; 940-371-9565, northtexassmokebbq.com.
