Before Mike Baker opened Salt Creek BBQ in Iraan with his wife, Katherine, in 2023, he did his barbecue research on the road. Baker was a tow truck driver covering a wide swath of West Texas and beyond. “We went all over the States, and I would stop at barbecue places,” he said. Sure, there were plenty of local towing needs, but the idea of “local” is stretched out on the hundred-mile span of Interstate 10 between Ozona and Fort Stockton.
“As long as it has wheels on it, you can tow it,” Baker said, and he would haul anything that rolled as far as the customer wanted. He remembers a call from a man frustrated with his rickety boat trailer near Sonora, ninety miles east of Iraan. Baker loaded it up, and the man paid him to drop it off nearly nine hundred miles away in Daphne, Alabama. Katherine knew where he was headed because she was a dispatcher for the same towing company. Baker enjoyed the job not just for the spontaneity, but also because it allowed him to help people who found themselves in perilous situations. “It’s a really bad day for the customer, and to me, it was the driver’s job to take that away and make their day better,” he said. His and Katherine’s mission at the restaurant is the same—to be a bright spot in each customer’s day.
“Ur mom called. She wants brisket,” read the chalkboard sign outside the restaurant, which is about the size of a storage shed. When Katherine isn’t coming up with funny remarks for the board, she makes all the sides and the rotating flavors of fruit cobbler. Customers place orders at the window and can dine on the picnic tables on the covered patio, but most take their orders—all of which come in Styrofoam takeout boxes—to go.
The smokers outside are covered but not enclosed—that makes smoking a challenge when the weather turns sour. “If it’s cold and windy, it’s not going to be a good day,” Baker said, noting that such conditions keep customers away too. He inherited the smokers from the previous owner of the space, who ran it as Mesquite Wood Bar-B-Que until closing the joint, in 2022. When the Bakers decided to live a more predictable lifestyle, they purchased the place, and Baker put his backyard barbecue skills to the test.
Does he still use mesquite wood, like the previous owner? “Absolutely not,” Baker said. He starts his fire with hickory and adds oak and pecan during the cooking process. The smoke flavor was pronounced but not overwhelming on a thick slice of peppery brisket, which was fall-apart tender after many hours on the smoker. The Bakers use the meat to fill their most popular menu item—the brisket grilled cheese. I also tried a juicy, skin-on chicken thigh and a link of snappy jalapeño-cheese sausage. The sausage and the potato salad are the only items not made in-house, and sadly, I was a day early for the ribs.
In a town of not much more than a thousand people, the Bakers tempt the locals with specials each of the four days a week they operate. Tuesday is for stuffed baked potatoes; Thursday is for brisket burnt ends; and Friday is rib day. Baker said the joint recently switched to spareribs from St. Louis–cut ribs, which have the ends trimmed off. “I want to give the customer more for their money,” he said. Baker is also honing his method for pork belly burnt ends, which will likely become the Wednesday special. Salt Creek is open until 7 p.m. if the food doesn’t sell out, but during high school football season, the couple closes early on Fridays when their sons are playing an away game.
A box of food at Salt Creek BBQ.Photograph by Daniel Vaughn
Each plate comes with a slice of beer bread, made with Lone Star, that Katherine bakes from scratch. Her cakey cobbler was also a treat. I tried the apple, and you might also find peach, blueberry, or cherry on offer. Katherine also makes a well-seasoned pot of pinto beans, creamy mac and cheese dotted with black pepper, and sweet and tangy barbecue sauce.
If you’re curious about the pronunciation of the town’s name, the Bakers are experts. Katherine moved to Iraan when she was in middle school, and Baker has lived here since 1992. He enunciated the three syllables of “I-ra-ann”—the town is named after local ranchers Ira and Ann Yates—but in conversation, there’s just the slightest lilt between the two a‘s.
Salt Creek BBQ has been open for sixteen months, and the owners are happy with its progress. “It’s only getting better,” Baker said, and although he liked his job as a tow truck driver, he was still working for someone else. “I enjoy making people smile,” he said, and the couple is doing just that. When Baker drives to the restaurant every morning, he thinks, “ ‘I’m not going to work. I’m going to my store.’ ”
Salt Creek BBQ
406 S. Drake, Iraan
Phone: 432-639-4040
Hours: Tuesday–Friday 11–7
Pitmasters: Mike and Katherine Baker
Method: Oak, pecan, and hickory in an offset smoker
Year opened: 2023
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Dining and Cooking