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Why is the barbecue business in Texas so hot-blooded? 4 notable family feuds

In many cases, barbecue joints are family-owned. And, well: Family can be difficult.

The owner of Hutchins Barbeque in McKinney and Frisco is suing his eldest brother and dad, kicking off a barbecue food fight over how the family name can legally be used. It isn’t the first time though that Texans have fought over their barbecue businesses.

Why is barbecue so contentious? We asked for insight from Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn, who reviews smoked-meat restaurants all over the Lone Star State. Barbecue joints, he points out, are often run by families, not corporations.

“When you have disagreements with people you work with?” he asks: Well, you go home at the end of the work day. “But when you live with them?” That’s a lot tougher.

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And, if a member of a barbecue family decides to leave and open a competing barbecue restaurant, that’s an opportunity for a high-heat situation.

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“It’s seen as a bit of a family betrayal, whether that’s the true story or not,” Vaughn says.

“Barbecue and squabbling go hand in hand,” he writes in a story about a barbecue spat in El Paso in 1907. (That long-ago spat was not between family members, but it’s still pretty fascinating.)

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This family photo of the Mikeska family, taken in the 1930s, shows the six boys and three...
This family photo of the Mikeska family, taken in the 1930s, shows the six boys and three girls raised by John and Francis Mikeska in Taylor, Texas. Many of the family members worked at meat markets or butcher shops or started barbecue businesses in Texas. The Mikeskas are an example of a barbecue family in Texas that doesn't fight over restaurant ownership, confirms grandson Tim Mikeska, who is also in the meat business. (Courtesy of Tim Mikeska)

Some families have found ways to break off and run independent barbecue joints amicably, Vaughn says. He points to the Mikeska family, which has been involved in food-related businesses in Texas for nearly 100 years. The family has three restaurants with the original Mikeska’s name today, in addition to Clem Mikeska’s Bar-B-Q in Temple, Belton and Cameron. Jerry Mikeska’s BBQ & Catering in Columbus, named for another brother, is now operated by a family friend. And other first-name restaurants, Rudy Mikeska’s Bar-B-Q in Taylor and Mike Mikeska’s in Smithville, were once open but have closed; their namesake owners have died.

Rudy’s son Tim Mikeska took a new barbecue path but kept the family name with his company Mikeska Brands, which distributes smoked-meat products in 26 states.

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Tim Mikeska explains in simple terms why his family has never fractured over business: “Because we all love each other,” he says.

“My family was very poor when we started. To us, family is more important than everything.”

Vaughn thinks their first-name, last-name tactic is a smart way to differentiate barbecue brands within the same family.

First-name usage could be an opportunity for the warring Hutchins family — one that Wesley Hutchins says he’s already using. The Trophy Club restaurant he plans to open with his father Roy Hutchins currently has a logo that says “The Original Roy Hutchins Barbeque: Texas Made Since 1978.” However, it was registered as “Hutchins BBQ” with the state. It’ll be up to a judge or jury to decide what level of protection brother Tim Hutchins will get from the two federal trademarks he has for Hutchins Barbeque.

Here are some other barbecue family feuds in Texas.

Kreuz Market vs. Smitty’s Market

A sampling of ribs, sausage and brisket at Kreuz Market in Lockhart
A sampling of ribs, sausage and brisket at Kreuz Market in Lockhart(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)
Decades worth of smoke and residue buildup coat the walls around the pits at Smitty's Market...
Decades worth of smoke and residue buildup coat the walls around the pits at Smitty's Market in downtown Lockhart.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

Texas’ “most famous barbecue split,” Vaughn wrote in a 2020 story, is between Kreuz Market and Smitty’s, both in Lockhart. Kreuz opened in about 1900, and nearly 100 years later, the three adult children of the owner argued over rent. Following that disagreement, sons Rick and Don Schmidt moved Kreuz to a new location. Daughter Nina Schmidt Sells opened Smitty’s in place of the original Kreuz.

Both remain open, less than a half-mile apart, in Lockhart.

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Black’s Barbecue vs. Terry Black’s BBQ

Co-owner Mark Black opened Terry Black's Barbecue in Dallas in 2019. He's since moved home...
Co-owner Mark Black opened Terry Black's Barbecue in Dallas in 2019. He's since moved home to Lockhart, where the family has another Terry Black's restaurant.(Ben Torres / Special Contributor)

The famous Black barbecue family split into two factions: The Original Black’s Barbecue, open in Lockhart since 1932; and Terry Black’s BBQ, open in Austin since 2014. Terry Black’s children broke away from the family business just under a decade ago after Terry Black learned (via fax, an amusing detail) that his son Michael Black was “no longer needed at the [family] restaurant,” Vaughn reports. The Black siblings — Michael, his twin brother Mark and their sister Christina — had planned to name their new restaurant Black’s Barbecue until they received a cease and desist letter.

Instead, they opened what’s now called Terry Black’s in Austin, with a restaurant in Dallas that followed in 2019. In a meaty bite of barbecue drama, they recently opened a new Terry Black’s in their hometown of Lockhart, just two blocks from the 90-year-old original.

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The Mueller family barbecue story

Louie Mueller Barbecue in the small town of Taylor launched the careers of several barbecue...
Louie Mueller Barbecue in the small town of Taylor launched the careers of several barbecue folks across Texas.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

Patriarch Louie Mueller opened his eponymous restaurant in Taylor, the small central Texas town east of Round Rock, in 1949. Son Bobby ran it, and later, grandchildren John, LeAnn and Wayne got involved during a series of contentious years. John left in 2000 to start his own barbecue business, John Mueller’s B-B-Q, as writer Katy Vine tells in a 2012 Texas Monthly barbecue story called “Of Meat and Men.” (For barbecue fans keeping up, this restaurant is where Aaron Franklin got a job and kick-started his barbecue career, the TM story says.)

Wayne Mueller now runs Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, and his sister LeAnn Mueller founded and operates a separate restaurant called La Barbecue in Austin. John Mueller moved to Dallas-Fort Worth in fall 2021 for a pitmaster job at Hutchins Barbecue in McKinney — proving just how small the barbecue scene in Texas can be. John died a few months later at age 52.

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Meshack’s Bar-B-Que Shack vs. Willie Meshack’s Texas BBQ

Customers order from the screened window at Meshack's Bar-B-Que Shack in Garland. A DMN...
Customers order from the screened window at Meshack's Bar-B-Que Shack in Garland. A DMN photographer described the food as "the stuff of dreams."(Irwin Thompson)

The late barbecue founder James Meshack has two sets of family members who have created restaurants inspired by his 1978 South Dallas smokehouse.

Meshack’s Bar-B-Que Shack in Garland is a nothing-fancy spot that one historian describes as “folk barbecue”: It’s a place that’s “insulated from change and not as easily influenced by current trends,” Vaughn explains.

Willie Meshack’s Texas BBQ in Plano (pictured) is serving new-school barbecue while the...
Willie Meshack’s Texas BBQ in Plano (pictured) is serving new-school barbecue while the Garland restaurant is serving old-school barbecue.(Jason Janik / Special Contributor)

Willie Meshack’s Texas BBQ, on the other hand, comes from James Meshack’s nephew and opened in early 2022 in Plano. It was once called Meshack’s Texas BBQ until the owner tacked his first name to the front after diners were getting confused. Our Claire Ballor reported that the two sides don’t have contact with one another.

This new Meshack’s is branding itself as “craft style barbecue” with Trinidadian influences. This family story is an example of a barbecue conflict that seems to have been worked out quickly, Vaughn notes.

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For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.