Customers can order meats such as Jalapeño Sausage, brisket and pulled pork. (Dacia Garcia/Community Impact)
In July 2023, Crimson Creek Smokehouse brought its barbecue to the Dripping Springs area showcasing an Oklahoma influence with some Chicago-inspired sides.
The backstory
The eatery is owned by husband and wife duo Jamie Dickens and Marcus McNac, who started attending bar pop-ups and cooking competitions in 2013. The couple moved to the Dripping Springs area in 2020 and found a way to stay connected with their old neighbors by sharing a home cooked meal.
“Former neighbors were messaging me and being like, ‘Oh, we wish you guys still lived in the neighborhood,’ because he would bring the competition cooker home,” Dickens said. “We were those people. He'd do all his practice cooks and then we just invite everybody over to deliver food.”
The pair accepted the requests, crafted barbecue meals and delivered them to their old neighbors in the Lake Creek area. After expanding deliveries beyond their old neighborhood, the couple’s journey in the Austin barbecue scene took off.
The eatery first launched a food truck in October 2020 on Nutty Brown Road before planting roots at its current location outside Deep Eddy Vodka Tasting Room in Dripping Springs.
Assistant pitmaster Colton Conrad (left), pitmaster and co-owner Marcus McNac, co-owner Jamie Dickens and customer service employee Morgan Crowell are only some of the team members behind the barbecue concept. (Dacia Garcia/Community Impact)
Respecting the craft
McNac started his pitmaster journey when he was nine years old helping his uncle move around the meats at his jukebox joint.
“He always did chicken,” McNac said. “I learned how to cut up a chicken and put it on the grill and how to season it and do all that stuff. What other kid can play with fire and not get in trouble? That was so much fun.”
Since his start as a pitmaster, McNac has grown from making plates for family and neighbors to now serving meals for his childhood musical heroes, Christopher Cross and Robert Earl Keen. In addition to stars, the pitmaster regularly smokes meat for weddings, rehearsal dinners, bachelor parties and more special occasions.
“It's an honor we never take for granted,” Dickens said. “That is a very important part of someone's wedding memories—the food. Especially for a rehearsal dinner, that's the first time two sides of a family are coming together and that meal will be remembered.”
One of the most memorable occasions for the duo was when they fed the Southwest Airlines ground, flight and gate crew on Christmas Day in 2024. They spent their holiday feeding 500 employees across two services for the overnight group and the day group.
“That was really cool,” Dickens said. “It's not something you get to do every day.”
Crimson Creek Smokehouse also sells Spare Ribs and Pork Belly Burnt Ends. (Dacia Garcia/Community Impact)
On the menu
The smokehouse offers a variety of meats including ribs, brisket, pulled pork and turkey breast. Accompanying the meats are the eatery’s homemade sides showcasing macaroni and cheese, barbecue beans, slaw and potato salad.
Dickens said her personal order at the truck would be Spare Ribs, Rib Tips and Smoked Queso Mac. McNac’s ideal order is the Pork Belly and the Steak with Bone Marrow.
