{"id":358348,"date":"2026-07-02T08:41:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T08:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/358348\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T08:41:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T08:41:47","slug":"this-barbecue-joint-is-the-world-cups-biggest-winner-in-dallas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/358348\/","title":{"rendered":"This Barbecue Joint Is the World Cup\u2019s Biggest Winner in Dallas"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the first full week of the FIFA World Cup<\/a>, the Dallas location of Terry Black\u2019s Barbecue<\/a> brought in $2 million in sales. The following week, it made the same amount in just five and a half days, general manager Nate Werner told me. He was beaming with pride as he relayed this information when I stopped in for lunch on Monday. \u201cThe previous record was $752,000 in a week,\u201d he said. The statewide chain, founded in Austin in 2014, has been a barbecue powerhouse for years, producing smoked meats at a rate most joints are not capable of. Craig Crisafi, who has been on the pit staff at the Dallas restaurant since it opened, seven years ago, said, \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diners who\u2019ve traveled to the World Cup host city<\/a> have been wielding Terry Black\u2019s beef-rib bones as their own trophies all over social media. The bones are a uniquely Texan symbol of a uniquely American cuisine<\/a> that international travelers have embraced. \u201cEverybody wants a beef rib,\u201d Crisafi said. \u201cThey see it on the block with the bone and know they can hold up that bone.\u201d A standard-sized beef rib, which weighs about a pound and a half, can cost around $60. \u201cThey don\u2019t care what it costs,\u201d Werner said. The Terry Black\u2019s social media team<\/a> has embraced the star power of the rib, holding a clean bone out like a microphone and asking guests to share their predictions for the World Cup winner.<\/p>\n

The first viral World Cup\u2013related Terry Black\u2019s post I noticed was from the Instagram account @bob_travel__<\/a>, run by a fan of Japan\u2019s national team. Bob traveled to Dallas and filmed his experiences of several American firsts, including indoor baseball, birria tacos<\/a>, and Whataburger<\/a>. On June 17, he doused a Terry Black\u2019s beef rib with sauce, took his first-ever bite of Texas barbecue, and, with a full mouth, declared: \u201cAmazing! I love it!\u201d He also posted the video to TikTok<\/a>, where it currently has 4.1 million views. Last week Bob became a repeat visitor, this time wearing a cowboy hat, and Terry Black\u2019s enjoyed another viral moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Japan and the Netherlands had tied 2\u20132 a few days earlier at AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, which has been temporarily renamed Dallas Stadium at FIFA\u2019s behest. FIFA\u2019s choice to brand Dallas as the host city had an effect on neighboring Fort Worth. The Fort Worth location of Terry Black\u2019s is actually three miles closer to the stadium than the Dallas location, but Werner said it hasn\u2019t enjoyed the same sales bump. \u201cThey\u2019re maybe twenty-five percent up, and I\u2019m almost two-hundred-fifty percent up from last year.\u201d When King Abdullah II of Jordan wanted barbecue before watching his country play against Argentina on June 27, he chose Terry Black\u2019s, but the Dallas location didn\u2019t have a private room available. \u201cWe\u2019re too busy for the king of Jordan,\u201d Werner said, so the ruler got a royal welcome at the Fort Worth location instead.<\/p>\n

The line that stretches down the block at the Dallas location has convinced some visitors to reserve the Terry Black\u2019s BBQ Experience<\/a> through OpenTable. For $150 per person, guests skip the line to feast on half a beef rib, slices of brisket and turkey, a pork rib, a link of sausage, sides, and dessert, and they get a pit-room tour. Werner estimates his location is selling about sixty of those seats per day.<\/p>\n

\"photo\"photoFans of the Austrian national team enjoy barbecue at Terry Black\u2019s Dallas location.Antonio Jimenez<\/p>\n

Father\u2019s Day was what Crisafi described as \u201ca perfect storm.\u201d Along with the holiday, the World Cup was in full swing, and a Food Network show called Top 10<\/a> had just named the Terry Black\u2019s beef rib the single best barbecue item in the country. On a normal weekend, the Dallas location smokes up to 90 racks of beef ribs. On June 21, it smoked an astounding 280 racks. It borrowed a thousand-gallon offset from the Austin location to cook them all. The other smokers were packed with briskets, but more reinforcements were needed. The Waco location sent 90 smoked briskets, and Fort Worth sent over 60 more. In total, the Dallas location served every bit of its 435 briskets that Sunday.<\/p>\n

The World Cup crowds descending on Terry Black\u2019s aren\u2019t there to watch soccer. Unlike the popular pubs in Dallas\u2019s Deep Ellum neighborhood that are year-round sports havens thanks to their combinations of booze and a vast array of television screens, Terry Black\u2019s has just one small TV hanging at the end of the bar. If you watch the video posted to Terry Black\u2019s Instagram on June 21, the day before Argentina\u2019s win over Austria, you\u2019ll see a dining room full of Argentina fans dancing and chanting<\/a> in anticipation with that tiny TV in the background.<\/p>\n

When I visited this week for lunch, about thirty people had gathered along the bar to watch as Brazil knocked Japan out of the competition. I could tell when something consequential had happened from their groans or cheers. I didn\u2019t have to wait long in line for my tray of brisket, ribs, and turkey, but there wasn\u2019t a single open table in the dining room. I found a shady spot on the patio out front instead. Werner said I was lucky to catch an unusual lull; he expected loads of Norwegian fans that evening for the following day\u2019s game against Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n

I asked Crisafi if he had gotten any breaks from the grueling schedule during this unprecedented run. He said he had the day off this past Saturday, but instead of resting, he drove down to Lexington. \u201cI had never been to Snow\u2019s,\u201d Crisafi said. He got to meet pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz<\/a> and owner Kerry Bexley and enjoy a different version of Texas barbecue. Werner stayed back in Dallas, focused on his own competition. \u201cWe have never beaten Austin in a week,\u201d he said of the sales numbers. On a triumphant Monday afternoon, he told me, \u201clast night, at 9:35, I beat them by three thousand dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Next<\/p>\n