I was in Spring, Texas visiting Rick Raanes, President of LIVIN.in, and he pointed me toward Keith Street with one instruction: get to Corkscrew BBQ before the meat runs out. The line said everything. It stretched back before noon, full of people who had clearly done this before and were fine with waiting because they knew what was coming.
Will and Nichole Buckman opened Corkscrew in 2010 at 26608 Keith Street, and somewhere along the way the Michelin Guide showed up, handed them a Star, and called it the best barbecue in Texas. Walk inside and you'll see the Michelin plaque mounted on the wall — not framed and fussy, just bolted up there like the fact it is.
The Room Does Not Pretend to Be Anything
Mason jar pendant lights, raw wood ceiling, a chalkboard wall where guests scrawl names and messages. Every table packed. The energy is loud in the best way — people eating seriously, not performing a brunch. This is a room that fills up fast and stays that way until the meat is gone.
Order the Beefy Cheese. Then Order It Again.
The menu comes out on a single folded sheet. Smoked meats by the pound — brisket, beef ribs anchoring the list. Sides run from pinto beans to loaded baked potatoes. Tacos come with green-chile ranch.
But the thing I keep thinking about is the Beefy Cheese. Smoked brisket piled onto a bun, blanketed in what can only be described as an aggressive pour of queso and cream — cheese sauce pooling over the edges of the tray, streaked with rendered fat from the meat. It is not subtle. It is exactly what it looks like, and it is the best argument for live-fire cooking I've encountered in years. Order it first. Decide what else you want after.
The Kitchen Discipline Behind the Smoke
Everything at Corkscrew is made in-house. The meats, the sides, the sauces — no MSG, most items gluten-free, no nut oils. That kind of kitchen discipline is easy to miss when you're staring at a tray of brisket, but it's the reason the food tastes the way it does. Nothing is coasting on a shortcut.
Corkscrew opens at 11 a.m. and runs until the meat is gone — which means you show up early or you show up willing to be disappointed. The Michelin Guide called it the best barbecue in Texas. At $$ pricing for a One Star, it's the most straightforward value proposition in American dining right now. After the Beefy Cheese, that reads as understatement.
We spend a lot of time talking about what makes a food culture worth driving to. Back in Mount Shasta, Baldovino's Wine Bar & Kitchen is doing that same kind of serious, unpretentious cooking at a level that punches above the town's size — and The Garden Tap has that same packed-room energy on a warm evening. Corkscrew fits that category: a place where the food does all the talking and the reputation is entirely earned.
26608 Keith Street, Spring, TX 77373. Phone: 281-330-2178. Go early.