In September 2022, Sara and Dustin Treviño called it quits on their barbecue venture, Treviño’s Craft Smokehouse. It had made an impression on North Texas diners from its opening the April prior. Customers came in droves, but whether the couple parked their food trailer in Graford or Haslet, both west of Dallas, the sales were barely paying the bills. “We hadn’t figured it out,” Dustin said. “We weren’t making sense of the business part of it.” They felt the smart financial decision was to return to Midland, where Dustin had previously worked in oil and gas. “We raised the white flag and retreated, and we regret that decision daily,” Dustin said.
Two years later, Dustin was miserable doing work that he now hated, and he longed to be feeding a firebox once again. “I basically begged Sara, and promised, ‘Whatever happens, I’m going to make it work,’ ” Dustin said. They moved back to Jacksboro, which had been their home base, sixty miles northwest of Fort Worth, and fired up the smoker. The Treviños started small with a pop-up last July, borrowed a 1,000-gallon smoker from Austin Smoke Works last November, and opened a new brick-and-mortar location on the Jacksboro square two months ago. Treviño’s Craft Smokehouse is now back and bigger than ever.
“We would have bled ourselves dry if we hadn’t taken a step back,” Dustin said of their hiatus. They had gone through most of their savings the first time around, so this new version of Treviño’s would have to be different. They traveled to try barbecue from other small-town joints that seemed financially stable, such as Dayne’s Craft Barbecue, in Aledo, and Brantley Creek BBQ & Co., in Odessa. The couple asked blunt questions about what is often the most sensitive subject for a restaurant owner: money.
Dustin said Derek Degenhardt of North Texas Smoke BBQ, in Decatur, was an open book. “The best thing I ever did was spend a weekend working in his trailer for free,” Dustin said. With no previous restaurant experience, Dustin hadn’t seen the inner workings of a kitchen other than his own, so the exposure was eye-opening. He saw how the business got the most out of its ingredients, and he learned how to spend money where it counts—on good-quality meat instead of sides and desserts.
“Our food costs have shifted,” Dustin said. He no longer sees the need for three cheeses in the chori-queso mac and cheese, when Monterey Jack does just fine on its own. The artisan rigatoni from Colorado is no longer necessary either. I didn’t taste much of a difference, though it had been more than two years since I’d eaten at Treviño’s. The side dish lives up to its name with a rich cheese sauce that heightens the warmth of the chorizo spices.
A huge batch of the popular pan-fried potato salad once took hours to brown on the flat-top and required frequent stirring. The Treviños now roast the diced peppers, onions, and potatoes in the oven, which cuts the prep time by a quarter. The finished product is lightly dressed and full of robust potato flavor.
“I was never going to carry corn, but it’s one of the easiest things we make now,” Dustin said. The old Dustin would have shucked fresh corn from the cob, but canned corn cooked on the flat-top in chile oil is a fine workaround. The side goes a little too heavy on garnishes of cotija, onion, cilantro, and hot sauce anyway. I preferred the crunchy slaw made with purple cabbage and cilantro.
All the sides come on the well-priced La Pulga tray, which also includes a half-pound each of sliced brisket, spareribs, smoked turkey, and house-made sausage for just $50. The ribs needed a little more time to tenderize, but the flavor of the smoke, peppery rub, and sweet glaze made it a favorite at the table. The brisket was also impressive, as the fatty portion pulled apart easily, and each bite had a stout bark. Dustin slathers the smoked turkey breasts in mayo before seasoning and smoking them, which promotes browning and makes the meat incredibly juicy.
The Treviños have always produced a great link, and that’s no different in their new kitchen. The casing had a great snap, and the filling had a good mix of finely diced jalapeños and big chunks of melty cheddar. Dustin said they’re now smoking about fifteen briskets per week, but that’s enough trim for those sausages. The briskets also provide enough fat for the tallow, containers of which they label as “tortilla juice” because its main use is in Sara’s house-made flour tortillas. Like Sonoran-style tortillas, they’re thin and translucent.
Creative specials were a mainstay at the old Treviño’s trailer, but the new business had to scale back a bit. Dustin said most orders are for one- or two-meat combination plates. Just after my visit, the joint announced it would be bringing back the glazed pork belly burnt ends, which are served over cheesecake custard in a freshly fried sopaipilla bowl coated with cinnamon and sugar.
The restaurant is spacious to the point of seeming cavernous. The Treviños had a limited budget for furnishings, which meant just enough for tables to go along the walls. They soon hope to be able to buy more tables to fill in the empty middle of the dining room. They’re just happy to have found the space, which was being finished while Dustin worked in an office next door. “The building kinda fell in our laps,” he said, and the rent is inexpensive enough to keep them afloat while they build some popularity. “We’re not setting records,” Dustin said, “but we’re paying the bills and we’re not upside down.”
Prior to Treviño’s, the lone barbecue option in Jacksboro had been the Dairy Land Drive Inn that closed late last year after more than sixty years in business. The town square around the Jack County courthouse is lined with boarded-up buildings. Treviño’s is one of the few bright spots, and in a town of just 4,200 people, the Treviños know growth in sales will depend on folks traveling through. “It was kind of a whim when we went at it,” Dustin said of their first attempt at the business. He and Sara are more hopeful about this version, and it’s great to have their barbecue available once again. As Dustin said, “The difference is we know what we’re getting into now.”
Treviño’s Craft Smokehouse
120 N. Church, Jacksboro
Phone: 940-629-3117
Hours: Wednesday–Saturday 11–sell out
Pitmaster: Dustin Treviño
Method: Oak in an offset smoker
Year opened: 2025
