North Main BBQ

(817) 267-7821

Say you don't have time to travel the Texas Hill Country for BBQ—always a worthy pursuit. That’s a shame, but you’re still in luck!

North Main BBQ, located just north of Fort Worth, Texas, is the real deal. ’Cueing since 1981, this outfit has won so many BBQ awards throughout the country that the entire back of the restaurant is taken up with trophies, ribbons, and plaques. There’s a pile of them!

Walk in the front door, and you’ll be faced with two stacks of plates—one blue ($5.95) and the other white ($12.95). Why anybody would ever pick the blue plate is beyond me. With it, you can choose either a sandwich or take one pass through the buffet line. What’s the point? Take the white plate, and you get it all! And there is a lot to get.

Dig right in to the buffet, and if you don’t see what you need, just ask. These are really nice folks. The BBQ chicken is nicely seasoned and falls off the bone. Some folks just strip off the meat, pour some homemade BBQ sauce on bread, and make a sandwich. But the chicken is so moist and flavorful, it’s best just eaten plain.

The rest of the meat includes brisket, very tasty sausage, and Saint Louis-style ribs. While North Main claims to have the “World’s Best Ribs,” there are some other places that do ribs better.

But, this place has got pulled pork down. It may be the most tender, succulent, flavorful pulled pork on the planet. It’s that good. North Main uses Boston Butt, and then lets it stay all night in the smoker. It emerges fall-apart tender, the ends nicely blackened. The counter man just slips the bone out, smashes it with the flat of his knife, and the meat just falls to pieces. Yum!

Sides include ranch beans (especially good if you drizzle the juice from a whole jalapeÖno into them), cole slaw, and potato salad. And, of course, there are the ubiquitous stacks of white bread if you want to sop up the sauce.

Unique to North Main BBQ is the big bowl of pickled okra. If you never had this little delicacy before, check it out. The stuff is addicting! Knowing that a jar of pickled okra costs about five bucks (if you can find it), I must have eaten about sixty dollars worth. It’ s hard to think about ever eating BBQ without it.

There is no alcohol served here, but if you bring in your own hooch (Lone Star usually does the trick) the staff will happily fix you up with a galvanized bucket full of ice to chill your beer. Ya just gotta love Texas.

When you have had your fill, ask one of the crew to show you the BBQ gear out back. You may be surprised by the portable BBQs. Each one is capable of holding 1,400 pounds of meat, and the owners say they can serve up to 5,000 BBQ chow hounds at a time. They do it big in Texas!

Oh, and don’t forget. GO FOR THE WHITE PLATE!

Only open Fridays and Saturdays 11:00 am to 9:00 pm, Sundays 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, so plan accordingly.

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