The story of contemporary Texas barbecue is told and tasted in big cities with flavors inspired from the culture of Central Texas cattle ranches and butcher shops. Many small-town barbecue joints either move to the big city, or the big city comes to them in the form of urban sprawl.

So, it’s always a welcome surprise to find an out-of-the-way barbecue joint that both serves world-class barbecue and retains that inimitable small-town hospitality. Such is the case with LaVaca BBQ in Port Lavaca, located between Victoria and Matagorda, southwest of Houston.

GUIDE: Houston's best barbecue joints

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Opened in 2019 by Lupe and Christine Nevarez, LaVaca BBQ is a testament to their family’s tradition of Mexican-American recipes combined with classic cooking techniques of Central Texas barbecue. The pit room is headed up by the Nevarez’s daughter, Kelli, one of........

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