Brisket & Rice brings Central Texas fare to northwest Houston
easternmost stretch of FM 529 in northwest Houston is populated by a who’s who of offshore oil service companies. Large industrial facilities emblazoned with names like Oceaneering and Weatherford act as hubs around which a multitude of supporting services, such as machine shops, pipe fitters and truck stops, are located.
Such a concentrated workforce needs to be fed, and a diversity of cuisines exist here — Mexican, Tex-Mex, Vietnamese, Indian and even Greek restaurants line the highway.
Barbecue has been underrepresented, with only a handful of places opening and closing in recent years.
That changed a few months ago when a new barbecue joint called Brisket & Rice opened its doors in the end cap of a busy gas station at the intersection of Eldridge Parkway. Conceived by brothers Phong and Hong Tran, it is another classic story of backyard cooks making the leap to commercial barbecue.
The Trans’ story is unique in several ways. First, they have no previous experience in the restaurant business. Nor were they connoisseurs or even frequent patrons of well-known craft barbecue joints. Their experience was confined to cooking Central Texas-style barbecue for friends and family in their backyard.
As is the case for many aspiring pitmasters and backyard cooks, the hobby became an obsession. They supplemented their trial-and-error techniques by watching online meat-smoking videos. Eventually, the “eureka” moment happened — they decided to go pro.
“We’re both in our 40s, and it was now or never,” says Hong. “Not many people in their 50s or 60s start barbecue joints.”
First, they needed a location. But approaching commercial landlords about restaurant space when you have no restauThe rant experience proved to be a challenge.
The brothers are both machinists — Hong, 41, works in the area. He frequented the gas station where Brisket & Rice is now located and became friendly with the managers. The attached restaurant space had been unoccupied for a while, and he inquired about it. Because they knew Hong from his patronage, the landlords gave the brothers a chance and offered a lease.
Using their personal savings, the Trans remodeled the interior and added an outdoor pit room, doing much of the work themselves. They acquired twin 500-gallon offset smokers from Georgia-based Primitive Pits and opened in March. They chose this pit maker because it also makes the brand of backyard pit that they learned on, a smaller offset-style Workhouse Pit.
The menu is admirably edited and focused. It centers on a classic Central Texas-style trinity of brisket, pork ribs and house-made sausage, all of which are excellent. Currently, Phong, 43, and Hong tag-team pitmaster duties (Hong still works his current day job as a machine shop manager). Hong’s wife, Michelle, helps out with the sides, desserts and working the order counter.
There are additional dishes that reflect the brother’s Vietnamese American background. The signature Brisket & Rice dish is a deceptively simple plate of white rice and a couple of slices of brisket drizzled with a tomato-based sauce. There’s also a barbecue fried rice dish. It’s essential comfort food that reflects the Trans’ experience growing up in a large family.
“It’s basically what we ate growing up,” says Hong, noting that it was too expensive for all the kids in his family to get a three-meat plate when they ordered out for barbecue.
“Asian families always have a pot of rice cooking, so we all got some brisket with rice and barbecue sauce.”