Brett’s BBQ Shop, a Katy original, has expanded its concept to what its owners call “the future of barbecue”—a restaurant and bar serving barbecue-based meals.
Owner and chef Brett Jackson started his barbecue journey attending Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Austin and then working at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor for two years. He said he learned barbecue “the old-school way” at the eatery.
“It was all by feel, by sight, using your senses to understand the science behind barbecue, which is the coolest way possible you can learn it,” he said.
Eventually, Jackson returned to his hometown of Katy and wanted to open his own barbecue restaurant. He started doing pop-ups under the name Freedom Barbecue, bringing a pit to weddings and sporting events.
“It kind of took off. We were doing really well,” Managing Partner Jacqueline Herrera said.
When Nonmacher’s Bar-B-Que on Mason Road in Katy, a Katy barbecue institution since the late ’70s, closed in April 2018, Jackson saw an opportunity. Purchasing the location made economic sense, Jackson said, and he grew up eating barbecue at Nonmacher’s.
"The fact that it all worked that way was a very cool thing,” he said.
Brett’s BBQ Shop opened its doors in October 2018. Four years later, after a July closing of its old location on Mason Road, Brett’s BBQ Shop is moving to a new, more spacious location. Parking at the Mason Road building was limiting its business, and the restaurant had more dine-in customers than its four-table space could hold, Herrera said.
“Once we started getting the notoriety that we did, it became a humongous problem,” Herrera said.
The new location will feature a full bar, ample seating and a barbecue menu during the day that transitions to a happy hour and sports bar menu rooted in barbecue.
“I believe that the future of barbecue is this,” Jackson said. “Food costs in barbecue are so high that you cannot make money just serving barbecue and four sides.”
The shop has stuck with traditional barbecue offerings—the Texas trinity of brisket, ribs and sausage—as well as smoked chickens and turkey breasts but also has rotating specials.
“We have stuck to a very traditional barbecue menu and just constantly improved it over the years,” Herrera said. “And that’s going great.”
Herrera said the specials and homemade sausage set them apart.
“If you can think it, you can put it in a casing,” Jackson said.
Herrera credited the Katy community for the shop’s growth into a new location. While Brett’s BBQ Shop gears up to open at its new Kingsland Boulevard location, the restaurant team has stayed active in the community, offering pop-up events at different locations.
“We support the community, and the community supports us, which is why we are where we’re at today,” she said.
Brett’s Barbecue Shop
25220 Kingsland Blvd., Katy
www.brettsbbqshop.square.site
