{"id":447862,"date":"2026-09-25T23:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T23:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/447862\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T23:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T23:06:11","slug":"abilenes-jays-bbq-shack-tops-usa-todays-texas-style-barbecue-contest-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/447862\/","title":{"rendered":"Abilene\u2019s Jay\u2019s BBQ Shack tops USA Today\u2019s Texas-style barbecue contest rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abilene, Texas \u2014 An Abilene barbecue restaurant is drawing national attention as it sits atop USA Today\u2019s Best Texas-style barbecue competition.<\/p>\n

Jay\u2019s BBQ Shack is currently listed in first place in the contest. Owner Jay said the restaurant learned about a week ago that it had been nominated.<\/p>\n

\"Jay\u2019s<\/p>\n

Jay\u2019s BBQ Shack is currently listed in first place in the contest. Owner Jay said the restaurant learned about a week ago that it had been nominated. (KTXS, Kayla Hamlett)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found out about a week ago that we were nominated by USA Today for a top ten Texas-style barbecue restaurants in the nation. And they narrowed it down to 20. And then everybody votes for the top ten, and currently we\u2019re in first place,\u201d Jay said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The recognition comes for a business that opened in 2015, starting as a catering operation before moving to a food truck and eventually into a brick-and-mortar location. (KTXS, Kayla Hamlett)<\/p>\n

The recognition comes for a business that opened in 2015, starting as a catering operation before moving to a food truck and eventually into a brick-and-mortar location.<\/p>\n

\"Behind<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, the work starts early. Jay said the crew fires up the pits around 3:30 in the morning and cooks meat for hours before customers arrive. (KTXS, Kayla Hamlett)<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, the work starts early. Jay said the crew fires up the pits around 3:30 in the morning and cooks meat for hours before customers arrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started at 3:30 in the morning, fire pits, get the big meats on, and then cook all day,\u201d Jay said.<\/p>\n

Customers said brisket is a standout and appears to be the most popular item on the menu.<\/p>\n

\"Customers<\/p>\n

Customers said brisket is a standout and appears to be the most popular item on the menu. (KTXS, Kayla Hamlett)<\/p>\n

\u201cFavorite would have to be probably just the sliced brisket,\u201d one customer said.<\/p>\n

Another customer said they sought out the restaurant after doing research.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did some research because we haven\u2019t had any barbecue yet, and everyone said that this was on the Texas Monthly Top 50… so you\u2019re like, well, I have to try it out,\u201d the customer said.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cI<\/p>\n

\u201cI did some research because we haven\u2019t had any barbecue yet, and everyone said that this was on the Texas Monthly Top 50… so you\u2019re like, well, I have to try it out,\u201d the customer said. (KTXS, Kayla Hamlett)<\/p>\n

Others praised the food and encouraged people to try it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love coming here. This is some of the best barbecue you can get. Highly recommended. The brisket is always A-one,\u201d a customer said.<\/p>\n

\"Customers<\/p>\n

Customers have traveled from outside West Texas to try the barbecue, including visitors from Washington state and Florida. (KTXS, Kayla Hamlett)<\/p>\n

Customers have traveled from outside West Texas to try the barbecue, including visitors from Washington state and Florida.<\/p>\n

\"Voting<\/p>\n

Voting is open through mid-October. Jay said voting is as simple as clicking the link and pressing vote, and he hopes local support helps keep the restaurant at the top. (KTXS, Kayla Hamlett)<\/p>\n

Voting is open through mid-October. Jay said voting is as simple as clicking the link<\/a> and pressing vote, and he hopes local support helps keep the restaurant at the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support the community gives us, we\u2019ll probably stay in first place because, you know, we\u2019ve got a lot of fans here,\u201d Jay said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Abilene, Texas \u2014 An Abilene barbecue restaurant is drawing national attention as it sits atop USA Today\u2019s Best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-447862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447862","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=447862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}