#3 HUTCHINS BBQ - Finally, a place BBQ snobs and families can agree on!

After visiting only a handful of Texas Monthly's top 50 BBQ Joints, I'm starting to appreciate where they are in the BBQ life cycle.  Some are in their infancy, like Flores Barbecue. Others are hitting their stride, like Lockhart Smokehouse.  Then there are the more established joints, like Hutchins BBQ.

Oh, Hutchins BBQ.  I've lived in Dallas for 30 years, and I've been hearing about you for a long, long time.  You're so close to home, but McKinney is closer to Oklahoma so I never took the bait.

Man, I'm stupid.

The Neon Lights of Hutchins BBQ

Hutchins would have been one of my favorite BBQ stops. It's authentic, it's dark and smoky inside, it's covered in barn wood. I could have been the one telling people to go check out the Hutchins BBQ shack in McKinney. "It's divey, but it's worth it," I'd say.  Sadly, I'm so far behind on this one that Collin County's finest families and BBQ snobs are already ahead of me.

I could tell this because I was standing behind all of them in a line snaking out the door when I arrived at Hutchins at 3:00 pm on a Saturday afternoon.

Man, I'm stupid.

It was near 100 degrees that day, but the Hutchins folks had water and fans to cool us off. I had plenty of time to check out the building while standing in line.

Half of Collin County dining at Hutchins

In addition to the aforementioned decor, Hutchins has all the markings of a chain restaurant. Gaudy neon sign?  Check.  Country music blaring over the speakers? Check. All-you-can-eat meat buffet? Check. Little kids filling their free ice cream cones way past appropriate tensile strength? Check. (BTW, don't go chaining, Hutchins, please!  Remember what happened to Sonny Bryan's!)

New bucket seats (or not) at Hutchins BBQ

Their location isn't desirable.  Their parking lot is as big as a deck of playing cards. Their seating area is the size of an Airstream. Yet, their BBQ is so incredible, it's worth fighting through all of this. They're growing too, expanding the seating area in McKinney and opening an outpost in Frisco.

I came down with an extreme case of order disorder at Hutchins BBQ.  I planned to get some Texas Twinkies -- smoked, bacon-wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and brisket. 

A Texas Twinkie (photo by Texas Monthly since I forgot mine)

While my brain calculated how much brisket and sausage I wanted, my stomach loudly calculated which meats I was craving. I placed my order, skipped past the sides, waded through the crowd gathered like flies at the door, jumped in my car and left in a cloud of smoke. Halfway home I realized my mistake.

Bar-B-Q "& Catfish" - yeah right

Man, I'm stupid, but even at home, Hutchins BBQ was awesome. The bark was flavorful, the brisket moist and the spicy sausage had a bite.

One quirk about Hutchins is its original name -- Hutchins BBQ & Catfish -- which is proudly displayed on their sign. They got their start selling catfish, but saner minds and tongues prevailed and now they focus on the beef. There must have been catfish somewhere in the restaurant, but unless it was swimming in the BBQ sauce, I never saw it. Thank goodness. After all, fish are friends, not food, and they're definitely not going on my plate at a BBQ restaurant.

Anyway, I'll be back at Hutchins, along with the millions of McKinneyers McKinneyans not Frisco people who live in McKinney and love 'em some Hutchins BBQ. The Texas Twinkies are calling my name, and I'm preparing my expando-jorts for a trip to the all-you-can-eat buffet.