For barbecue fans, the problem with visiting Lubbock is that it’s not really on the way to anywhere.

Unlike, say, Seguin, where you can drop in for lunch (or breakfast) at Burnt Bean Co. on the way to San Antonio, or Elgin, where you can grab a bite at Southside Market on the way to Austin, Lubbock sits alone on the high plains of far West Texas – a destination rather than a convenient detour.

Fortunately, when it comes to destination-worthy barbecue, the town of Wolfforth, just west of Lubbock, is home to one of the best barbecue joints in the state: Evie Mae’s Pit Barbeque.

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The story of how owners Arnis and Mallory Robbins opened a world-class barbecue joint in far west Texas in 2017 is a classic tale of opportunity and resourcefulness.

Originally from New Mexico, the couple met and married in Tucson, Arizona. Arnis has celiac disease, which means he can’t eat gluten, the main ingredient in bread and other grain-based foods.

In a time before most menus had “gluten-free” options, their choices for eating out were limited. One cuisine that fit the bill was barbecue, where the meat-heavy menu is naturally gluten-free.

So, the couple spent a lot of time cooking barbecue in their backyard. Arnis, who grew up on a peanut farm, knew how to weld and built his own reverse-flow smoker to learn how to make barbecue.

“We didn’t grow up eating barbecue,” says Mallory, “But we started cooking for our neighbors because we had this huge smoker in our backyard.”

In 2014 they opened a weekends-only barbecue trailer in Tucson, before craft-style Texas barbecue gained a foothold in Arizona. They named it after their daughter, Evie Mae.

Eventually they’d move to Wolfforth to be near family. After a couple more years in a trailer – which can be a challenge in the cold, howling wind of west Texas – they opened their current brick-and-mortar in 2017.

Arnis continued to build his own custom designed-and-welded reverse-flow smokers, which became somewhat legendary in the Texas barbecue community at the time for their cooking capabilities.

Pitmaster Wade Elkins, formerly of Reveille Barbecue Co. in Magnolia and now co-owner of Mimsy’s Craft Barbecue in Crockett, still owns one of the original a trailer-mounted Evie Mae’s smokers that he still uses to this day.

From the get-go, Evie Mae’s garnered both popular and critical accolades. It became a staple of the Wolfforth community, where a quality barbecue joint was a natural addition to this mainly agricultural area.

Evie Mae’s is one of the few joints that have retained a top 10 ranking in the last three editions of Texas Monthly magazine’s 50 Best Barbecue Joints lists in 2017, 2021 and 2025.

The menu here is admirably focused, with a traditional selection of proteins like brisket, pork ribs, turkey, pulled pork along with house-made sausage. Reflecting their New Mexican heritage, several of the menu items feature hatch green chiles, including Arnis’ green-chile-and-cheese sausage and Mallory’s green-chile cheese grits. Most of the baked goods here are gluten-free, including the exemplary cornbread.

The location in wind-whipped west Texas has been a blessing and a challenge for Evie Mae’s. Being one of the only craft barbecue joints in the entire region has established them as the go-to for barbecue fans in the area.

However, unlike other high-profile joints on the barbecue trail in central Texas, many smoked meat connoisseurs miss out on what is certainly a destination joint in the west Texas desert. It’s worth the drive.

Evie Mae’s Pit Barbeque
217 US-62, Wolfforth; eviemaesbbq.com
Open 11a.m.-3 p.m. Tues.Sun.

This article originally published at It’s a long way from Houston, but this spot near Lubbock serves some of the best barbecue in Texas.