5 Houston Area Barbecue Joints Make TxMo Top 50

Texas Monthly's newly updated top 50 barbecue restaurants list includes five from the Houston area:

Cypress: Brooks' Place
Galveston: Leon's World's Finest In & Out
Houston: Gatlin's BBQ; Virgie's Bar-B-Que
Spring: Corkscrew BBQ

Considering that only Virgie's and Leon's are holdovers from 2008's list and that the other three didn't exist last time, one might consider Houston's barbecue scene stronger than it's ever been. Food writer and Houston BBQ Festival organizer J.C. Reid, who contributed to the list, writes on his blog that "for those of us who know and celebrate Houston barbecue, it's no surprise at all" that Houston-area restaurant have done so well.

Texas Monthly will publish the top four, with Austin's Frankin Barbecue likely at the top, tomorrow.

· The List: Top 50 Barbecue Joints [Texas Monthly]
· Houston Scores Strong in Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ Joints [J.C. Reid, TX]