Hot off the presses: “Portland Has the Best Texas Barbecue Scene Outside of Texas.” That’s the word from Texas Monthly, the Lone Star state's dominant glossy magazine that likely pours more blood, sweat, and smoke into its barbecue coverage than any other publication in the country. (They have their own Barbecue Editor, for Pete’s sake!).

Of course, we’ve been saying this for quite some time: the story makes the rounds to our top barbecue talent—most of them included in our Best New Restaurants 2019 feature, including Matt’s BBQ Tacos, Holy Trinity Barbecue, Eem, and Bullard. Still, it means something coming from Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn, the last word on smoked meat in the Lone Star State since 2013: “There were too many barbecue joints to cover in the two days I spent in Portland. That’s a good problem for any city to have, especially one outside Texas.” Amen.