At Butter's BBQ in Sinton, Texas, serving brisket every day is no longer financially workable.
In a Facebook post, The Texas Monthly Top 50 restaurant (@BUTTERSBBQ) said the cut now consumed more than 70% of its grocery spending, and the higher menu prices needed to sell it were also pushing customers away.
Here's what to know
As KRIS 6 reported, owner Andrew Soto said brisket has been removed from the regular daily menu and will now be sold only by pre-order, with a two-pound minimum.
Months of rising beef costs led to the decision, and the latest increase was the final straw.
"Last week I got a call from my food rep saying that brisket has once again jumped up, but it jumped up in a way that I would have to increase the price somewhere near $50 a pound, and that's just not something that I'm comfortable doing," he told the station.
He said the higher prices were already damaging both sales and foot traffic.
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"So you combine those two things, it's not a very good recipe for success," Soto told KRIS 6.
More background
For a Texas barbecue restaurant, pulling brisket from the daily lineup is an unusual move because it is usually the signature item on the menu. But Soto is not the only operator dealing with the squeeze, the outlet noted.
Alex Arredondo of El Vago said customers still overwhelmingly ask for brisket, even as prices keep climbing.
Arredondo told KRIS 6: "People want brisket. I try to do pork, pulled pork, whatever. People don't want pork. They want brisket… but it's just real high right now."
He said finances are especially tough for independent operators, who don't have "that extra 100, hundreds of thousands of dollars like the chains do for backup."
The station reported that broader supply chain issues are driving the pressure, with the U.S. cattle herd falling to roughly a 75-year low amid drought, feed and interest costs, reduced Mexican feeder cattle linked to screwworm concerns, and plant cutbacks.
What's being done?
Instead of leaning on another price hike or smaller portions, Butter's is shifting its menu focus to other offerings, KRIS 6 said. Brisket will still be available through pre-orders, while beef cheek is taking over as the new everyday centerpiece alongside chicken halves, pork belly burnt ends, and a new lineup of sides.
Soto said that the alternative can still appeal to people who prefer fatty brisket.
"It almost has the same flavor profile of fatty brisket like your marbled brisket," he explained to the station. "If you did a blind taste test between a beef cheek cooked smoked like a brisket versus your normal fatty brisket, there's hardly any difference."
Soto also said the change could attract budget-minded customers.
"Everybody's been freaking out like it's the end of the world or something, but in reality it's just one protein and I don't think any business can be defined just by one meat in particular," he told KRIS 6. "You'll be able to get the average Joe in there now for a price point that he'd be comfortable with spending."
Where can I learn more?
The surrounding context explains why brisket has become so hard for Texas barbecue joints to keep on the menu.
• Across the U.S., the cost of beef is skyrocketing as herd pressures worsen.
• Analysts say rising prices of meat will keep straining grocery budgets and menus.
• Shoppers saw red meat prices skyrocket after drought battered cattle country.
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