Longoria’s Barbecue, the Everman smokehouse known for its coarsely ground brisket sausage and secret spice blend, served its last plates Friday after 31 years in business. Owner David Longoria said the closure came down to a mix of factors that had been building for years, from a shaky economy to his own health.
Fidencio “Fred” Longoria opened the restaurant in 1995, years after he began making sausage at home in the mid-1970s while working at Bell Helicopter, drawing on the sausage he’d grown up eating in Gonzales, Texas, according to Fort Worth Magazine. That sausage, made with coarsely ground brisket and a spice mix the family never shared, became the restaurant’s signature. Fred eventually passed the business to his sons Danny and David, with David taking the reins after Danny moved to Mexico.
David Longoria, now 64, told the magazine that multiple pressures piled up at once: the restaurant never fully bounced back from a 45-day COVID-era shutdown, the broader economy turned unsteady, and his health became a concern. Road closures tied to nearby development were also underway near the modest two-room building clad in corrugated metal that housed the restaurant. At times, he said, the place ran with just two people doing the work of ten. “I don’t think a lot of people realize just how hard it is to run their own business, especially a restaurant,” he said, according to the same report, and he didn’t mince words about the toll it took, calling it a money pit.
A Recipe Too Good To Give Away
Longoria’s built a reputation well beyond Everman. The restaurant landed on Texas Monthly’s list of the state’s 50 best barbecue joints multiple times, and Daniel Vaughn named it one of North Texas’ 10 best barbecue spots in a D Magazine story, per the fwtx.com account. The Travel Channel’s BBQ Crawl also featured the restaurant, which David said gave the business a major boost…