LaVaca BBQ, A BBQ Dream That Just Keeps Getting Better

It might very well be every Texas BBQ restaurant's dream, to be featured for their food in our state's prestigious Texas Monthly magazine, BBQ column.

LaVaca BBQ just happened to do it within three months of opening its doors!

The feature article in Texas Monthly which debuted in February 2020 offered, "Ask Lupe Nevarez about the joint’s specialty, and the answer is surprising: smoked tamales."

Yep, they don't just serve award-winning BBQ. They serve award-winning smoked tamales too.

Owned and operated by Nevarez family, husband and wife team, Lupe and Christine spent relentless hours perfecting their BBQ repertoire, starting with competing in area BBQ cook-offs. They had considered purchasing a food truck, but then they found the perfect place, calling an old gas station located at 532 N Virginia in Port Lavaca home, well... home to some of the best BBQ in Texas that is!!!

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Jesus. Texas. Brisket. That's the Nevarez slogan on the sign that greets customers as they enter LaVaca BBQ. In two short years, they've served customers from all over the United States and continue to grow their business, with a new BBQ restaurant opening in Bay City soon!

Their daughter, Kelli Nevarez is the owner of LaVaca BBQ now with Lupe as a pitmaster and Christine could be considered the "Tamalemaster."

Spreading the masa on butcher paper before adding chopped pork and beef brisket Christine utilizes the butcher paper like the corn husk which when smoked allows the fat to soak into the paper. Together they smoke their meats and tamales on an oak offset smoker. Fabulous.

So fabulous in fact that recently they won multiple Best of The Best awards for their menu items. By multiple, we mean 16 first place wins for the Calhoun County competition and Texas Monthly just voted Lavaca BBQ as one of Texas's Best BBQ Bites in 2020! 

Don't even get us started on their incredible sides and sauces. Go see for yourself. They are open Thursday through Sunday. For more information, check out their LaVaca BBQ Facebook page here!

The Nevarez family is all working together for the Bay City remodel too. One thing we want to be sure to include is that the Nevarez's are known to go out of their way to help the Crossroads community and was one of the FIRST locally owned entities in our area to offer a thank you to front line health care and essential workers when COVID started. That's got to be the Jesus in their sign.