Tre’s Bar-B-Q doesn't go about things the traditional way. In the back of the Maverick Dining kitchen, executive sous chef Austin Banks and his crew use an indoor smoker to slowly cook 18 to 22 briskets each night for next-day service. “We put in a system in place to where we always want to be ready for the next day,” Banks said. The setup was years in the making for Banks and Maverick Dining. Banks used to bring his own barbecue pit to smoke meat for catering events on campus, he said. After receiving positive feedback and hosting a few sold-out events, the concept slowly baked into a full-fledged campus restaurant in January 2025. Now, Tre’s Bar-B-Q looks to establish a unique experience among Arlington’s ever-growing barbecue scene — teaching student workers how to cut meats, offering vegetarians alternative options like baked potatoes with beans, corn or other toppings and introducing international students to the vast world of barbecue. “It's something that brings all cultures together,” Banks said. For sous-chef David Patton, these conversations with students opened his mind. “I can recall just a quick story of seeing international students and they're asking me questions where I'm like, ‘Oh you don't know what coleslaw is?’” Patton said. “But then having to backtrack and be like, ‘You know what? Maybe this person doesn't know what coleslaw is. They’ve never ever seen it.’” These interactions are what shape Tre’s Bar-B-Q’s flavors as it grows into its space within the university. The restaurant looks to bring barbecue to all parts of campus and do so with care. To do so, they also add something traditional. “We put love,” Banks said. “It's all about the love and what you put into it.”

Marc Fadel woke up at 7:40 a.m. on a Thursday. Around noon, he would start prepping for his barbecue food truck’s 5 p.m. Friday opening. Trim the brisket. Make the rubs and sauces. Prep the vegetables. But there was an issue. “I got to UTA so fast,” Fadel said. “I’m running across campus, and I got there, 8:02. Luckily, the professor still let me take the exam.” At 18 years old, Fadel is a construction management freshman at UTA who also runs his business, Habibi Barbecue, on West Arkansas Lane. During the week, he enjoys college life: taking some classes online at Tarrant County College, playing basketball at the Maverick Activities Center and eating Panda Express in the University Center. Starting Wednesday, he begins prepping his barbecue rub for Friday and Saturday openings. On one Saturday, his brisket and ribs sold out within two hours. “Almost 200 pounds of meat — gone,” Fadel said. The food truck, which opened in September, is already on Texas Monthly’s radar. It’s a family affair. His parents, both UTA alumni, help with prep and service. His girlfriend works the counter. Born to Lebanese immigrants, Fadel creates a fusion of traditional Texas barbecue with his favorite flavors from his culture — garlic potatoes, hummus, house-made garlic aioli and tzatziki. As Fadel talked about his food truck, his face beamed with pride as he went through every piece of equipment. It’s that attention to detail that he brings to his barbecue. The bark on his roundly trimmed prime brisket. The pork belly cubes, hand-seasoned one by one. He dry-brines his meat a day in advance, then makes all his rubs and sauces by hand, including a signature bright red sauce made with Big Red. He then smokes the meat with seasoned post oak sourced from Paris, Texas. Fadel credited his drive to high school. As an Arlington Independent School District senior, he juggled culinary competitions, working 40 hours a week as a pitmaster at Tex-Ethiopian restaurant Smoke’N Ash BBQ and filming a TV documentary called “BBQ High” on Max — all while being a student in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “I put my heart and my soul in this. I love it. Sweat, tears, blood,” he said. “A lot of blood — I cut myself a lot.” Fadel doesn’t talk much about the future for fear of jinxing himself. However, he has thought of a restaurant with a few booths and a nice wood finish in five years. He wants it to be in Pantego, Texas, or Dalworthington Gardens in Arlington. He has been playing “Restaurant Tycoon” on Roblox to prepare for that moment. For now, though, he’s enjoying UTA, which he loves despite it not being his first choice. He’s staying in school in case the barbecue business doesn’t work out as planned. He doesn’t mind being recognized on campus or while shopping for ingredients for his documentary appearance. And on Sundays, Fadel puts on his “body by brisket” shirt and enjoys sleeping in. @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

Barbecue has been a journey for 225° BBQ co-owner Rene Ramirez — literally. Before settling into its current location on East Main Street in east Arlington, 225° BBQ started as a food truck in Dallas in 2018. Then, it bounced to Grand Prairie, Texas, to various parking lots and eventually to where it is now. Although the location didn’t work out for a while, they were asked to come back and now own the spot. But Ramirez has not settled. He starts his day at around 3 a.m., trimming briskets, boiling beans and prepping sides. Some nights, he doesn’t sleep until midnight. “By the second day, third day, I’ve already worked like 40 hours, and then the week just started,” he said. At its current location, where the smoky scene of brisket drifts through the air, a mural of singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez lies on the wall as an intentional effort to represent the marriage of Texas pride and Mexican culture. It’s that culture of identity, history and hustle that led 225° BBQ to become KERA’s best barbecue joint in North Texas, voted by more than 9,000 readers in 2023. The Mexi-cue fuses traditional Texas barbecue with Mexican flavors and draws a loyal following. Ramirez estimated that around 70% of his customers are from word-of-mouth, with some coming religiously around once or twice a week. On the menu, brisket and shrimp tacos both have places alongside barbecue plates. With its meat, 225° BBQ provides something savory, sweet — and plenty of spice — that goes beyond salt and pepper. The rub has barely changed since the start. That meat is smoked with post oak and pecan wood in a two-to-one ratio that Ramirez sources from east Texas. After years of bouncing around, 225° BBQ now has a team of seven or eight. Ramirez never forgets its beginning. It’s the years of practicing barbecue in his backyard, taking orders from roadside pop-ups to the food truck, that have brought him here. It’s that failed brisket at his family cook-off over a decade ago that started it all. His brother, who won that cook-off, is now his business partner. “It’s still my baby at the end of the day,” Ramirez said. “I gotta make sure everything’s right.” Multimedia editor Ronaldo Bolaños contributed to this reporting. @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

Fasicka Hicks still remembers the aroma of berbere, a classic Ethiopian spice blend, in her mother’s kitchen when she was a child living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “I always think back when I work on any of the things that I do in this restaurant because it takes me back to the time that I spent with my mother,” she said. Berbere differs depending on each household, but it has more than a dozen different spices, starting with chili pepper. Fasicka Hicks’ sister prepares the spice blend using their mother’s recipe and ships it to her. The Ethiopian flavors now make up a whole section of the menu at Smoke’N Ash BBQ, Hicks’ restaurant that she co-owns with her husband, Patrick Hicks, on South Cooper Street. Patrick Hicks grew up in Waco, Texas, and barbecue is his life, his wife said. “The skill level on the barbecue was his, and the skill level on the Ethiopian side was mine,” Fasicka Hicks said. “So, we were just doing our own thing, and at the end, where we combined everything, where we can help each other as well.” Depending on the previous night’s preparation, the Hicks’ may arrive at their restaurant as early as 4 a.m. for the day’s work. She’s still hanging on to the Ethiopian recipes. “I have learned so much about my husband now than ever, and I think we understand each other much better now than ever because we’re here together,” she said. Smoke’N Ash BBQ was recently recognized by the Michelin Guide as one of the state’s best restaurants and named a best Texas chef semifinalist for the 2025 James Beard Award. Fasicka Hicks is proud of the recognition, but she won’t grow a big head because of it, she said. “What matters is those people coming in here just waiting for the food,” she said. At Smoke’N Ash BBQ, traditional barbecue flavors blend with Ethiopian spices. The smokiness of the meat is paired with the spiciness of the seasoning. It’s rich, sweet and savory. The restaurant also serves lamb as an alternative to pork. Fasicka Hicks said she never thought there would be a platter that offers both Texas barbecue and Ethiopian dishes. If she were a first-timer, she would have doubted Smoke’N Ash BBQ the same way people have doubted them. But barbecue is about community, and Ethiopian food is about getting together. Smoke’N Ash BBQ is about sharing a meal together and hearing laughter at the table. Them being on the same platter makes sense, she said. @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

Paul Lovato watched Jambo’s BBQ pitmaster make a chopped brisket sandwich. He started counting. One. Two. Three. Four. Forty-three. The number of steps along the small kitchen to complete the sandwich. That was in 2013, on the day before he officially took over Jambo’s BBQ in Rendon, Texas, from founder and pitbuilder Jamie Geer, Lovato said. The restaurant later had two more locations, but following personal family matters, he now only owns the location on West Division Street, bought in 2016. He pursued the barbecue business after managing fast food restaurants for years. That experience allowed Lovato to redesign the Jambo’s BBQ kitchen to streamline the process, so customers can get their food as quickly as possible. Now, a sandwich takes 10 steps. But Lovato kept many things from Geer’s time as the owner — including the recipe. “Jambo’s is pure Texas barbecue: salt, pepper, garlic,” Lovato said about the brisket. “That’s it.” For pork and turkey, the recipe builds upon the “SPG” seasoning, adding red pepper, chili and turbinado sugar. Lovato also sources green pecan wood locally, which adds sweetness and nuttiness to the meat. Lovato didn’t change much of the building of his restaurant, which was originally opened in 1931. It wasn’t just a dining establishment and tea room. It also housed an illegal casino. Upstairs, he kept the casino table. On Instagram, Lovato has learned to produce Instagram Reels to promote Jambo’s BBQ. He calls himself a natural — most of his clips are filmed in one take. “Most of the time, I don’t even have a script,” he said. He said he’s proud of keeping the place open. He’s proud of working in a historic building. He’s proud of the people who stuck with him through everything, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Lovato stopped there. His eyes went red. “It’s just a pride of when you put some food in front of people and see their eyes light up and it makes them happy. That’s what I enjoy,” he said. @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

For five generations since 1910, David’s Barbecue’s recipe has remained the same — it’s about tradition. “We still make all of our own products. We make our own sauce, all the vegetables, the meats. We still cook with all wood, no electricity or gas,” fourth-generation owner Jimmy Harris said. “This business is not hard. It’s a simple business.” But what is the key? Having one family member at the location at all times, Harris said. That’s how they have developed relationships with their customers and employees. Not only do the business owners span generations, but so do their customers. Harris has been in the business since he was 8 years old. He retired Jan. 1 but still helps where he can. He sold the business to his son-in-law, Austin Payne, at the same price he bought it from his dad 35 years ago. “It’s not about money,” Harris said. “I want him to be successful.” At David’s Barbecue, they keep it old school. They don’t use a thermometer to check the meat, forks work just fine. Even the furniture, ceiling fans and trays used to serve customers date back to 1965. The restaurant opens at 11 a.m., but as soon as the staff are ready, they allow customers to make their way in, sometimes by 10:55 a.m. Harris said that in 37 years, there has not been one day he has not opened restaurant doors early. Customers grab their trays and walk down the lunch line-style ordering station. The menu is not flashy. It’s simple ol’ Texas barbecue, and the pair agrees to keep it that way. With a sauce recipe developed in the ’30s, Harris said he does not understand how others cannot make their own. The ketchup-based sauce, cooked in lemons and onions, has not changed. Maybe that’s why Harris hasn’t ever eaten at another barbecue spot. Or maybe it’s because he eats at David’s Barbecue for breakfast and lunch. But really, he said he would be too embarrassed if a customer saw him indulging in barbecue that wasn’t his own. “On Mondays, we’ll go out and eat at any place. And everyone’s like, ‘Why aren’t you all at y’all’s place?’ Because we’re not open,” Payne said. But, still, they have not gotten sick of barbecue — even after eating a sliced beef sandwich and fries every day for a year, Payne said. Throughout the 115 years, the business has moved to various cities, from Oak Cliff in Dallas to where the AT&T Stadium parking lot sits. Now, it’s located in Pantego, Texas, less than 10 minutes away from Arlington. “It’s just so important to be part of the community, ‘cause they are a part of your community, ’cause they become family,” Harris said. With a 3-year-old son at home, Payne plans to work until 2055, when he can pass on the legacy. “I’m grateful to have this,” Harris said. “The day that God has given me is a good day to repeat.” @trinhvchristine news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu