A Dedicated Patio

Lucille’s owner/chef Chris Williams was wondering how to better utilize the space behind his recently opened Southern-influenced Museum District restaurant when a family photograph provided him with an idea.

That vintage photograph was of his great-grandfather U.S. Smith – he was husband to the restaurant’s namesake and Williams’ great-grandmother, Lucille Bishop Smith – standing on the steps of an airplane. While Lucille is known in the annals of culinary history for creating the world’s first hot roll mix, her husband U.S. was a legend in a related field.

Boarding that airplane many years ago, U.S. was on his way to a barbecue competition at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where his reputation as a skilled pitmaster preceded him. And thus, the idea for developing Lucille’s backyard was born.

Melding Williams’ own memories of his time in Europe spent making friends at beer gardens over a pint or two, his family legacy of Southern culinary talent and the mild Houston climate, Williams decided to give the outdoor venue a life of its own. He named it after Lucille’s husband and his great-grandfather, thus creating U.S. Smith’s BBQ, Beer and Garden.

The outdoor space is furnished with customized picnic tables that contain special metal troughs with drain vents for storing bottles of beer or wine in crushed ice – imagine a long, narrow, built-in wine bucket in each picnic table. Williams’ brother spotted the specially constructed tables online and knew they would be perfect for the concept.

With cold beverages ready to go, Williams also procured a large barbecue pit with enough room to smoke an entire suckling pig and built a bar out back to complete the casual ensemble. Adding even more culinary credit is the garden in the back corner of the lot, overgrown in the best possible way: okra plants towering over the raised beds, spicy wasabi-strong mustard greens sprouting up close to the obviously fertile dirt and tiny teardrop tomatoes still producing sweet bursts of flavor despite the shorter days and cooler evening temperatures.

Opening up this Thursday, November 29, U.S. Smith’s BBQ, Beer and Garden will serve items like slow-roasted suckling pig, brisket, grilled oysters, collard green kimchi, fennel coleslaw, whole roasted corn, gourmet hotdogs and hamburgers and a variety of other items available upon the whims of the chef and the produce of the season. Every other Sunday, Williams will host a neighborhood cookout, but in between, the new addition will be open 5 to 10 pm Thursday through Saturday, weather permitting.

Lucille’s / U.S. Smith’s BBQ, Beer and Garden, 5512 La Branch, 713-568-2505, lucilleshouston.com