Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse in Plano, an upscale barbecue restaurant at the Dallas North Tollway and W. Parker Road, closed after service on April 4, 2024.
The restaurant had been open in West Plano since September 2019. It comes from Pappas Restaurants, a Houston-based, family-owned company that operates Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, Pappasito’s Cantina, Pappas Bar-B-Q, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse and others.
![Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse was on the Dallas North Tollway in Plano, near the Cinemark...](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/L7A74GJAAYNJKJ4OKSOTORXKZM.jpg?auth=b929616d2483cb27a1ea3a4042bce411535d2f5e74d645a3fb11edffc6378fff&width=430&quality=80)
Delta Blues was one of its newer concepts, having originated southeast of Houston in Webster, Texas, in 2017. That restaurant is still open today. After the closure of the Plano restaurant, a spokeswoman said the Pappas family doesn’t have plans to expand Delta Blues for now.
CultureMap reported the Plano restaurant closure last week.
When Delta Blues opened in Plano in 2019, it was a significant moment both for the growing Pappas restaurants and for Plano residents. Delta Blues was the family’s first restaurant in Plano.
The menu and restaurant design offered a different version of barbecue in D-FW — a little fancied up without being formal. In comparison, North Texas-born barbecue joints like Lockhart Smokehouse or Hutchins are casual, with counter service. Delta Blues had a wider-ranging menu and table service.
“Texans are used to eating barbecue one way: at a counter [after] waiting in line,” Christina Pappas, vice president of marketing, said nearly five years ago at the opening of Delta Blues.
![For customers who'd rather have Southern comfort food instead of smoked meat, Pappas Delta...](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/TQHSLYODLURQYGH3LBBJ3FKXNU.jpg?auth=527b395528d7608c717e74b913000fd93c067399fb054604fc40fc744d91a13f&width=430&quality=80)
Ordering meat by the pound was an option at Delta Blues, as is typical with craft barbecue shops in Texas. But Delta Blues also sold steaks, catfish and a brisket-topped cheeseburger called the Pit Boss.
Appetizers included deviled eggs with smoked pork belly and barbecue nachos.
The chicken-fried rib-eye was something to see: a giant slab of fried steak topped with peppercorn cream gravy and served with two sides and a Parker House roll.
It isn’t clear if the Pappas family will open another restaurant in this space yet.
In a statement, Christina Pappas said Delta Blues staffers were offered jobs at other Pappas restaurants.
“It’s been a pleasure serving the Plano community, and we appreciate every single one who dined with us at Pappas Delta Blues over the years,” she said in the statement.
Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse was at 3916 Dallas Parkway (near W. Parker Road), Plano. It closed after service on April 4, 2024.