PANTEGO
David’s Barbecue could not be more perfect.
As a fourth-generation restaurant from North Texas’ Red and Sonny Bryan barbecue dynasty, David’s is everything a traditional Texas barbecue place should be, but without the slick menu or high prices.
How fitting that David’s is at 2224 W. Park Row Drive. That’s between Michelin-ranked Goldee’s and Arlington sensation Hurtado.
It’s like traveling through time to go from those top examples of contemporary Texas barbecue to David’s, unchanged since 1965 with a lineage dating back to 1910.
David’s is more than a classic. It’s a museum piece of old-time Texas, from the wood paneling and cafeteria-style service to the hickory-smoked brisket, pork ribs, sausage and ham, with serve-yourself sides, peppers, onions and relish.
This is not the new-style brisket rubbed with pepper.
But it’s also not $35 a pound.
A combo plate with pork ribs, brisket and turkey at David’s Barbecue in Pantego, Texas, as seen Feb. 27, 2026. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
David’s brisket sells for about $23 a pound. It’s as cheap as $14.95 on a small dinner plate with simple and flavorful baked beans, slaw, potato salad or fresh-cut fried okra or onion rings.
On a recent visit, the brisket and ribs were perfect traditional barbecue. The brisket was lean (without asking) and tasted like good, tender beef, not just rub.
Pork ribs were glazed and tender.
The only letdown was David’s house-made sauce, an older and thinner version. (More hot sauces would help.)
Today, this is considered bargain barbecue.
David’s Barbecue in Pantego, Texas, is a fourth-generation restaurant that traces back to 1910 and Red Bryan’s in Dallas. The place is decorated with photos of family, friends, and guests, seen July 17, 1996. Paul Moseley Star-Telegram archives
But until 2010, when small-batch craft barbecue started taking over the business, this would have been considered Arlington’s best and one of North Texas’ best, a category usually led back then by Sonny Bryan’s in Dallas and Angelo’s in Fort Worth.
Red and Sonny Bryan’s Dallas restaurants date back to Feb. 13, 1910, when Elias Bryan’s restaurant opened in Oak Cliff.
But the Arlington history dates back to 1965, when a Red Bryan’s Smokehouse location opened at 611 N. Collins St. That’s now the AT&T Stadium parking lot.
The old-time felt menu board at David’s Barbecue in Pantego, seen Feb. 27, 2026. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
David Bryan Harris, a nephew, ran that Red Bryan’s. In the early days of Texas Rangers baseball and Six Flags Over Texas, it became an Arlington landmark.
When that site was sold for to a developer, Harris took the equipment, furnishings and barbecue to a new shopping center in Pantego.
The restaurant now belongs to son-in-law Austin Payne.
David’s is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday; 817-261-9998, davidsbarbecuetx.com.
David’s Barbecue in Pantego, Texas, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020 by selling sandwiches for $1, as seen Jan. 27, 2010. Willis Knight Star-Telegram archives
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Bud Kennedy is celebrating his 40th year writing about restaurants in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has written the “Eats Beat” dining column in print since 1985 and online since 1992 — that’s more than 3,000 columns about Texas cafes, barbecue, burgers and where to eat.
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