Planning a trip to New Mexico, we decided to fly into Dallas, rent a car, and explore North Texas on a short roadtrip. We’d never been to Dallas-Fort Worth before, and though the most famous Texas BBQ to be had was further south in and around Austin’s Hill Country, we chose to reconnoiter DFW and follow our noses. Surprisingly enough, what we found were the best pork ribs (above) we’ve ever eaten anywhere!

Once called the Paris of the Plains, Fort Worth has lots of great BBQ shacks hiding in plain sight, and Daniel Vaughn of Dallas Magazine sussed them out in this comprehensive article. In Forest Hill, Off the Bone BBQ on Mansfield Highway had our number from the get-go. The combo plate was enough for two, with brisket under the ribs, beans, and potato salad. The meaty pork ribs needed no adornment whatsoever, and we unrelentingly worried every morsel from the bones:

All this and smoked bologna? This monster rivals our favorite from Ohio’s G&R Tavern:

Off the Bone BBQ is housed in a former Dairy Queen, a sign of true Roadfood greatness:

In the Big D, however, folks have enjoyed Mac’s Bar-B-Que since 1955. Located on Main Street in a bright yellow building, this shack is owned by Billy McDonald, who took over after his father passed away. Daniel Vaughn’s recommendation left us practically panting, so we ordered the brisket and hot jalapeño link sandwich. The juicy links hail from an undisclosed location in West Texas, and the sweet house sauce tastes faintly of steak sauce:

Dipping the fresh-cut fries in the sauce was even better:

Mac’s is another worthy stop on the Roadfood map, and we really enjoyed our conversation with the gregarious Billy:

Since we were passing between Wichita Falls and Lubbock at lunchtime, we felt compelled to stop at Smokey Bros BBQ & Grill in Seymour. Open only Thursday through Saturday, we knew that we beat the odds of being TTM’ed and were in for a treat. The combo plate featured a rather dry brisket, but the cheese-filled sausage link was really great. It totally reminded us of the Oscar Mayer cheese dogs we ate as kids but more garlicky:

And the pecan cobbler (which we’d never heard of, by the way) for dessert was scrumptious:

Smokey Bros. BBQ & Grill is located on West California Street (Highways 82 & 114) in Seymour:

Next chapter: green chile cheeseburgers that you’ve never tried!