The co-owner and original pitmaster of Lockhart Smokehouse in North Texas is opening a new restaurant in Farmers Branch named Crossbuck BBQ.
Owner Tim McLaughlin’s restaurant on Spring Valley Road is about a mile and a half from Galleria Dallas and is expected to open in fall 2021. It’s named for the X-shaped railroad crossing sign called a crossbuck.
“It’s the crossroads of American barbecue: what I consider the best of the best,” McLaughlin says of his coming-soon restaurant. “I’m going to take inspiration from around the country.”
That means Memphis-inspired pulled pork; saucy ribs in honor of barbecue joints in the Midwest; and brisket cooked low and slow, with peppery bark, popularized in Central Texas. He also plans to sell smoked salmon.
McLaughlin is from St. Louis, but he has spent the past 13 years in Texas. At Lockhart Smokehouse, his food honored the barbecue traditions from Kreuz Market, a more-than-100-year-old business in Central Texas. He remains a co-owner at Lockhart but is striking out on his own with Crossbuck to explore other styles of barbecue.
“I know people love Texas barbecue. And I love Texas barbecue,” he says. “I just think that Dallas, being such a transient city ... there is a need for a pulled pork sandwich and some saucy ribs.”
“I am really, really excited to show the city of Dallas my style of barbecue,” he says.
He’s going to try to eliminate one notable Texas barbecue tradition: that long line. At some popular barbecue joints, customers wait 30 minutes. At others, barbecue fanatics inch along for two hours or more. McLaughlin says he wants to put a higher number of staff members behind the counter, then cut down on the chit-chat.
“I don’t know that people want to wait in long lines anymore,” he says. He’s speaking specifically about the coronavirus pandemic, which encouraged customers to social-distance.
“I think people have gotten really accustomed to getting food in a quick and friendly and efficient manner,” he says. “We’ll still spend 16 hours on briskets and pork butts. ... [But] that big, intimidating conversation you have with the pitmaster: We’re going to cut that out.”
He’s still finalizing the menu, but sides might include mac and cheese with Vermont white cheddar; potato salad with chopped brisket; baked beans with Hatch chiles; and a daily vegetable. (And, gasp! Crossbuck will serve salad. That’s not typical of many barbecue joints around here.)
The meat will be cooked on two 15-foot smokers being fabricated by M Grills in Mesquite.
McLaughlin picked the location, on Spring Valley Road near Midway Road, because he considers it a central point for Dallas and its suburbs. The area isn’t saturated with brisket joints yet, though Crossbuck will be neighbors with Cattleack Barbeque, which was named the No. 3 barbecue restaurant in Texas by Texas Monthly in 2017. (A new top 50 list is expected to land in late 2021.)
Before McLaughlin was a pitmaster, he taught cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Dallas. He’s most comfortable with French and Asian cuisine, and he wants his smoked meat to have bold flavors. He doesn’t plan on playing by the so-called rules, which means his brisket rub will have lots of ingredients, not just salt and pepper.
“That’s what I consider my style of cooking,” he says: “bold, strong and funky flavors.”
Crossbuck BBQ is expected to open at 4400 Spring Valley Road, Farmers Branch, in fall 2021.
