{"id":426091,"date":"2026-09-04T13:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/426091\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T13:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:08:13","slug":"pitmasters-champs-esaul-and-grecia-ramos-on-a-crazy-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/426091\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Pitmasters\u2019 champs Esaul and Grecia Ramos on a crazy ride"},"content":{"rendered":"

La vida loca hits hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just ask Esaul and Grecia Ramos.<\/p>\n

One day they\u2019re pitmaster and pastry chef. The next day they\u2019re Food Network<\/a> stars.<\/p>\n

The couple occupies a strange universe. A place where their phones and social media handles blow up with messages from around the world. A place where they field requests for interviews and accept special recognition from City Hall (next week).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since they were crowned champions<\/a> of \u201cPitmasters<\/a>\u201d Monday night, the Ramoses have awakened to a sobering reality: The crazy life. <\/p>\n

They\u2019re celebrities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been super surreal,\u201d Grecia Ramos said.<\/p>\n

A line began forming Thursday at their Michelin-recognized barbecue joint, 2M Smokehouse<\/a>, 2 \u00bd hours before it opened. The Ramoses weren\u2019t there. They had a marketing appointment with Visit San Antonio<\/a>, the city\u2019s tourism agency, followed by an interview for a new culinary podcast.<\/p>\n

\"\"People wait in line outside 2M Smokehouse BBQ before opening on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. Credit: Jo E. Norris for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

The night before, the husband-wife team appeared on a podcast, \u201cSo Smokin\u2019 Gooder Show<\/a>,\u201d to discuss their Food Network triumph, the birth of 2M and how they first got into barbecue.<\/p>\n

Long story short: Esaul fell in love with backyard family barbecuing at 14. He took a job at an Austin smokehouse in 2014 and commuted for two years. He connected with Grecia through Facebook (they didn\u2019t know each other at Southwest High School but had mutual friends), bought 2M on Craigslist and got married.<\/p>\n

Almost 10 years later, they\u2019re navigating a plethora of calls, requests and demands for their time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to consider myself a celebrity,\u201d said Grecia, who owns Baked By Chef Grecia Ramos<\/a> in Castroville. \u201cI\u2019m just a pastry chef who loves doing what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

To understand the power of the couple\u2019s new popularity, consider this: Valerie Martinez left her home on three hours of sleep and rushed to 2M Smokehouse Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pulled in at 8:29,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Doors open at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n

Martinez is a first-timer. She followed the Ramoses on \u201cPitmasters\u201d and cheered when they won. She wanted to try their brisket. She didn\u2019t want to be late.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The first customers John and Lisa Ramirez of Lubbock, left, and Valerie Mendoza and Veronica Martinez of San Antonio enjoy their food the at 2M Smokehouse on Thursday days after its owners won big on Food Network\u2019s \u201cPitmasters\u201d show. Credit: Jo E. Norris for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw online that the first eight people that come get a $25 gift card,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Martinez worked in hospitality at the Karol G concert Wednesday night at the Alamodome. She got home late, rose early to take her child to school and sped to 2M.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for lines to form 30 minutes before 2M opens. But 2 \u00bd hours early is new territory. By the time doors opened, more than 60 people were standing in line and cars and trucks were pulling into the parking lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was worth the wait,\u201d said Martinez, who ordered brisket tacos, street corn, coleslaw, chicharron mac and cheese and cheesecake. \u201cEverything was delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she left with a gift certificate.<\/p>\n

San Antonio loved 2M before the Ramoses competed on Food Network. The \u201cPitmasters\u201d show took that love to new heights. Social media posts stirred excitement and drew massive engagement. Watch parties at local drink and dining spots drew crowds from the first episode to the finale.<\/p>\n

When the Ramoses were proclaimed winners, a packed house at McIntyre\u2019s Southtown<\/a> erupted. On television, Esaul looked dumbfounded, a what-just-happened expression blanketing his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was disbelief,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was days and days of pouring everything you have into the competition. And then to come out triumphant, it was a lot of emotion. Disbelief.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Grecia and Esaul Ramos thank everyone for their support after they are announced winners of Food Network\u2019s \u201cPitmasters\u201d show at a watch party held at McIntyre\u2019s Sports Bar on Monday night. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

The Ramoses defeated Canadian chefs Connie DeSousa and John Jackson<\/a> in an intense, five-course meal finale. The only non-pitmaster on the show, Grecia delivered showstopping Mexican sweet bread for the fifth course: a concha prepared in the smoker. She served it with\u00a0a cup of caf\u00e9 de olla.<\/p>\n

\u201cPitmasters\u201d has inspired Grecia to add the concha to the 2M and Baked menus, along with two other desserts she made on the show: bread pudding and baklava cheesecake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bread pudding will become a staple,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the concha and cheesecake we\u2019ll add from time to time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her phone buzzed incessantly in the aftermath.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of love and support that came, not just from San Antonio, but from everywhere, was intense,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople from Guam, Mexico, North Carolina and Brazil were messaging us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Labor Day weekend approaches. Lines grow. Responsibilities mount. He\u2019s got a smokehouse to run. She\u2019s got a bakery to manage and new menu items to add.<\/p>\n

\"\"Brisket tacos are seen on a tray at 2M Smokehouse BBQ on Thursday. Credit: Jo E. Norris for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

They\u2019re preparing to expand 2M to the San Antonio International Airport in late September or early October. And, oh yes, they\u2019ve got waves of people clamoring for their time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s controlled chaos,\u201d Esaul said. \u201cBut if I\u2019m going to be stressed out, I want to be stressed out with something I love. That\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"La vida loca hits hard.\u00a0 Just ask Esaul and Grecia Ramos. One day they\u2019re pitmaster and pastry chef.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[8262,148142,8265,65771,130843,148143,28498,82,84,83,92,93],"class_list":["post-426091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-2m-smokehouse","tag-baked-by-chef-grecia-ramos","tag-esaul-ramos","tag-food-network","tag-grecia-ramos","tag-mcintyres-southtown","tag-pitmasters","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-top-story","tag-typefeature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}