Last week, Andrew Soto learned the wholesale price of his brisket had increased by $1 a pound, a dramatic leap even at a time of soaring beef costs across the country. The owner and pitmaster behind Butter’s BBQ in Sinton, Texas — one of the top 50 smokehouses in the state, according to Texas Monthly’s estimable list — figured he would need to charge customers $51 a pound to justify keeping brisket on the menu.
