Patrick Hicks, the co-founder of Arlington’s acclaimed Smoke N’ Ash BBQ, known for blending traditional Texas barbecue with Ethiopian flavors, has died after suffering a stroke.<\/p>\n
His wife, Fasicka Hicks, said his death was sudden and left the family in shock, despite his two-year battle with cancer.<\/p>\n
Now, as the family mourns, they’re determined to keep the restaurant going and preserve the legacy he built.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to make sure that Patrick Hicks is Smoke N\u2019 Ash BBQ and we\u2019re going to stand tall for him. That\u2019s the only way I can fill, you know, the gap of the loss I have right now,\u201d Fasicka Hicks said.<\/p>\n
The restaurant has earned recognition from Guy Fieri and the Michelin Guide, along with a feature on NBC 5’s Texas Today.<\/p>\n
Inside Smoke N’ Ash BBQ, a wall of accolades reflects years of hard work and a willingness to challenge the traditional Texas barbecue scene by introducing Ethiopian flavors.<\/p>\n
But the restaurant’s story began long before the recognition.<\/p>\n
Fasicka Hicks was just 22 when she met Patrick in his hometown of Waco. A recent immigrant from Ethiopia, she said Patrick helped her navigate life in the United States.<\/p>\n
The couple went on to have two daughters, Lydia and Avinet, and eventually launched a barbecue business that took years to evolve into the Smoke N’ Ash BBQ of today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Texas Ethiopian thing has been going on for years. And I know having it in Smoke N’ Ash BBQ is introducing it to our community, but the existence was there in our family,\u201d Fasicka Hicks said.<\/p>\n
Working together also gave her a deeper appreciation for the man she married.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned so much [ABOUT] the type of person he was the last 10 years than the entire years of our time together. Learned about his patience, learned how much he cared about me. I never knew the care was that significant up until we started spending all our time together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For the couple’s daughters, the loss is difficult to put into words.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something I never knew I would have to navigate. I never imagined a life without my dad\u2026\u201d one of his daughters said.<\/p>\n
While Smoke N’ Ash BBQ has become a celebrated part of Arlington’s dining scene, his family wants people to remember that Patrick’s impact extended far beyond the restaurant.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s more than just the restaurant. I think that, he\u2019s my dad, he\u2019s a father, he\u2019s a very impactful man\u2026\u201d one of his daughters said.<\/p>\n
For Fasicka Hicks, continuing the restaurant’s Ethiopian-Texan barbecue tradition is one way to honor her husband and the life they built together.<\/p>\n
And for his daughters, being a celebrated pitmaster will always be just one part of their father’s story.<\/p>\n
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patrick Hicks, the co-founder of Arlington’s acclaimed Smoke N’ Ash BBQ, known for blending traditional Texas barbecue with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[150,116,118,117],"class_list":["post-461097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-arlington","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461097","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=461097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}