First Look at Killen’s Texas Barbecue

Located just across the street from Ronnie Killen’s old high school and housed inside the Pearland ISD’s one-time administrative building where Killen used to work, Killen’s Texas Barbecue is an instant and ready-made town favorite. After a series of sold-out pop-up barbecue stands at his nearby steakhouse, Killen finally unveiled the whole shebang on February 22.

There has been a riot of hype surrounding the opening of Killen’s first brick-and-mortar barbecue shop in Pearland because his weekend pop-up barbecue service — it began in March 2013 — had such great success. Killen’s culinary roots are in barbecue, too, so this is a coming-home, if you will. Oh, and there was the drama when Killen’s custom barbecue rig was stolen and, ultimately, recovered. Drama and hype aside, there is no doubt Killen’s Texas Barbecue is living up to expectations.

Last Tuesday, Killen invited us to drive south to Pearland and visit his new restaurant digs, stuff ourselves with barbecue and take a look at his kitchen and wood-burning Oyler rotisserie out back, which holds up to 1,800 pounds of meat.

Killen’s also houses a single-rack reverse-flow firebrick pit inside the kitchen. This holds around 450 pounds of meat and acts more as a showpiece that is adorned with the restaurant’s name on the side (photo above).

For customers, last week’s cold, rainy weather was only a small obstacle between them and Killen’s savory, smoky meat. On Tuesday at 11 am, when the restaurant opens to the public, there was an umbrella’d line of hungry customers wrapped around the building.

According to Killen, this is nothing compared to their peak business hours, such as the weekends, when guests can expect to wait up to two hours for their barbecue fix. Killen’s is open Tuesday through Sunday at 11 am for lunch until the barbecue runs out.

Killen attributes the wait time to customer service. He explains that many customers arrive at the front of the line and want to see what a one-fourth pound looks like, or they want to place an order to eat now and an order to take home for later.

It seems that Killen’s has plenty of satisfied customers regardless of the wait time, as there always seems to be a line of growling stomachs trailing out of the building (even on rainy Tuesdays).

So when does he sleep? Killen runs a steakhouse by day and evening and now a barbecue restaurant that requires tending the meat throughout the wee hours. His 18 total hours of sleep during the entire first week of business should assuage any worries that your meal will be anything but perfectly smoked and succulent.

Killen explained that this is the most work and the hardest work he has ever done, but added that he wouldn’t be doing it if he didn’t love it.

The by-the-pound meats offered include brisket, beef and pork ribs, turkey, chicken, homemade pork and beef sausage, pulled pork and the favorite bone-in pork belly, which has a crispy crust unlike any smoked meat I’ve ever tasted (photo above).

Killen uses a simple seasoning of salt and three peppers on all his meats. But he does enhance the turkey rub with lemon pepper and the chicken rub with chipotle.

This retro-inspired barbecue joint also offers three different sauces for slathering—sweet, tangy and coffee-infused. We like the variety.

Killen’s doesn’t skimp on the sides, either. The crunchy, lightly-dressed coleslaw featuring ramen noodles is only a distant cousin to the dreary slaw you are typically served at other eateries; the mustard-based potato salad is tangy with bits of hardboiled egg married into the creamy mixture (photo at left), and grated pieces of cheddar are still visible in the gooey mac ‘n’ cheese.

We see Killen’s becoming to Houston what Franklin’s is to Austin—a barbecue joint worth the wait (and the drive).

Killen’s Texas Barbecue, 3613 East Broadway at South Galveston Ave., Pearland, 281-485-2272, killensbarbecue.com