A Popular Chicago Barbecue Fest Is Making Its Lone Star Debut
Lone Star Smokeout, the brother event to Chicago’s Windy City Smokeout, will hit DFW with pitmasters from Texas and beyond slinging barbecue from May 2 to May 4. While the lineup of country artists playing at the three-day festival has already been announced, today, the pitmaster lineup drops.
“Austin is incredible... We’ll have surprise guests and participants from Austin, but with the growth of the Dallas market and how it encompasses Fort Worth and Arlington, there is so much incredible barbecue,”
The lineup is selected to create a virtual road trip around Texas, featuring barbecue pitmasters from all over the state, says Max Robbins, culinary director of Lettuce Entertain You. Robbins helped design the lineup for Lone Star Smokeout after four years of handling Windy City Smokeout. The trick, he says, is assembling a group that represents a wide swath of geography and styles of barbecue. “We [also] try to identify up-and-coming teams who haven’t broken in the national spotlight,” he adds. “And we try to get the people who are the leaders and innovators of the style of new-school barbecue we see in Texas.”
Lone Star’s Smokeout will be one-third of the size that Chicago’s has grown into, but Robbins says it’s roughly the size that Chicago’s was when the festival started around a decade ago. Texans will get a chance to try barbecue from all over the state and from places like Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, Arizona, and Arkansas.
The pitmasters participating in the first-ever Lone Star Smokeout are:
The Original Roy Hutchins Barbeque from Trophy Club will also be on-site, but its booth will only be accessible to Platinum ticket holders.
One of those names should have grabbed the attention of barbecue fanatics: Miriam Wilson has come out of retirement for this event to represent her team at the Salt Lick, a Texas barbecue institution. Robbins says she was one of the first people Robbins called when they were plotting the event. “She toured us through the Salt Lick twice, and I can honestly say that it is one of my top five favorite eating experiences in the United States of America.”
Tickets give festivalgoers access to performances by bands, including headliners Cody Jinks, Jon Pardi, and Midland, but food is not included in the price to keep it affordable. Robbins says prices for each food stand are still being worked out, but they want it to be approachable so folks can try more than one bite of barbecue.
Smokeout veteran Chris Magallanes of the Michelin-recommended Panther City BBQ, who has participated in the Chicago rendition twice, says it’s a fantastic atmosphere of people coming together for barbecue and country music. “Typically, when you see a festival, there’s some kind of hiccup, but this one is put together by a chef-driven group, and it is seamless,” he says.
Magallanes says that he is most looking forward to seeing the band Midland and he’s excited to prepare Panther City’s signature Flaca Tacos for the event — crispy griddled tacos stuffed with brisket, queso fresco, Oaxaca cheese, cilantro, and onion. “It’s a party, and Midland is going to party,” he says.
As for how the festival ended up in DFW, Robbins says he wants to be diplomatic with our Southern neighbors, who are well-known for their barbecue scene. “Austin is incredible... We’ll have surprise guests and participants from Austin, but with the growth of the Dallas market and how it encompasses Fort Worth and Arlington, there is so much incredible barbecue,” Robbins says. Lettuce Entertain You has also partnered with the Dallas Cowboys, which lends them access to the event outside of AT&T Stadium.
