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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

When the owners of the Pearl Brewery commissioned a grand San Antonio stable in 1894, they likely had only one function in mind: a place to house sixty horses and the keg carts used to deliver their beer around town. But as it turns out, the now 130-year-old, oval-shaped building—with its open floor plan, tall ceilings, and multiple entrances—also makes for a great music venue.Opening its doors to the public with a free show this Saturday, Stable Hall is a joint venture between the Dallas-based developer WoodHouse and the Austin-based firms Clayton Korte architecture and Joel Mozersky Design. The latter teams previously worked on the Southerleigh restaurant in the historic brewery complex turned shopping-and-dining district. This is the first Pearl project for WoodHouse, which is…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Texas Monthly's Official In/Out 2024 ListEvery year in reporting and writing about our beloved state, we come to know ourselves as Texans a little better. Accordingly, every year we come to better understand what we’re just not willing to mess with anymore. The Washington Post has been telling us what’s in (bathroom fridges) and what’s out (cottage cheese) around New Year’s since 1978. And in the past few years on social media, the turn to January has meant a flurry of personalized and screenshotted Notes App “in/out” lists assigning tired trends (eating while standing up) their doomed fate, while heralding the future (medium-length socks). While we’re far from Texas’s ultimate tastemakers, we know a thing or two about the state’s cultural dips and turns. We know, for instance, that there’s a…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

New eviction diversion program in HoustonBryon Patterson entered a towering, red brick building on Preston Street in downtown Houston a few days before Christmas. He took an elevator to the second floor and sat in the back of a windowless room, watching as a judge, Steve Duble, worked his way through his 9 a.m. eviction docket. Patterson had never faced eviction before and had no idea what to expect. Patterson moved to Houston from his native Chicago in 2019 in search of “better opportunities, better living,” he says. He got a job as a customer service representative at Enterprise Rent-A-Car and worked out of his apartment in Midtown Houston, next to a light rail stop and walking distance from bars and restaurants. Things were going well until August, when he got…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

The Flores family at Coche's BBQ & Bar in Eagle Pass.Jorge “Choche” Flores II didn’t expect to employ his parents. But barbecue has become a bigger part of the Flores’ lives since Choche said goodbye to his law office position to open Choche’s BBQ in Eagle Pass. Choche’s mother, Marta, retired after many years of working at the local hospital to help her son cook and serve, and Choche’s father, Jorge, watches the smoker on his days off from the Exxon station where he’s worked for 28 years. When he retires in two months, he’ll spend more time helping his son. “We want to see it grow,” Jorge said.Jorge and Choche have cooked together for years on the barbecue-competition circuit. “I’m his travel partner,” Jorge said. He would barbecue for the family on the weekends…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

C.?J. Stroud #7 of the Houston Texans drops back to pass against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on January 6, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana.The Houston Texans were one franchise before January 31, 2023, and a completely different one after. Seldom can such a stunning transformation be traced so definitively. Plenty happened after that—the team drafted quarterback C. J. Stroud, who became an instant star; it notched a string of close wins; and, in the end, it went from being a 3–13–1 laughingstock to a tough, smart, and cohesive 10–7 playoff team.But it was the hiring, nearly one year ago, of former Texans linebacker DeMeco Ryans as the franchise’s fifth head coach in four seasons that turned the page. The Texans had lost 31 of 39 games at the time, and after years of sellouts, apathy had replaced anger, along with a belief that the Texans front office would never…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

How to Save (and Spot) a KestrelOn a cloudy afternoon in November, I’m standing in a clearing in the woods near my suburban Austin neighborhood, binoculars pressed to my eyes, scanning the tree line for a colorful, robin-size raptor. My ears are attuned to a shrill “killy-killy-killy” or a rapid “klee-klee-klee” call, though I haven’t heard one yet. Since October I’ve been checking fields and telephone wires—the best places to look for an American kestrel, the smallest falcon in North America and the most common, with large populations migrating here for winter. Texas is one of the best places to see kestrels, which flock to all corners of the state—from the Rio Grande Valley to the Llano Estacado—hunting our grasslands, agricultural fields, and sprawling suburban neighborhoods for insects and small rodents. I fell…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Extreme weather breaking newsTexans, perhaps more than any other Americans, are bound by a shared sense of communal experience. That bonding tends to manifest in our reverence for barbecue, football, high-powered weaponry, and the blissful feeling that washes over us when we pick up tortillas at H-E-B and notice that the plastic bag is still warm. For the next 48 hours, at least, Texans will be bound by something not so great: severe weather.No matter where in the state you’re located, meteorologists say, there’s a good chance you’re going to encounter harsh weather conditions. In southeast Texas—where this year’s College Football Playoff national championship is slated to kick off at 6:30 p.m. Monday, in Houston—residents are already on the lookout for tornadoes. The weather conditions are the result…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

If you’ve ever scrambled to the top of Enchanted Rock, that massive speed bump of pink granite that rises from the Hill Country north of Fredericksburg, you’ve explored land protected by The Nature Conservancy in Texas (TNC).The same holds true for thousands of undeveloped acres along South Padre Island, parts of both Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, and dozens of other places that ooze the spirit and beauty of the Lone Star State. In all, The Nature Conservancy, along with its partners and supporters, has helped set aside one million acres of land — including some of the most iconic scenery — in a state that’s 95 percent privately owned.A hiker ascends Baldy Peak at The Nature Conservancy’s Davis Mountains…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Texas-December-Warmer-Than-Usual-Temperatures-Global-WarmingDuring the height of Texas’s unbearably hot summer a few months ago, I told you all how excited I was for winter. The period of June through August—when temperatures reached the triple digits and it was impossible to step outside without breaking a sweat—was a true test of my commitment to Texas residency. But I made it through, reminding myself that cooler temperatures would get here eventually. In a sense, I was right: 52 degrees Fahrenheit, which it is as I write this five months later, is certainly better than a consistent 105. But it’s still warm, all things considered. (I barely even break out that decade-plus-old North Face jacket that was supposed to be my saving grace in these months.) And this isn’t the…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Ken Paxton watchOn Wednesday, Ken Paxton took to social media to say that police had descended on his McKinney home—which was empty at the time—after a caller made a 911 call falsely claiming that a life-threatening situation was taking place at the address. The practice, known as “swatting,” has long been a favorite among those seeking to move online harassment of an individual into the real world. The FBI began using the term as early as 2008, and the practice escalated in 2015 as the “Gamergate”campaign used it against critics; an Oklahoma police chief was shot several times after entering the home of a swatting target in response to a fake call. The term entered the Oxford English Dictionary that year, and it has remained a common…

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