Zavala's Barbecue

Food and atmosphere were excellent. I had the pizza spice sausage, which had a nice course grind and a peppery punch to it. The moist brisket was flavorful and tasty with the provided green salsa. First time for me eating salsa and brisket, but the green salsa was a great pairing. I ordered the coleslaw after seeing it on someone else’s plate and it was a very tasty shredded style coleslaw that wasn’t sweet. This might be my new favorite place on this side of the metroplex. The walk up to the menu was a little confusing, multiple pieces of butcher paper with writing were overhead, but the staff were quick to assist me an answer questions so I was well taken care of. Inside seating was limited, but I was happy to be outside on the covered patio enjoying the day.

I stopped at Zavala's Barbecue in Grand Prairie, Texas today for lunch. Zavalas is located on Main Street at Brisket Street and has a small paved parking lot, room for 20+ vehicles in the back grass and gravel lot with additional street parking. Once inside you are greeted by friendly staff, a menu overhead with an ordering line where your selected meats are prepared on a cutting board in front of you. The smokehouse is next to the restaurant with dining tables with clear view of it, this makes the experience more interesting for people who watch the process. The inside dining room is small, the additional outside covered dining area adds a great amount of space for those who prefer to dine in vs taking food to go. Brisket: I ordered moist and a piece of the burnt end. It had thick flavorful bark, perfectly rendered fat and a good variation of dry lean in the middle to fork tender on the end. Ribs: the tip end was rendered well so the meat was all great, the bone end was great other than the thin skin layer on the bottom which was easy to remove. Jalapeño cheese sausage: smooth grind with small chunks of pepper and small pieces of melted cheese throughout. Pops beans: simple seasoned pinto beans with finely diced onions and herbs cooked until soft with a piece of brisket burnt end on top. House "Sloppy Juan" BBQ sauce was on each table but not needed with the items I tried. There is a distinct flavor difference between each of the meat items which makes ordering more than one very good. I look forward to returning and trying additional items. #zavalasbarbecue #grandprairie #grandprairiebbq #texasbbq #texasbrisket #porkribs #smokedribs #jalapenosausage #pintobeans

Top 50 BBQ with very little wait! Usually barbecue of this caliber requires setting aside a chunk of your day but Zavalas to the rescue. Sloppy Juan was crazy good and we were lucky enough to try one of their Texas Twinkies! Sausage, ribs, and brisket were all great in keeping the tradition of the Texas Trinity. Couldn’t recommend enough and can promise this won’t be my last visit!