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| Jokers Wild |
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 Some of Texas’s oldest barbecue joints close as meat prices skyrocket
05/26/26 12:30 PM
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Even the state’s most celebrated restaurants are struggling to remain open as costs climb, with no relief in sight.
May 25, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. EDTYesterday at 5:00 a.m. EDT
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
HOUSTON — If the Texas barbecue industry had an alarm, it would be the spreadsheet that Russell Roegels uses to track the price of brisket. On a recent morning, sitting at a quiet table in his suburban restaurant, he pointed to the number at the top of the column: $5.56. That’s the price he pays for a pound of the most important item on any barbecue menu in Texas.
Over the past year, that number has risen 28 percent, a reflection of the spiking meat prices that have dented the pocketbooks of average grocery store customers nationwide. Inside the kitchens of Texas’s more than 3,000 barbecue purveyors, whose very existence depends on a plentiful and affordable supply of quality beef, the effect has been close to cataclysmal.
Roegels, 53, grew up working at a barbecue joint and has run his own since 2001, serving some of Houston’s elite and their friends, including former president George H.W. Bush, NFL veteran Gary Kubiak and former Astros pitcher Andy Pettitte. He used to be able to offset the high wholesale cost by selling other meats and side dishes. But this year he realized that wasn’t enough. So Roegels made the risky decision to raise the price he charges customers for brisket by $2, to $35 a pound — a 6 percent increase — and hoped his clientele wouldn’t defect.
“This is as bad as it gets,” he said of escalating beef prices. “Everybody’s at risk these days: You’re one bad week from closing.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/05/25/some-texass-oldest-barbecue-joints-close-meat-prices-skyrocket/
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