A new list comparing Texas barbecue joints to other Southern states places a Fort Worth player in the top 10.

Life in the South The magazine has released its list of the South’s best new barbecue joints in 2024, and Dayne’s Craft Barbecue – the mom-and-pop shop that opened its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Aledo in 2024 – made the top 10, coming in at No. 6.

To be eligible, a restaurant must have been opened after Life in the SouthThe latest list of the best new releases published in September 2021.

Texas and South Carolina are tied with five restaurants each on the list. The winners from Texas are:

• No. 2: Barbs BQ (Lockhart)
• No. 6: Dayne’s Craft Barbecue (Aledo)
• No. 9: Beef brisket and rice (Houston)
• No. 13: LeRoy and Lewis (Austinian)
• No. 17: Reese Bros Barbecue (San Antonio)

The list, written by barbecue editor Robert F. Moss, includes 22 restaurants from seven states.

At Dayne’s, Moss finds exceptional brisket, an outstanding smash burger and “Fritos pie beans – hearty cowboy-style pinto beans topped with cheese, crispy Fritos, pickled jalapeños and a hint of lime crema.”

Barbs is praised for its brisket, beef ribs and turkey, as well as its smoked lamb chops and signature green spaghetti in a poblano cream sauce.

At Reese Bros, Moss recognizes the restaurant’s Tex-Mex accents, like the sausage with queso fundido, the flour tortillas and the mac and cheese with poblano sauce.

The store of LeRoy & Lewis, open since Februaryis praised for preserving the best dishes from its food truck days while also offering cocktails and, perhaps more importantly, air conditioning.

Brisket & Rice is on the list because it has transformed a former Church’s Chicken into a spot worth visiting, serving grilled fried rice (of course) and “poor man’s macaroni – wok-fried noodles with bacon and sweet tomato sauce,” Moss writes.

Although each restaurant approaches barbecue from a slightly different perspective, Moss finds some commonalities in all of his choices.

“First, most are traditionalists of at least some sort. Most cook on wood fires, and many have embraced and championed the long-standing specialties of their respective regions,” he writes. “At the same time, everyone is doing their own thing, experimenting with new flavors and techniques, using less common cuts of meat, and drawing on family recipes and their own culinary heritage.”