Texan BBQ makes its way to Taos

A new scent is in the air around Taos as Blue Deer Barbeque, the only Texan BBQ spot in the area, opened its doors to hungry customers on Jan. 20 in the same building as Mondo Italiano and La Terraza de Taos.

A relatively small operation, couple Antonio and Megan Narro work over the heat of the smoker and stovetop inside the small restaurant — Antonio tending to the meats and Megan baking fry bread. Hailing from Dallas, the duo is bringing the tastes of Texas to town, which has so far been welcomed with open arms (and mouths). The compact interior is juxtaposed by the magnitude of the delicious meats that are meticulously prepared and not-so-delicately consumed.

Antonio, 31, began barbecuing by chance when he and his partner, Megan, 31, purchased a home in Texas where the previous owners left behind a smoker. According to the couple, Antonio just began smoking briskets and other meats whenever they had friends or family over, a tradition they carried with them to Taos. People who tasted Antonio’s smoked meats raved about them and insisted he open his own restaurant, the couple said.

Under Blue Deer, Antonio smokes most of the meats on the du jour menu for about 18 hours, applying dry rubs as needed. According to Antonio, dry rubs and briskets are two staples of authentic Texan BBQ, but they don’t stop there. Blue Deer even operates like a Texan BBQ restaurant.

“It’s like how BBQ is, at least in Texas, where there were places that were open two days a week,” Megan said. “People would line up, and when it sold out, it sold out. Obviously, we’re not there yet, but that’s the model. We can only smoke so much meat, so get here early.”

According to Antonio, this model, while maybe a surprise to Taoseños, is the best way to deliver quality BBQ.

Among other Texan treats, the menu encompasses both Antonio’s and Megan’s heritage. Megan, who is Hungarian, incorporates themes of her culture into the food, which already has traces of Native American and, of course, Texan cuisine.

“So, we’ve got kind of a whole mashup of the Native side, we’ve got some Hungarian, we have the Texas stuff,” Megan said. “I feel like the menu is just us. It didn’t require a lot of thought or planning, it was just kind of like, ‘This is what we feed people when we cook.’”

Not only is the menu culturally diverse, but the meats and

NATHAN BURTON/Taos News LEFT: Chef and co-owner Antonio Narro stands for a portrait inside his and his wife’s newly opened Blue Deer Barbeque. RIGHT: Blue Deer’s piñonsmoked black Angus choice beef brisket smoked 18 hours, seasoned with an in-house dry rub and drizzled with a signature blueberry barbecue sauce served over Lakota-inspired fry bread. The brisket is paired with Texas style corn elote with cotija cheese and a Mexican inspired honey-lime coleslaw.