Triple J's Smokehouse

When you walk up to the front door at Triple J’s Smokehouse in Trinity Gardens, you can both smell sweet barbecue smoke and hear the smooth R&B bass lines bumping inside. The line snaking around the inside, most of which is cleared of tables and chairs because most folks are here for takeout, moves fast. No matter which day you show up at J’s, someone will know someone else, and they’ll chat between ordering smoked pork ribs and a baked potato smothered in chopped beef  that’s as big as your head. Open since 1994, Triple J’s is not only a staple of the neighborhood, but of old school Houston barbecue culture. They represent a specific style of barbecue—a little country, Houston, and East Texas all rolled together—every year at the rodeo. Roll up to J’s for spicy boudin, homestyle sides of macaroni and cheese, and pot likker-stewed green beans, as well as chopped beef on just about anything.

photo credit: Richard Casteel

photo credit: Richard Casteel

photo credit: Richard Casteel

photo credit: Richard Casteel

photo credit: Richard Casteel