City Market-Luling, Texas

Shirley Everett-Dicko

May is National BBQ Month and a perfect time to finish writing my BBQ restaurant reviews from my birthday trip to Texas.  

If you remember Gatlin’s BBQ in Houston was our first stop. Our second stop on the trip was to City Market in Luling, Texas. This was a unique dining experience.  It was not just the thick cut of meat that my mom would chop our hands off for because she believed that brisket should be tender and sliced thinly; But it was the service also. The people, and the cooks, let us just say, ’They Not Like Us!​”    

First, we were welcomed by a nice young man with a dazzling smile. He was the only Black person in the restaurant until we came in. He asked if it was our first time there and proceeded to show us how to order.  He directed us to a closed door at the end of the room to choose our meat. We then would come back to him for the side dishes and drinks.  

As we walked toward the closed door, I noticed a sign over the ATM machine that caught my eye. It read “Autism acceptance. We believe in a spectrum of possibilities.”  I thought that was cute.  It reminded me of the many signs we have plastered on the walls at our restaurant in Berkeley, California.   

At the back of the restaurant were two doors and not one. There was one for in and another for out according to the sign that was taped on each. There was another sign on the door marked “in” that instructed us to close the door behind us. It had a neon Bud Light BBQ sign hanging above it and a dark menu board below it. There was another neon Budweiser sign over the door for exit.  Beef Brisket was the first item on the menu board priced for $23 per pound.  Pork ribs were next for $23 per pound. You could also buy a box of 25 ribs for $55.  Hot sausages were $3 each and a box of 35 was $77 dollars.  Cold sausages were $2.50 each and a box of 50 for $110 dollars. Also on the menu board was hours of operation. They were open Mon-Sat 10-6pm and anything ordered after 5:45pm was for takeout only. 

Aiesha and Hassan Dicko at City Market

I followed son, Hassan and daughter, Aiesha into a smoke-filled room. It was a tiny room with a large brick pit on the back wall.  Behind the counter stood three men ready to take our order. I noticed the big wooden, stand-alone chopping block in the middle of the floor. It was like the one we used in the 70’s, before new health department rules made us change to the white poly cutting boards, so wood chips would not get in your food- makes sense.  The tiny room felt claustrophobic. I could hardly breathe because the smoke was so thick. I at once felt sorry for the three men having to work in this environment and wondered how often the shift changed.    

I must confess I had never bought BBQ from a non-Black person before. The three men working behind the counter were not Black.  The older man and shorter of the three took our order.  He seemed a little agitated and impatient with us, maybe because we were first-timers and took a little longer than they were used to.   

Shirley Everett-Dicko at City Market

We ordered a pound of brisket, ribs and a hot sausage. The Cutter sliced off thick slices of beef brisket and chopped off a few meaty ribs from a slab, placed it on pink butcher paper and handed it to the older man who weighed it.  A hot sausage was added along with three extra sheets of butcher paper that would serve as our plates. The cashier charged my son’s credit card.   

We took our order and quickly exited the dark room. We found an empty six-foot-long table with folding metal chairs in the front of the restaurant to sit. Aiesha went to order some side dishes and drinks as we sat down. She came back with three slices of white bread, some potato salad and baked beans in white 12-ounce Styrofoam food containers, pickles, three cans of cokes, and plastic spoons, forks, knives, and napkins. 

 We each took a piece of the pink butcher paper and placed it in front of us. Then we each took a piece of meat from the pile in the center of the table and used the plastic forks to dip potato salad onto our paper plates. This truly was a no-frills dining experience. And our Everett and Jones Barbeque customers used to complain about the Dixie paper plates we served our BBQ on in the 1970s and 1980s before we made enough money to upgrade to Styrofoam, three compartment containers.  Here we were literally eating off paper in 2025.  

The meat was good and tender. I noticed the sign on the table that said please leave the BBQ sauce on the table but there was no sauce on the table. So, I asked for sauce and the nice young man brought a bottle over to our table.  I am team BBQ sauce! I tried some of the sauce on a piece of my beef.  It was tangy.  I believe a good BBQ sauce can set you apart from other BBQ restaurants. This sauce was just ok. I did as the sign said and left the sauce on the table.  

Not only do I BBQ for a living, but I BBQ every chance I get in my backyard when the weather is good. In California we have exceptionally pleasant weather, so meat cooked over fire with wood is kind of my thing. I know that different does not make a thing better.  It is simply different, and we are free to, like whatever we like, and variety is the spice of life. 

 BBQ cultures and traditions have co-existed for centuries and I am sure they will continue. It is one of the oldest forms of cooking and it's not going anywhere. From this Black woman’s perspective and based on my lived experiences working in my family’s 52 years old barbeque restaurants I have learned that you do not have to minimize another culture's differences and traditions to elevate your own.  

The romanticized version of Texas BBQ as the gold standard that has flamed across the country, and pit itself against other cultures is quite different from the Black BBQ culture I grew up in on 7th Street in West Oakland, California in the 60’s. The Texas BBQ and culture I experienced on my birthday trip was good but to each its own and that is the point!  

Hassan Dicko and Shirley Everett-Dicko