North London Food & Culture

Texas Joe’s BBQ opens in Shoreditch

In the summer he wooed the Dragons - and now this K-Town boy and Camden Town Brewery fixture has opened his first pop-up BBQ

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Slow-cooked brisket. Photo: PR

Most readers will be aware of local boy Texas Joe’s recent success in Dragon’s Den – and prior to that, his popular beef jerky concession at Camden Town Brewery.

Well, today sees the K-Town telly star – Joe Walters to his mum – launch a pop-up Texan BBQ underneath BrewDog Shoreditch. Yup, he’s abandoned us for the bright lights of East London.

No shy boy: Texas Joe
No shy boy: Texas Joe
Anyways, we had a sneak preview earlier this week and can happily report that all is as it should be at this new subterranean speakeasy: there’s a nice line in Old Fashioneds (and other 1920s cocktails), inevitably dim lighting, a small stage and candles dripping everywhere.

In a discreet corner, the “BBQ” (we can’t imagine it’s a real one, but it was so dark we could barely glimpse the, erm, apparatus) sizzles with smokin’ Southern delights, including slow-cooked brisket, beef ribs, chilli-dogs and fresh cornbread.


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We ate them all. Deep meaty flavours for sure, all well-seasoned, but the best dish? The brisket, without a doubt. And it all worked rather nicely with a pint of IPA, Brewdog’s pale ale, too.

This is only the beginning. We hear the juggernaut that is BrewDog plan to open a series of standalone Texas Joe restaurants in the coming months. And Joe is set to be one high-flying cowboy as he’s also secured a nationwide deal with Sainsbury’s to stock his product. Wowsers.

Brewdog Shoreditch
Brewdog Shoreditch
Missed the backstory? Well, back in August millions of viewers watched Joe pitch his beef jerky company in a rhinestone suit and Stetson to the Dragons, which included a performance of the song Put that jerky in your mouth by Kentishtowners Kitty, Daisy and Lewis. Joe secured a £50,000 investment from Peter Jones.

But we have to say, amidst all the excitement, one small query remains unanswered: why open the first BBQ underneath the Shoreditch branch of Brewdog, not the Camden Town one?

Try Texas Joe at Brewdog Shoreditch, 51 Bethnal Green Rd, London, E1 6LA. From £7 upwards

11 thoughts on “Texas Joe’s BBQ opens in Shoreditch”

  1. We do fear the cowboy took the money and ran!
    It is a shame he went with another brewery instead of working something out maybe with CT Brewery as they gave him his first gig and held his opening/viewing night. We know his jerky was aways there and he BBQd there every Saturday in the summer! Or tried to stay in the K town area at least.
    We wish the singing cowboy well but I cant help feeling he has sold out in all the excitement.
    YEE- WHAT THE HUH?

    1. Ha!

      Sold out? Never. I work too hard for it and I’m still broke.

      We love Camden Brewery dearly and our heart was and is always with them. I did talk with Jasper about teaming up for some time but he.. Like all breweries.. Was a bit too busy. We both look forward to working together on something in the future.

      As for keeping it in K-Town, I really wanted to. I nearly opened this first one in our local the Grafton, where I actually made the jerky for quite a while. We had some meetings and they decided after the meaty offerings of Lucky Chip, they thought we might be too heavy for their customers. They went for more traditional pub fare of the Fat Butcher, whom we enjoy greatly!

      Camden and Kentish Town is my home and my hang. When you look at the bags of jerky that will be in Sainsburys Local on Kentish Town High St. the address on the back is NW1.

      We will return to Camden. Fear not.

      JDW

      1. I think a lot of us local crew who party, drink and eat at CTB were real disappointed that Texas Joe disappeared from our ‘local’ and popped up in Shoreditch.
        Of course we don’t know any of the layers regarding your business dealings, I guess we just thought you got a better offer. Apologies if that sounded a tad dramatic. We wish you well. Come back and cook BBQ for us local K-town punters soon!
        L&O.

        1. Howdy

          No worries. You will see me there often.

          We just made a deal with CTB to do that as a cool thing for the Summer this year. We had loads of noise complaints and the summer ended so did we. You could probably notice we weren’t your typical street food traders. We needed a home! Like a dog needs a bone.

          Keep your eyes peeled.

          Joe

  2. I agree! I think a lot of the regular kids are disappointed Texas Joe went over to the “other side”. we were all so used to seeing that gorgeous smile in Kentish town behind the BBQ. that’s life in the big city!
    good luck in your endeavours cowboy!
    Batty-Natty.

  3. The very fact that brew dog brewery is involved turns me off, no matter what area the restaurants are in. They are such a manufactured company and opposite everything they say they are with the whole punk ethos malarkey! Yeah what’s with that? Irony?
    I am afraid there will be no more Texas Joe BBQ for me but I am sure the cool Shoreditch kids will dig it.
    keep it real, brothers.

    1. Howdy sir!

      BrewDog are not involved in my company. James Watt who is one of the owners did invest in my company and holds a minority share in it now. He’s a great guy and I like their beers quite a lot. I agree they could play more Buzzcocks.

      Like me he started his company with little to nothing and grew it very quickly. That’s quite admirable. He’s a great partner to bounce ideas off of and the great thing is being able to make a few of those a reality.

      Texas Joe’s will always be my joint. I’m dedicated to BBQ and it’s not an easy craft. When we were at Camden we’d cook for 20 hours and serve for 10. I’m just excited to be able to share the full custom gospel of TX BBQ. It’s something I love.

      Cheers mate

      Joe

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11 thoughts on “Texas Joe’s BBQ opens in Shoreditch”

  1. We do fear the cowboy took the money and ran!
    It is a shame he went with another brewery instead of working something out maybe with CT Brewery as they gave him his first gig and held his opening/viewing night. We know his jerky was aways there and he BBQd there every Saturday in the summer! Or tried to stay in the K town area at least.
    We wish the singing cowboy well but I cant help feeling he has sold out in all the excitement.
    YEE- WHAT THE HUH?

    1. Ha!

      Sold out? Never. I work too hard for it and I’m still broke.

      We love Camden Brewery dearly and our heart was and is always with them. I did talk with Jasper about teaming up for some time but he.. Like all breweries.. Was a bit too busy. We both look forward to working together on something in the future.

      As for keeping it in K-Town, I really wanted to. I nearly opened this first one in our local the Grafton, where I actually made the jerky for quite a while. We had some meetings and they decided after the meaty offerings of Lucky Chip, they thought we might be too heavy for their customers. They went for more traditional pub fare of the Fat Butcher, whom we enjoy greatly!

      Camden and Kentish Town is my home and my hang. When you look at the bags of jerky that will be in Sainsburys Local on Kentish Town High St. the address on the back is NW1.

      We will return to Camden. Fear not.

      JDW

      1. I think a lot of us local crew who party, drink and eat at CTB were real disappointed that Texas Joe disappeared from our ‘local’ and popped up in Shoreditch.
        Of course we don’t know any of the layers regarding your business dealings, I guess we just thought you got a better offer. Apologies if that sounded a tad dramatic. We wish you well. Come back and cook BBQ for us local K-town punters soon!
        L&O.

        1. Howdy

          No worries. You will see me there often.

          We just made a deal with CTB to do that as a cool thing for the Summer this year. We had loads of noise complaints and the summer ended so did we. You could probably notice we weren’t your typical street food traders. We needed a home! Like a dog needs a bone.

          Keep your eyes peeled.

          Joe

  2. I agree! I think a lot of the regular kids are disappointed Texas Joe went over to the “other side”. we were all so used to seeing that gorgeous smile in Kentish town behind the BBQ. that’s life in the big city!
    good luck in your endeavours cowboy!
    Batty-Natty.

  3. The very fact that brew dog brewery is involved turns me off, no matter what area the restaurants are in. They are such a manufactured company and opposite everything they say they are with the whole punk ethos malarkey! Yeah what’s with that? Irony?
    I am afraid there will be no more Texas Joe BBQ for me but I am sure the cool Shoreditch kids will dig it.
    keep it real, brothers.

    1. Howdy sir!

      BrewDog are not involved in my company. James Watt who is one of the owners did invest in my company and holds a minority share in it now. He’s a great guy and I like their beers quite a lot. I agree they could play more Buzzcocks.

      Like me he started his company with little to nothing and grew it very quickly. That’s quite admirable. He’s a great partner to bounce ideas off of and the great thing is being able to make a few of those a reality.

      Texas Joe’s will always be my joint. I’m dedicated to BBQ and it’s not an easy craft. When we were at Camden we’d cook for 20 hours and serve for 10. I’m just excited to be able to share the full custom gospel of TX BBQ. It’s something I love.

      Cheers mate

      Joe

Leave a Comment

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