One of Texas’s most acclaimed barbecue restaurants has removed brisket from its menu, as soaring beef prices put mounting pressure on smokehouses across the United States.
Butter’s BBQ in Sinton, Texas, dropped the state’s signature barbecue meat after wholesale costs climbed so dramatically that owner and pitmaster Andrew Soto said he could no longer afford to serve it.
Soto said the decision came after the price of brisket rose by $1 per pound in a single week.
Passing that increase on to customers would have forced the restaurant to raise its price from $37 to $51 per pound — a figure Soto was unwilling to charge.
‘That was the final straw that broke the camel’s back,’ Soto told The Washington Post.
Beef prices across the US have surged amid high grain costs, inflation, elevated interest rates and, in some regions, drought.
Over the past year, steak prices have increased by 4 percent, ground beef by 7.2 percent and beef roast by 8.4 percent, according to an August consumer price index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Butter’s BBQ said on social media that it would remove its best-known dish, apologizing to customers and explaining that brisket had come to represent more than 70 percent of its total inventory costs.
Butter’s BBQ in Sinton, Texas, removed brisket from its menu after wholesale prices rose so sharply that owner Andrew Soto said the restaurant could no longer afford to serve it.
Andrew Soto, the restaurant’s owner and pitmaster, said the decision followed a $1-per-pound increase in the cost of brisket over a single week.
‘We apologize tremendously, we’ve done all we can to combat the constant price hikes, but we can no longer sustain our current business model,’ the restaurant wrote.
The decision carries particular weight because Butter’s BBQ is the first restaurant on Texas Monthly’s list of the state’s top 50 smokehouses to eliminate brisket entirely, according to the magazine’s barbecue editor, Daniel Vaughn.
The move underscores the growing financial strain facing independent barbecue restaurants, with pitmasters across Texas warning that rising operating costs are making it harder to remain in business.
Soto’s restaurant is in Sinton, a town of about 6,000 residents roughly 20 miles north of Corpus Christi. He said sales during one recent weekend were 60 percent lower than during the same period last year.
Rather than shut down, Butter’s BBQ plans to offer smoked beef cheeks as a more affordable replacement.
Even so, the change marks a significant shift for a restaurant whose identity has been closely tied to one of Texas barbecue’s most cherished cuts.
Butter’s BBQ is far from the only smokehouse feeling the impact of the beef-price crisis.
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Several Texas barbecue restaurants have closed in recent months, including Fiasco BBQ in Austin, Kelly’s Hill Country BBQ in Wimberley, Lenox Bar-B-Q in Houston, Brett’s BBQ Shop west of Houston, Sabar BBQ in Fort Worth and Wright On Taco & BBQ in East Texas.
Butter’s BBQ said brisket had grown to more than 70 percent of its total inventory bill. The cut cost $30 per pound at the restaurant in 2023.
Butter’s BBQ is the first restaurant on Texas Monthly’s list of the state’s top 50 smokehouses to remove brisket entirely.
The soaring cost of beef is a major factor, with the US cattle herd shrinking to its lowest level in 75 years after prolonged drought conditions.
US Department of Agriculture figures show average retail beef prices reached a record $9.64 per pound in April, up 13 percent from a year earlier.
Industry experts have also pointed to higher operating costs since the pandemic, meatpacker pricing and tariffs imposed under President Donald Trump as factors squeezing businesses.
For barbecue restaurants, brisket is particularly expensive because it requires long cooking times and significant preparation, while customers are already struggling with higher food prices.
Shawn Jones, who ran Kirby’s BBQ in New Caney, Texas, announced that his restaurant would close at the end of 2025, citing unsustainable beef prices.
‘With brisket being our biggest seller here in Texas, that is really weighing on our profit margins,’ Jones told his followers on YouTube.
He warned that a barbecue meal could easily cost customers between $70 and $100 once ribs, sausage, sides and desserts were included.
‘That’s just not something that most of middle America can do as often as they would need to to support most barbecue joints,’ he said.
For barbecue restaurants, brisket is particularly expensive because it requires long cooking times inside the smoker and significant preparation
Russell Roegels, who owns two barbecue restaurants in Houston, told The Washington Post that the industry was facing an unprecedented squeeze.
‘This is as bad as it gets,’ he said. ‘Everybody’s at risk these days: You’re one bad week from closing.’
For Butter’s BBQ, removing brisket may help keep the doors open, but it marks a painful moment for a restaurant whose identity is built around Texas barbecue.
Soto acknowledged how difficult the decision was.
‘It’s a gut punch,’ he said. ‘It really does hurt.’