Frisco is a fast-growing suburb north of Dallas. You get there by driving on one the many anonymous toll roads that ring the outer limits of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Frisco is often mentioned in those articles about Californians moving to Texas, with the low cost of housing being the main driver of the West Coast influx.

On a recent visit, I crept up the toll road on a weekday rush hour heading to the Frisco location of Hutchins Barbeque, a venerable Dallas-area barbecue joint.

GUIDE: Houston's best barbecue joints

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I was in town a few days to survey the DFW barbecue scene, and since Hutchins was open for dinner, I figured I’d swing in and grab a quick bite to kick things off.

Instead, I was greeted with a full parking lot, part of which was filled with a fleet of free-standing, trailer-mounted barrel-smokers. Beyond that, a line snaked out of the front door and into the lot, even as........

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