The HN Guide to Barbeque at Nightmare Nights Dallas

Aren't ponies herbivores though? (artist: gigatron-sama)

So, you're in Dallas, Texas for Nightmare Nights Dallas this weekend, and clearly, you want Texan barbeque, one of the four mane types of barbeque in the United States (The other three being Carolina, Memphis, and Kansas City style). Here at Horse News, we will show you the closest and the best places to get some Texan-style barbeque around the convention and in town.

Now, I'll admit, I am not a barbeque expert, nor am I a Dallas local, so I am pretty much going off >leddit threads, Yelp and Google reviews, and Wikipedia for my information. But fuck it, we're Horse News, so we're going to write an article about this anyway and pretend we are armchair experts.

What makes Texan Barbeque different?

• There's not one type of Texan barbeque, but several instead. East Texas, Central Texas, and South Texas, and West "Cowboy Style" Texas. In addition, there is traditional Mexican barbacoa (HN's resident Mexican Chelis can probably tell you more about it than I can). Dallas/Ft. Worth is right on the dividing line between East Texas and Central Texas barbeque styles.
• Central Texas barbeque focuses on the meat, the rub, and the smoke. Beef Brisket is what ya want for the core of the Central Texas BBQ experience. The sauce is usually served on the side, or banned from the restaurant altogether. Waitresses are none to be found; you receive your food straight from the pit. This is probably the most common type you will find in Dallas.
• East Texas is heavy on the chops and is commonly found as beefchop and porkchop sandwich buns, with heavy use of sweet and thick sauce. It is often considered an extension of African American Southern-style barbeque. This is probably the next most common BBQ you will find in Dallas.
• Most of the places on this list serve both Central and East Texas style barbeque.

Trotting Distance
These three places are within walking distance from the convention, for you plebians who are either too po' to afford getting a rental car or taxi in Dallas, or too drunk to drive around here, or too antisocial to catch a ride with someone that has a car. However, fear not, for these three places seem to be good eats.

Spring Creek Barbeque
Distance from Hotel: 0.5mi/10 minute walk
Hours: 11AM-10PM Friday/Saturday, 11AM-9PM Sunday-Thursday

This place is only a 10 minute walk from the convention, literally a half-mile stroll north up the street (From the front doors of the convention looking towards the road, this is to the left. You literally cannot fuck this up). These are several of these "Spring Creek Barbeque" places across Dallas. Reviews show this place is pretty decent barbeque but isn't the best Dallas has to offer. Definitely not a bad choice if you just want a fill of good barbeque within a grab from the convention.


Cattleack Barbeque
Distance from Hotel: 1mi/20 minute walk
Hours: 10:30AM-2:00PM Thursday and Friday ONLY, TAKEOUT ONLY

Woah, look out, this place is all #exclusive and shit, they are only open Thursday and Friday for lunch! The opposite direction from Spring Creek BBQ and a few twists and turns for 20 minutes leads you here. From the online reviews, this place is really good and serves the real deal of Texan-style Barbeque. Apparently, they also tend to run out of BBQ fast, so call them ahead of time.

Denny's
Distance from the Hotel: 4.5 miles/90 minute walk
Hours: 24/7, bitch

Okay, so this isn't barbeque, but we know you'll somehow end up here. Its just a thing at conventions. You never plan to go to Denny's. You just... end up there, drunk, at 3AM, eating the most godawful #SAVORY food your spaghettiass convention self can imagine. Unfortunately, there is no Denny's that is within an easy walking distance, but the walk to Denny's is pretty straightforward, so you and your herd of drunk bronies should get there in steady time pretty easily.

The Long Haul

Saddle up horsefuckers, these places require some form of driving to reach. These five places are what Dallas residents consider the best barbeque in town. All these places are apparently really good.

Pecan Lodge
Distance from Hotel: 14 miles
Hours: 11am-3pm Sunday, Tuesday-Thursday, 11am-10pm Friday & Saturday, Closed Monday

I can't really tell what's going on this picture, but according to lots of threads on foodie forums and >leddit, Pecan Lodge is *the* place to be for barbeque in Dallas. Like most Texan barbeque places, their fans rave about their brisket the most, as far as meat cuts go. But one specific menu item that gets the most buzz? The "Hot Mess", a Sweet Potato treated IWTCIRD-style loaded with barbeque and toppings inside.

Lockhart Smokehouse
Distances from Hotel: 14 miles 15 miles
Hours: "Open Every Day, 11am till we're done"

Here' ya got two picks of locations, and they are both far, one is in Downtown Dallas and the other in Plano. This place doesn't have an explicit closing time (claiming to close only once they are out of BBQ), but Google suggests they usually close by 3PM. This place serves the "True Central Texas BBQ". Call ahead of time to make sure they still gots the grub.

Smoke
Distance from Hotel: 15 miles
Hours: 8am-3pm Monday to Friday. Dinner 5pm-11pm Friday & Saturday, 5pm-10pm Thursday

Holy cow tasty beef brisket, this place also has a rather confusing time schema. Anyways, Smoke is also very highly rated, and their website's carrot thingy looks kind of like a weed poison joke joint, combined with their name "SMOKE", we got a hunch this place might be the place to be if you got the munchies.

That carrot has got to be a joint

Hard Eight
Distance from Hotel: 13mi
Hours:  10:30AM-9PM Monday-Thursday, 10:30AM-10PM Friday & Saturday, 10:30AM-8PM Sunday 

Located just north of the DFW International Airport, this place has live music on Friday and Saturday nights (though certainly, you'd rather listen to Horse Techno-Dubstep at the EQuestria raves, right?). Judging from the pictures, this place has got a huge amount of seating, so maybe bring a whole herd with ya.

Mike Anderson's BBQ House
Distance from Hotel: 12mi
Hours: 10AM-2PM Monday-Saturday. Closed Sunday.

This place was the most popular and most mentioned place when I searched for "Best Barbeque in Dallas" on Google, so either they've got a load of shills, or they are really that damn good. So... I guess go here if you have no idea where to do? Open lunchtime only.
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If any Nightmare Nights Dallas staff have any favorite picks, please let us know and we will mention your endorsement!