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Jonny Butch (left) and Joseph Bastian slice barbecue at Goldee’s BBQ on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star, the first for a Fort Worth restaurant.<\/p>\n
Imelda Garc\u00eda\/Staff writer<\/p>\n
At 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, Joel Vienneau and Martin Hamel were already waiting by the door of Goldee\u2019s BBQ<\/a> in Fort Worth<\/a>. They had traveled from Quebec, Canada, as part of a tour of Louisiana and Texas to try some of the best barbecue spots.\u00a0<\/p>\n They didn\u2019t know they were about to witness a historic moment for the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI will be able to say that I was here the day this happened,\u201d\u00a0Vienneau said. \u201cI\u2019m happy for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Martin Hamel (left) and Joel Vienneau, from Quebec, Canada, were the first customers at Goldee’s BBQ on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. They were on a BBQ road trip through Louisiana and Texas, celebrating their 50th birthdays.<\/p>\n Imelda Garcia\/Staff writer<\/p>\n Goldee\u2019s BBQ received a Michelin star<\/a> Thursday, becoming the first restaurant in Fort Worth to earn the distinction.\u00a0<\/p>\n For its four owners,\u00a0Nupohn Inthanousay, Lane Milne, Jalen Heard and Zain Shafi, the recognition came after years of cooking together.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI feel pretty good. I actually do feel very proud of all the work that we\u2019ve done, especially the staff, for sure,\u201d Inthanousay said. \u201cToday\u2019s accolade is a reflection of them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The four owners of Goldee’s BBQ, in Fort Worth (left to right): Jalen Heard, Nupohn Inthanousay, Zain Shafi and Lane Milne, on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. Goldee’s is the first Fort Worth restaurant to earn a Michelin star.<\/p>\n Imelda Garcia\/Staff writer<\/p>\n The restaurant\u2019s story began years before it opened in February 2020. Its founders, Inthanousay, Milne, Heard, Dylan Taylor and Jonny\u00a0White, met while growing up in Arlington. Some had been friends since elementary school, but they all became close while attending Martin High School.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n After graduating, they moved to Austin for college. Between 2013 and 2014, they discovered their love for Texas craft barbecue when they all began working at different restaurants around the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe would come together on our days off and show each other what we have learned and try new things,\u201d Inthanousay recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n They spent several years learning the ins and outs of barbecue.\u00a0<\/p>\n A $194 tray of BBQ sits on one of the inside tables at Goldee\u2019s BBQ, Thursday Oct. 8, 2026, in Fort Worth. The restaurant seats 48 inside and 24 outside. The tray contains almost every meat offering from the restaurant.<\/p>\n Bob Booth\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n During that time, they saved money by teaching barbecue classes and doing catering. In 2019, they returned to Arlington and found the small building where they would eventually open Goldee\u2019s BBQ in early 2020. The restaurant is at 4645 Dick Price Road in Fort Worth, where a large, weathered sign on the road greets diners.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The location mattered to them because they wanted a place with character.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe found a place that kind of had the vibe that we wanted, so we could start up with a low cost, and then just kind of gradually build and see how it went from there,\u201d Milne said.\u00a0<\/p>\n But soon afterward, the pandemic forced the restaurant to close in March 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n People lined up outside Goldee\u2019s BBQ, Thursday Oct. 8, 2026, in Fort Worth. The restaurant just won a Michelin star.<\/p>\n Bob Booth\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Goldee\u2019s stayed closed for about a month, then began offering curbside service for a year and a half.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Recognition came with a February 2021 article<\/a> in The Dallas Morning News that helped put them on the map. In October 2021,\u00a0Texas Monthly\u00a0ranked<\/a> it No. 1 on its list of the state\u2019s 50 best barbecue joints<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dylan Taylor and Jonny White left the project to pursue other business ventures, and Zain Shafi joined the group.\u00a0<\/p>\n Along with its barbecue, one of the restaurant\u2019s defining features is that the team makes its own bread, pickles, potato salad, mayonnaise, beans, sauces and almost all the sausages it sells. The team also experiments with different barbecue preparations.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the owners, Jalen Heard, shows off some of the smoked briskets at Goldee\u2019s BBQ, Thursday Oct. 8, 2026, in Fort Worth. Heard said they go through around a ton of meat each week.<\/p>\n Bob Booth\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n And the menu continues to evolve. Inthanousay said the current recipes are not necessarily the same ones they served a year ago, or even a few months ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cOur menu is a living thing,\u201d Inthanousay said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Michelin star comes as Goldee\u2019s is already operating close to capacity. The restaurant seats just 48 people at eight tables, and people sometimes have to wait more than two hours in line to get their food.\u00a0<\/p>\n The owners have discussed the possibility of expanding, Inthanousay said, though they don\u2019t want to lose the atmosphere that has become part of the small restaurant\u2019s identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n With the inside dining room full, more than 40 people waited in line at Goldee\u2019s BBQ, Thursday Oct. 8, 2026, in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n Bob Booth\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Heard expects the recognition will probably bring in even more customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re just going to be a lot busier now,” he said. “I think a lot of people are going to see this and try to flood out Goldee\u2019s.”<\/p>\n Even before the Michelin star announcement, customers were willing to travel long distances to try the food.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vienneau and Hamel came from Quebec as part of a weeklong trip that began in Louisiana and included stops in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. The trip was a celebration of their 50th birthdays, with a specific goal: to try the best Texas barbecue.\u00a0<\/p>\n “And we haven’t been disappointed,” Hamel said.<\/p>\n They learned about Goldee\u2019s on YouTube and decided to include it on their itinerary.\u00a0<\/p>\n Madison Acu\u00f1a and Kimberly Ovalle work the register area and prepare a tray at Goldee\u2019s BBQ, Thursday Oct. 8, 2026, in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n Bob Booth\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n The second customer in line, Karl Finke, traveled from Abilene. He had tried to visit Goldee\u2019s years ago, but the line was so long that he decided to come back another time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to come just because I\u2019ve heard good things about it,\u201d Finke said.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Shafi, the variety of customers, from local residents to people arriving from other countries, represents what the team wants to preserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, if it\u2019s a local customer, international customer, we want to serve the best food possible,\u201d Shafi said. \u201cMaking sure that we\u2019re able to maintain that quality, but also continue to get better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Gentry St. Clair jokes around with customers as he tells them about the menu and what they have already sold out of by noon at Goldee\u2019s BBQ, Thursday Oct. 8, 2026, in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n Bob Booth\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Inthanousay said they never imagined receiving international recognition.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, as they prepare for a new wave of customers, the owners say their goal remains the same: cook well and improve their service.\u00a0<\/p>\n Goldee’s BBQ is at 4645 Dick Price Road in Fort Worth. A large, weathered sign along the road indicates that you have arrived.<\/p>\n Imelda Garc\u00eda\/Staff writer<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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