Engineering a new barbecue joint in Tomball
Growing up on a farm outside San Antonio, Justin Haecker loved nothing more than taking things apart and putting them back together. A self-described “Lego kid,” he excelled in math and science and would eventually study biological and agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University, focusing on renewable energy and machine systems (think industrial tractors and harvest combines).
After graduating in 2011, he took a job at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension service, where he met a fellow graduate who recently made the jump to offshore engineering, specifically subsea valves and drilling equipment. Fascinated by the machinery, Haecker would take a job at FMC Technologies (now TechnipFMC) in Houston later that year.
FMC has a competition barbecue team, and Haecker volunteered to cook brisket at the various charitable events in which it participated. Turns out he had some experience in that area, too.
Growing up, when he wasn’t taking things apart, he was cooking with his grandmother Wanda.
“We were an old German family,” he says. “In our family, lunch was called ‘dinner’ and was the biggest meal of the day. Dinner was called ‘supper,’ and that was a smaller meal in the evening.”
In high school, Haecker worked at Bill Miller Bar-B-Q, a San Antonio institution, and then at the Rudy’s Bar-B-Q outlet in College Station when he attended A&M. Haecker gained praise for his brisket while at
FMC and, like many barbecue origin stories, began to think of a way to make the jump to retail barbecue.
By 2016, his barbecue dream seemed out of reach. He’d moved up to a management position at FMC, and he and his wife, Kathryn, had two young sons. Not giving up, Haecker looked at it like an engineering problem. What are the tools and processes that he could use to efficiently make quality barbecue in his very limited free time?
First, he acquired a booth at the Tomball Farmers Market that occurred every Saturday. This offered a semi-permanent place and time to sell his barbecue, with a built-in audience.
Then he looked at the equipment he needed to make consistently great barbecue. A traditional offset barrel smoker was out of the question as it took too much time to operate. His engineering background drew him to a relatively new technology in Texas barbecue — commercialgrade pellet smokers. These devices use compressed wood chips or “pellets” as the fuel source, instead of full logs of wood. They can be programmed to cook the barbecue without much intervention by the pitmaster — just what he needed for his limited schedule.
Pellet smokers can be controversial in Texas barbecue as they are seen as taking a shortcut to smoking meat. But contemporary models produce great results if the pitmaster knows what he or she is doing. Haecker bought a trailer-mounted, commercial-grade pellet smoker and spent the next three years paying his dues by selling brisket every week at the farmers market, in between holidays and bad weather.
He gained a loyal following for his brisket. He credits his entire family for the success — he and Kathryn received plenty of help from their parents and siblings in taking care of the kids, among other assistance. In honor of his upbringing, he named his venture “Bexar County Brisket” based on the county that encompasses San Antonio and surrounding areas.
In 2019, Haecker began researching locations for a permanent restaurant. By 2020, he left his job at FMC, acquired a second commercial-grade pellet cooker and officially opened his
storefront on June 13 in a shopping center on Tomball Parkway. He renamed the business “Bexar Barbecue” to reflect an expanded menu.
On a recent visit, I sampled most of his menu, featuring the Texas trinity of brisket, ribs and house-made sausage, as well as a selection of side dishes. Though the barbecue did not have the deep smoky flavor that you get at places that use offset smokers, the brisket was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The side dishes, all house-made and reflecting the influence of his grandmother’s cooking, were excellent. The restaurant features an expansive dining room and family-friendly outdoor patio.
Haecker admits it’s been a challenge leaving a well-paying job and opening a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic, but he’s engineered the venture to succeed.