Rahr and Sons could (and should) be considered one of the movers and shakers of the craft beer scene in Fort Worth. Founded in 2004, Rahr and Sons has been cranking out consistently incredible beer without skipping a beat. While they brew a few varying seasonals, they maintain a strong book of brews with a handful of staples they have honed in extremely well. Be sure to check out their outdoor area with live music when the Texas weather is prime.

What We Recommend from Rahr and Sons

The Staples

• Texas Red – American Amber
• Rahr’s Blonde – Helles Lager
• Dadgum IPA – IPA
• Rahr’s Original Beer (Recent Release)

If you savor a great view of Fort Worth from the Trinity River, Martin House Brewing Company is your spot. Martin House may be best known among locals for their views, but also as the experimental brewery with damn good beers. For a period, they were releasing new beers on an almost weekly basis. While they maintain several staples, the new releases being cranked out are created by different employees working at Martin House. They’re well worth getting out of your comfort zone for, but if you have your taste settled down, they have incredible staples that can appeal to any taste buds.

What We Recommend from Martin House

The Staples

• Friday IPA – IPA
• Bockslider Toadies – Texas Bock

Wild Acre’s backyard area is a weekend warrior’s dream come true. The inside area has plentiful seating with TVs for that week’s sporting event. The exterior has picnic benches, cornhole, and a live music stage for incredible afternoon hang outs. Not to mention, Joe Riscky’s Barbeque is quite literally in their backyard for optimal snacking and beer drinking efficiency. Their tagline is “fanning the flames of quality craft,” and we couldn’t agree more with this for all Wild Acre brews.

What We Recommend from Wild Acre

The Staples

• Texas Blonde – Blonde Ale
• Ranch Style Pils – Pilsner
• Agave Americana – Agave and Lime Ale
• Billy Jenkins Bock – Bock

Funky Picnic Brewery & Café is one of the newer kids to the block. Located in the booming SoMa (South Main) District, Funky Picnic specializes in brews and quality picnic style food like sandwiches and salads. One of the great parts about Funky Picnic is the family friendly environment that welcomes Fort Worthians with open arms. To add a cherry on top, they offer happy hour Monday and Tuesday from 4 PM – 10 PM and Wednesday from 2 PM – 6 PM with $2 off pints, $3 chips and dip, and $2 pickles.

What We Recommend from Funky Picnic

The Staples

• Vibes – Kolsch
• Bob Wehadababyitsaboy – Imperial IPA
• You Wanted A Wit – Wittbier
• Funny Accent – English Extra Special / Strong Bitter

Cowtown Brewing has mastered two crafts we are very fond of: Beer and BBQ. While Cowtown has quickly made a name for itself in the brewery scene throughout Fort Worth, they have also made quite the splash with their in-house BBQ. The opening statement on their website is “Cowtown Brewing Co was founded on the idea that great beer deserves equally great barbecue.” Well said and unapologetically undisputed.

What We Recommend from Cowtown Brewing

The Staples

• Cold Fort Worth Beer – American Light Lager
• High Brau – German Light Lager
• Flux Capacitator – German Style Doppelbock
• La Mera Hora – Mexican Style Lager

Panther Island Brewing is a staple of Fort Worth’s brewing scene. They don’t take themselves too seriously, but brew up some seriously mean beers. The tap room is located just down the road from downtown and houses plenty of live music, games, and a huge TV to watch any game that might be going on. They also host a resident food truck, Smokin’ Cactus, for all your brewery snacks.

What We Recommend from Panther Island Brewing

The Staples

• Tailgater – Blonde Ale
• Allergeez – Unfiltered American Wheat Ale
• War Chant – American Amber / Red Ale
• IPf’nA – Imperial IPA

Fort Brewery and Pizza was recently voted in the top 5 brewpubs in Texas by Texas Monthly. Not only have they tailored the environment to a standard of excellence, they brew beers to match it. Fort Brewery and Pizza is another spot on our list that serves up incredible food to match their beer. All pizzas are handmade from start to finish. The space, beer, and food is all geared towards creating a great atmosphere for the Fort Worth community to gather. And gather they do.

What We Recommend from Fort Brewery

The Staples

• Grey Eagle – Hefeweizen
• Ocho – IPA
• Clara – Kolsch
• 1849 – Irish Red Ale

HopFusion Ale Works is one of the early pioneers of the SoMa (South Main) District. With already incredible indoor and outdoor spaces, HopFusion recently announced an expansion project of an additional 2300 sq ft of taproom space, bar, and large outdoor beer garden. All we need to know is there’s more space for more people to enjoy more great beers.

What We Recommend from HopFusion Ale Works

The Staples

• Feisty Blonde – Honey Vanilla Blonde Ale
• Hairpin – Rye Pale Ale
• Go Easy – American IPA
• Feisty Redhead – Hibiscus Cherry Blonde

Work Hard. Be Nice. Eat BBQ. Three things commanded of Dayne’s Craft Barbecue – all of which we can easily get behind.

Like the start of many of Texas’ best BBQ joints, Dayne’s Craft Barbecue serves up fresh BBQ out of a trailer in limited quantity.

What We Recommend:

Meat

• Prime Black Angus Brisket – Any good BBQ patron knows to always get the brisket.
• Pork Belly Burnt Ends – A specialty item.
• Handmade Sausage – “Kind of a big deal” with new experimental flavors being added all the time.
• Bacon Brisket – Oh yes. It’s exactly what it sounds like.

Texas BBQ and beer go together like queso and tortilla chips.

Luckily for Fort Worthians, Joe Riscky’s Barbecue spot, a descendant of one of Fort Worth’s BBQ legacies, is served up in the backyard of Wild Acre Brewing Company.

What We Recommend:

Meat

• Oak Smoked, Certified Angus Beef Prime Brisket – A mouthful to say and to consume.
• Louis Cut Pork Ribs – Cut to perfection to give you meatier, more flavorful ribs.
• Brisket Sandwich – Ask ‘em to add their Pit Master Mac & Cheese on top to be blown away.

One of the few things that could make BBQ better is enjoying it in the perfect scenery. Campo Smokehouse is located at The Trailhead, next to Press Café and Mellow Johnny’s, right on the Trinity River. Campo Smokehouse, previously known as Flores Barbecue, is another location serving up quality BBQ straight out of a food truck trailer, with plans for a full restaurant with patio to come.

 What We Recommend:

Meat

• Prime Brisket – Catching onto a pattern on this recommendation yet?
• Jalapeno Cheddar Sausage – The perfect amount of spice, mellowed out with decadently melted cheese.
• Brisket and Carnitas Tacos – Why decide which? Por qué no los dos?

Angelo’s BBQ is undisputedly one of Fort Worth’s oldest BBQ locations. With over 60 years in business, it was still voted as Fort Worth Magazine Readers’ Pick for best BBQ in 2019. Angelo’s humble restaurant front exemplifies the fact that classic, old school barbeque isn’t from a flashy interior or marketing ploys, but from quality food made by good people.

What We Recommend:

Meat

• Sliced Beef – Brisket. Always the brisket.
• Pork Ribs – Served until they last, which isn’t long some days.
• Pulled Pork Sandwich – Always a staple that satisfies.

“Cowtown Brewing Co was founded on the idea that great beer deserves equally great barbecue.”

The Cowtown Brewing Co website says it all, and we couldn’t agree more. Great beer brewed with great BBQ in mind is the ideal situation that Cowtown Brewing has curated for Fort Worth.

What We Recommend

Meat

• Brisket – Go ahead and treat yourself to a full pound.
• Jalapeno Cheddar Sausage – A staple item on their menu.
• Brisket Sloppy Joe – You heard that right. Everything you can imagine plus more.

 Sides

• Sausage Mac & Cheese – Just when you thought mac & cheese couldn’t get any better.
• Skillet Potatoes – Crisped to iron skillet perfection.
• Brisket Beans – The most flavorful beans you’ll ever feast on.

You don’t truly understand the science of good BBQ until you take a look into how Woodshed Smokehouse makes smokes and cooks their meat. Not only are they consistently shifting out their animal and sausage of the day, but every piece of meat is cooked with different and very particular types of woods (mesquite, oak, hickory, and pecan) to ensure the best flavor profile for each dish.

What We Recommend

Meat

• Traditional Q Brisket – Smoked with hickory wood and served perfectly simple.
• Today’s Animal Tacos – No matter the animal of the day, these don’t disappoint.
• Woodshed Burger – Chopped brisket goodness and today’s sausage with smoked cheddar and traditional garnish.
• Tomahawk Prime Rib – Under the “Dining with Friends” section. 

Heim walks you through a journey of high-quality meat and ingredients and an innovative nod to traditional barbequing techniques and guides you gently to BBQ heaven. Ask any BBQ lover in Texas and they’ve heard of Heim’s legendary bacon burnt ends that rocked Texas to its core. BBQ aficionados travel far and wide to get a taste of Heim’s brisket and bacon burnt ends and we recommend you do the same.

 What We Recommend

Meat

• Certified Angus Beef Prime Brisket – Deemed some of the best brisket around.
• Bacon Burnt Ends – Known well across the great state of Texas.
• Beef Short Rib – Cooked so well it might as well fall right off the bone.
• The BIG CAT – Go on now and get yourself a fork. You’re gonna need it.

The long-awaited Panther City BBQ storefront has been met with overwhelming repour throughout the Fort Worth Community. After functioning out of a trailer and consistently selling out quickly, Panther City BBQ has found a home among the South Main development of Near Southside. They pride themselves on interacting with the community while whipping up high-quality BBQ that appeases customer’s hopes.

What We Recommend

Meat

• Prime Brisket – Slow smoked over post oak wood for up to 16 hours.
• Southside Slammer – The sandwich of your BBQ lovin’ dreams.
• Brisket Tacos – So good they’re opening a new concept based on BBQ tacos alone.

BBQ on the Brazos has quickly gained widespread credibility among the Texas BBQ scene. Recently voted the #1 BBQ spot in Fort Worth by Fort Worth Star Telegram, BBQ on the Brazos continues to stand the test of taste buds throughout. A quick tip: get yourself a bottle of their rub and BBQ sauce when you make a stop by to up your own BBQ game.

What We Recommend

Meat

• Brisket – Come with high expectations and still have them exceeded.
• Jalapeno Sausage Sandwich – Served fresh on a jalapeno cheese sourdough bread bun.
• Brisket Tacos – known to give any taco in Texas more than a run for its money.