I was in the central Plano area of (suburb of North Dallas) today and hit up 2 bbq places.
Why 2? Well... the one that had a 4.9 star review on Google was actually a catering company that only allowed you to buy and take home vac sealed bbq they had in a glass door standup cooler/fridge.
It was pricey too! I guess I should have read a bit more about the place on Google but none of the reviews mentioned this and I was on my phone and in between errands when I quickly looked it up so I will take the blame for a lack of research.
I then went to the #2 option to actually have lunch rather than buy something to take home hahaha which was also highly rated. Well it wasn't really not much of a BBQ house even that it had BBQ in the name. It was like a hybrid working mans Tex-Mex/BBQ menu. I ordred the 2 meat BBQ plate and all of it it was forgettable so I assume the many high ratings come from the burritos, tacos, and other Tex-Mex and Mexican items on the menu.
Again I should have read more but I was looking this stuff up in my car in parking lots while getting ready to run the next errand on my list so I didn't do a bunch of research.
Late last week I hit up a place in Addison, TX (suburb of North Dallas) and it was OK and I wouldn't moan if someone wanted to eat there but it also wasn't very special. I tried the brisket, ribs, and jalapeno sausage. The sausage was pretty good, the brisket was ok, and the ribs were nothing specially. I could tell they knew how to smoke BUT I think they are suffering on consistent repeatable operations in the store as I could tell with the other things going on that didnt involve the cooking. Seems like everyone trying to do everything so I imagine that is what is keeping the food from being much better.
Anyhow I'll keep trying new places around the Dallas area as I get chances while running errands. Maybe if I end up down in Deep Ellum (near Down Town Dallas) I will pop into Pecan Lodge to see if it is still kickin strong and MAYBE i'll make the time to try Cattleack BBQ since I am still off work next week :)
Hopefully I have enough places knocked down that if anyone is visiting various areas of Dallas I could give them a good option (can't make any claims for Ft Worth, its too far away from me).