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A tray from Owens & Hull at Grand Champion.Owens & Hull at Grand Champion combines the best of Atlanta’s barbecue tradition with Texas attitude. Robert Owens and Bryan Hull came up through two different schools of barbecue. Owens cut his teeth in the kitchen of foundational joint Sam & Dave’s BBQ, in Marietta, Georgia, starting in 2007. He left the restaurant in 2011 to open Grand Champion BBQ. Hull debuted his pop-up, Secret Pint, in Atlanta in 2021 after taking a couple courses at Goldee’s Barbecue, in Fort Worth. “I wouldn’t be where I am without those guys,” Hull said. He’d watch instructional videos while working as an audio engineer recording audiobooks. Hull decided last year that he was ready to dedicate his life to barbecue, and Owens wanted an infusion of energy,…

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Colin Allred speaks to media with members of the Congressional Black Caucus during a press conference on voting rights legislation and reforming the filibuster at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.Colin Allred announced that he planned on seeking the Democratic nomination for Senate last May, joining a long list of Texas Democratic hopefuls who shared the goal of flipping a statewide seat for the first time in three decades. The comparisons to Beto O’Rourke, who ran against Ted Cruz in 2018 and set a new high-water mark in this century for Democrats in Texas, soon followed: both were relatively green U.S. congressmen when they announced bids, both defeated entrenched incumbents to get to Washington, D.C., and they were running against the same man for Senate. But Allred isn’t here for the comparisons. In his mind, he’s a different candidate running in a more dire time for Texas’s 30 million residents. Mainly, he thinks he’s distinct…

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That’s Not Baby’s Breath: The Cute and Highly Invasive Weeds Taking Over Texas YardsAt first I was charmed by the friendly white microflowers popping up in my backyard. And front yard. And sprouting along the sides of my house. If spotted only in passing, the delicate blooms could easily be mistaken for baby’s breath or maybe Queen Anne’s lace. But I’ve bought enough grocery store bouquets to know only that it was neither of those. Through my free plant identification app I learned the news: I was being infiltrated. Torilis arvensis, known as hedge parsley, sometimes helpfully “spreading hedge parsley,” and other times jokingly “burn it,” has reedy stalks with tops that explode in tiny white flowers come springtime. It grows quickly and can be found in most regions of Texas, but it’s not native to the state or…

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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.

Gary Johnson was a seemingly mild-mannered part-time college professor. But outside of class, he would moonlight as a professional hit man—or so the clients thought. Because it was all an act. Originally published in the October 2001 issue of Texas Monthly, Skip Hollandsworth’s story about Johnson has been adapted into a film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Glen Powell, which hits theaters May 24. In this installment of the Story, Hollandsworth describes what initially drew him to Johnson’s tale and why it’s so resonant all these years later.

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Profile on Jamie Turner, Texas-inspired jewelryRobert Turner’s journey into gem collecting began innocently enough. As an Austinite in the early 1980s, he hunted for the mica, quartz, and other sparkly rocks a kid might find in a museum gift shop. But the more he learned about their chemistry and geology, the more his fascination grew. By the early 2000s, he had moved on to the finer stuff—diamonds, rubies, sapphires—and eventually amassed a collection of 90,000 carats in gems and minerals that defied explanation.  Yet an explanation was exactly what his wife, Jill, wanted the day in 2017 when, in the midst of a spousal spat, she stormed into his studio in Austin. “She said, ‘What the f— are you going to do with all this s—?’ ” Turner recalls. Thinking on the…

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Crystal Mason and her attorneys speak to the media on March 29, 2024, in Fort Worth.She was stuck in a drive-through line, of all places, when she got the call she had hoped would finally allow her to move forward with her life.It was late March and Crystal Mason had just placed her lunch order when her phone lit up. On the other end, her lawyer asked her to wait while he convened the legal team behind her appeal of a 2018 conviction. Mason recognized this meant there had been a significant development in the saga that’s run for nearly a decade. It had been six years since a Tarrant County judge had convicted her of voting illegally, handing down a five-year sentence for submitting a provisional ballot even though she wasn’t eligible to vote. Her ballot had never even…

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Clear Texas Boot by MelissaWestern wear has never been a style defined by nuance and subtlety. It may have been derived from necessity, but in the intervening years—from gilded boots custom-made by a master craftsman to decked-out hats donned by Dripping Springs bachelorettes—even its most authentic forms have acquired an air of ostentation. Consider the details of the genre: dyed leather, fringe, dyed leather, Nudie suit–type embroidery, rhinestones, tassels. No matter how much we love Western wear, it has the general aura of costume, even on the most genuine cowboy or -girl. The style’s centerpiece, the cowboy boot, is no exception to this rule. Even heritage brands often incorporate dyed leather, exaggerated toe shapes, and any number of exotic animals’ skins into their wares. As Western wear has increasingly entered…

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The Checklist: Willie NelsonmusicThe Border, Willie NelsonMay 31 By our count, this is the 91-year-old’s 152nd album. (You can see the full list, “Willie Nelson Albums, Ranked,” on our website.) But with Willie, age doesn’t mean a thing. The title track, sung from the perspective of a border patrol officer, is a Rodney Crowell song from the Houston native’s 2019 album, Texas. But Willie doesn’t stick around the Rio Grande; the album is much more interested in the borders of the heart. Willie walks, and sometimes straddles, the line between lust and love before arriving at “Nobody Knows Me Like You.” It was written by legendary Nashville songwriter Mike Reid, and Willie repurposes it as a tender tribute to his wife of 33 years, Annie D’Angelo. filmKinds of KindnessIn theaters…

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City-and-Regional-Magazine-Association-Annual-Award-WinsOn Monday, the winners of the National City and Regional Magazine Awards were announced at the annual conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Texas Monthly won a dominant nine awards—more than any other publication—including General Excellence. TM won in half the categories it was nominated in. This is the fourth year in a row that TM has won more National City and Regional Magazine Awards than any other publication.According to the press release announcing the winners, judges for the General Excellence award praised TM for its “delightful blend of top-notch writing, first-rate design, and actionable service packaged in engaging and innovative ways.” Texas Monthly also won Excellence in Design, for its October 2023 issue; judges said the submission delivered “only the highest quality photography, illustration, and typography…

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The cafeteria line.From a replica of a horse-and-buggy on the roof to the papier-mâché cowboy “customers” playing cards at a table inside, the quirky splendor of Country Kitchen is a lot to take in. “It is unique,” says 71-year-old owner Scott McLean, who took over the 61-year-old Lampasas restaurant when his late father, C. D. McLean, retired in 1992. “Sometimes I walk in in the morning and think, ‘Oh my gosh.’ ” C. D. was an avowed treasure hunter who bought the restaurant in 1976 and filled almost every inch of its wood-paneled walls with tchotchkes and oddities. Scott, who began working at the restaurant in 1983—in part to hold down the fort while C. D. was off antiquing—doesn’t share his father’s passion for picking but admits he can’t bring himself…

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