Cornbread, pork ribs, chicken, turkey, beans, collard greens, dirty rice, banana pudding, brisket, sausage, pulled pork at Koop's BBQ Kitchen

Brisket at Koop's BBQ Kitchen in Galveston

Dirty rice at Koop's BBQ Kitchen in Galveston

Bread pudding at Koop's BBQ Kitchen

The exterior of Koop's BBQ Kitchen in Galveston

Fanciful mural art decorates the exterior of Koop's BBQ Kitchen in Galveston

In Galveston, restaurant success doesn’t come easy – and for PJ and Tara Head, it didn’t come fast either. The husband-and-wife team behind Koop’s BBQ Kitchen built their restaurant the hard way: through years of hustle, setbacks, and relentless determination.

The story begins with family tragedy. PJ, born in Houston but tied to Galveston through generations of family, had just finished at The Culinary Institute Lenotre when tragedy struck: his sister, nicknamed "Pook," passed away on the very day he was set to take over a family restaurant in Clear Lake. Years later, he and Tara would honor her legacy by naming their barbecue joint “Koop’s,” Pook’s name spelled........

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