BBQ Snob: The Top 25 New Barbecue Joints in Texas

This Houston-area barbecue restaurant serves one of our favorite new desserts
J.C. Reid

The mural on the side of the new Space Craft BBQ trailer in Clear Lake features an astronaut floating in space. Appropriate, considering the trailer’s location across from Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base and its proximity to the nearby Johnson Space Center.

Closer inspection of the mural reveals that the astronaut is tethered to an offset barrel smoker. It’s the perfect representation of this venture by friends Ben Muths and Aaron Timmons, who have created a barbecue business inspired by the space industry of Clear Lake and the craft traditions of contemporary Texas barbecue.

Muths was born and raised in the Clear Lake area; Timmons grew up around Austin. After moving to Clear Lake to be near family and friends in 2021, Timmons approached Muths about opening a barbecue venture with a brewery component. They were inspired by the wildly popular Meanwhile Brewing Co. in Austin that includes a family-friendly, community-oriented venue and the highly rated Distant Relatives barbecue trailer.

“There are not a lot of cool places to go (in Clear Lake) as a young adult with a family,” says Muths, who along with Timmons each have two young children.

The partners made the leap with Muths handling the business side and Timmons cooking and developing a menu. The top two priorities: finding a trailer and a location to set up shop. This is where Muth’s deep local connections paid off.

Muth’s family is close to Paulie Gaido, an owner of Gaido’s Seafood Restaurant in Galveston. Gaido had a 25-foot food trailer he wasn’t using and donated it to Muth and Timmons to use with the caveat that in the case of a local emergency or natural disaster, they would use it to serve the community. The partners jumped at the chance. Trailer secured.

As for a location, Muths had become acquainted with Atul Jain, whose family owns the Motu Stop chain of gas stations in the Galveston and Clear Lake areas. The idea of these stores is to incorporate local flavor and art into each location. Space Craft BBQ was a natural fit for a new location across from Ellington Field.

Each Motu location features local art, including murals by Galveston-born artist Gabriel Prusmack. Muths and Timmons hired him to paint their trailer, and he came up with the floating astronaut/pitmaster idea along with the tagline “Lost in the craft.”

This refers to the partner’s commitment to the highest quality of contemporary Texas barbecue inspired by Austin pitmasters like Tom Micklethwait of Micklethwait Craft Meats and John Bates of Interstellar BBQ.

Using a unique 750-gallon offset barrel smoker (they’re usually 500 or 1,000 gallon), Timmons and Muth cook a great Texas trinity of brisket, pork ribs and sausage. Like their Austin peers, they also get creative when it comes to sides, desserts and sandwiches.

Continuing the space theme, there’s a Thai Fighter Potato Salad that uses a red curry base and a house-made Dark Side of the Moon Pie, which is my new favorite dessert at a Houston barbecue joint. Sandwiches (usually featured on Sundays) include a classic chopped brisket version as well as a banh mi and sausage wrap.

Though the name on the side of the trailer is Space Craft BBQ & Taps, the “taps” or brewery component is still in the works. But if the beer is as good as the barbecue, Clear Lake will gain a great community gathering spot for barbecue fans and families alike. ​

 

the pork belly banh mi sounds worth trying.

 

looks fabulous.

ingredients:

Malekian feels the same about the wood he uses. He burns only staves from red-wine barrels trucked in from Napa Valley, in California. “It’s a cleaner, gentler smoke,” Malekian explains. His pork shanks spend seven hours cooking, the first three gathering smoke and the next four tenderizing in a foil-covered pan. The pork drippings are collected and used as a base for the curry sauce he serves alongside the shank. Malekian combines fenugreek, turmeric, paprika, star anise, dried ginger, garlic powder, and cayenne and blooms the spices in hot butter. Then he adds the mixture to the drippings and thickens the resulting sauce with potato starch. The pork easily falls away from the bone, making it great for dipping into the thin but flavorful sauce. ​