Williams Smokehouse At 5903 Wheatley St.

[brucesw]

William's Smokehouse, 5903 Wheatley in Acres Homes, burned, apparently last night. The pit and rear of the building are destroyed with many of the fixtures looking heavily damaged. The front and sides do not look that bad, except for some smoke stains on the eaves over the windows and door, and there's quite a bit of furniture in the parking lot which looks okay from a distance.

I hope he had insurance and will be able to rebuild. With Wheatley improved to 4 lanes, divided, and a new entrance to his parking lot off Wheatley, so you didn't have to negotiate that narrow side street with the deep drainage ditch, he was poised for growth.

Mr. Williams made the best Q in Houston, especially the ribs. His rub used more black pepper than most places which gave his ribs a distinctive heat. The brisket was also very good. The home-made sausage, what Robb Walsh in his BBQ book called Southern Black/Urban Black style, finely ground beef with seasonings in a synthetic casing, wasn't the equal of the great sausages of the Central Texas Czech and German butchers but was very good. I considered Williams to be among the top 10 bbq joints in the state.

Here's a link to a review on Roadfood.com by Jane and Michael Stern from a few years ago, with some pics.

[TheNiche]

Dammit, dammit, dammit! He's old and has stated that he's going to retire.

ARE THERE ANY BBQ AFFICIANADOS OUT THERE!? PLEASE CONTACT HIM. START A FRANCHISE.

EDIT: Well this has pretty much ruined my day...and I was wondering what the dream I had this morning meant when I saw a guy ingest a whole link of sausage in one bite. I think I'm gonna go pay my respects by eating a massive baked potato stuffed with both beef and pork.

[JLWM8609]

Poor Mr. Williams. Williams' Smokehouse had good BBQ to me, not the greatest I'd ever had, but I liked it (esp those ribs "drools"), and I'm sad to see it go. Well, Burns' BBQ on DePreist is another Acres Home landmark serving up some good "que" on Wednesday-Saturday, though I've found Burns' not to be as good as it once was.

[brucesw]

Dammit, dammit, dammit! He's old and has stated that he's going to retire.

ARE THERE ANY BBQ AFFICIANADOS OUT THERE!? PLEASE CONTACT HIM. START A FRANCHISE.

EDIT: Well this has pretty much ruined my day...and I was wondering what the dream I had this morning meant when I saw a guy ingest a whole link of sausage in one bite. I think I'm gonna go pay my respects by eating a massive baked potato stuffed with both beef and pork.

No - franchise = mediocrity. A good pitmaster is an artist, impossible to replicate in multiple locations.

I had no idea he was as old as that - there have always been lots of young men working there, even in their teens. I assumed they were sons, but maybe grandsons?

I've read on another site that his sons have been running the place for some time; hopefully they will want to carry on the good family name.

I never thought Burns was that good but I guess I'll have to give it another try. Novosad's in Hallettsville is now the closest 'great' Q I know of, without having to go all the way to Luling or Lockhart.

[marmer]

I never thought Burns was that good but I guess I'll have to give it another try. Novosad's in Hallettsville is now the closest 'great' Q I know of, without having to go all the way to Luling or Lockhart.

This probably belongs in another thread, but: New Zion Church in Huntsville? Hinze's in Wharton and Sealy? DJ's BBQ in Clute? Notice I am leaving Central Texas BBQ in Pearland off the list. I have been less and less impressed with them on my last few visits.

I'm guessing the people running Skeets BBQ in Silverlake (side street, Randalls shopping center) must have worked for Jim Goode at one time. Very similar sauce and sides.

[brucesw]

This probably belongs in another thread, but: New Zion Church in Huntsville? Hinze's in Wharton and Sealy? DJ's BBQ in Clute? Notice I am leaving Central Texas BBQ in Pearland off the list. I have been less and less impressed with them on my last few visits.

I'm guessing the people running Skeets BBQ in Silverlake (side street, Randalls shopping center) must have worked for Jim Goode at one time. Very similar sauce and sides.

I've never made it up to the Church of the Holy Smoke. Hinze's - yes, but not as good as Novosad's. Swinging Door in Richmond is very similar, pecan smoked, perhaps a little better than Hinze's. I like Brian's in Clute better than DJ's, but haven't been to either in several years. Great ribs at Brian's. Went to Central Texas/Pearland once; that was enough. Never heard of Skeet's - wherezat?

[marmer]

Yes, Brian's is good, too. I just grew up with DJ's and like it better. Smith's, which was a little farther down Plantation into Clute (near Cemetery Road) was even better (run by black folks, open three or four days a week)

Skeet's doesn't look like much because it's in a strip center. It's in the eastern face of the large shopping center on 518 anchored by Randall's and Kohl's. It's close to the Bank of America. It reminded me a lot of Goode Co; decent if you're in the area but not worth a special trip.

[brucesw]

Yes, Brian's is good, too. I just grew up with DJ's and like it better. Smith's, which was a little farther down Plantation into Clute (near Cemetery Road) was even better (run by black folks, open three or four days a week)

Skeet's doesn't look like much because it's in a strip center. It's in the eastern face of the large shopping center on 518 anchored by Randall's and Kohl's. It's close to the Bank of America. It reminded me a lot of Goode Co; decent if you're in the area but not worth a special trip.

Aha, some one else who remembers Smith's. Someone brought some once to a pot luck at my Dad's church and it was great. I only went once before evidently they closed. Was great, yes, better than the others, better than most places in Houston, even.

[marmer]

Aha, some one else who remembers Smith's. Someone brought some once to a pot luck at my Dad's church and it was great. I only went once before evidently they closed. Was great, yes, better than the others, better than most places in Houston, even.

You and I are probably the only ones. That was the best "Q" I had in that area. I had a good friend in high school who really liked that place so I went several times. I'm sure it was there up until the early 80's at least. I think Mr. Smith was open Weds--Sat unless he ran out of meat. I remember that the sauce was rather spicy -- kind of like hot sauce, and I really liked that.

[brucesw]

Alison Cooke's blog on Williams, holding out hope for rebuilding.

Marmer - my folks moved back to LJ from Angleton in 92 but I'm not sure when they switched churches. Anyway, Smith's was probably still open into the early 90s, though the one time I did find them open they seemed surprised to have a customer.

[JLWM8609]

This probably belongs in another thread, but: New Zion Church in Huntsville? Hinze's in Wharton and Sealy? DJ's BBQ in Clute? Notice I am leaving Central Texas BBQ in Pearland off the list. I have been less and less impressed with them on my last few visits.

I'm guessing the people running Skeets BBQ in Silverlake (side street, Randalls shopping center) must have worked for Jim Goode at one time. Very similar sauce and sides.

YES! New Zion Church is worth the trip! The only thing is though, you need to call ahead, because they're only open on Wednesday-Saturday I think, they do all their cooking on Sunday-Tuesday. When they run out, whenever it is, they close down. I remember I went up there once for some BBQ racing up I-45 one saturday afternoon trying to get there before they closed, come to find out they'd closed earlier that day because they ran out. The last time, we called ahead and found out they had some BBQ left, we went up there and bought the last of the brisket and ribs, and they shut down after we left, and it was long before 6pm rolled around.