The Catholic Mass of Texas barbecue stays pretty much the same wherever you go. There’s a line, there’s a tray, and there’s meat. But much like the Second Vatican Council, things can change. At H-E-B, things have veered off the traditional Latin to something more modern, maybe even heretical: you order your food from a self-service electronic kiosk.
Texas’ myriad barbecue restaurants typically don’t have an e-tablet waiting for you to poke and prod it. H-E-B’s True Texas BBQ restaurants do. And while many restaurants have online ordering, the presence of consumer-facing technology marks a visible change in the way people do things. What happens when you can’t chat up the meat cutter on the other side of the line?
Look and touch
True Texas BBQ, a barbecue restaurant inside select H-E-B grocery stores in Texas. This one is in Kingwood in the Greater Houston area. (John-Henry Perera/Chron)
H-E-B opened its first True Texas BBQ restaurant in 2016. The San Antonio-based grocer operates more than 40 locations statewide as of 2026. True Texas BBQ offers a sit-down casual restaurant experience with Texas-style barbecue inside a grocery store. The food is tasty and compares well to most typical barbecue restaurants out in the wild.
True Texas BBQ, a barbecue restaurant inside select H-E-B grocery stores in Texas. This one is in Kingwood in the Greater Houston area. (John-Henry Perera/Chron)
Ordering from a kiosk can be a clumsy work of hand acrobatics, but True Texas BBQ’s menu is pretty much the same as any other barbecue place. You can order individual meats, sides and sandwiches, or you can spring for combination plates and platters. An H-E-B representative told Chron you can also order from the counter.
“We always have knowledgeable Partners available to take guest orders at the counter, answer questions, and provide the personal service our guests are looking for,” the H-E-B representative said. “The kiosks provide added convenience such as browsing the menu, customizing [a] meal, or ordering ahead.”
Customers can also order ahead, either via the official True Texas BBQ mobile app, H-E-B’s mobile app for curbside pickup (select locations), heb.com or via Favor for delivery.
The price of convenience
True Texas BBQ, a barbecue restaurant inside select H-E-B grocery stores in Texas. This one is in Kingwood in the Greater Houston area. (John-Henry Perera/Chron)
It’s an easy experience, but it comes at the cost of the spectacle. You won’t get to see a meat cutter pull out a wobbly hunk of freshly cooked brisket from the heater and slice it open. You don’t get to see someone ladle a gooey glop of macaroni and cheese from the array of sides. And as Brek Webber of Tin Roof BBQ in Atascocita pointed out, there’s nobody to talk to.
“You don’t get that face-to-face personalization. You may say, ‘Man, those ribs look good’ or ‘I want brisket, but that chicken you pulled out looks really good’,’ Webber said. “Without that personalization, you don’t get that. You might have ended up ordering something different you may never have tried before.”
Ernest Servantes, owner of Texas Monthly’s top-ranked barbecue joint Burnt Bean Co. in Seguin, was more blunt about self-service kiosks. He said they’re meant to cut labor, specifically front-of-house staff. Instead of paying somebody hourly to man the cashier or handle the sides station, you can pay an upfront cost for a tablet and see a return on investment for that labor in months, presumably.
Considering the current economics, particularly high beef prices, rent and labor, it’s an enticing proposition if you like money. Servantes, however, thinks that’s seeing the forest for the trees.
“If I wanted to give off the corporate chain vibes, yes, all day long,” he told Chron.
The magic isn’t going anywhere
A slice of brisket at Burnt Bean Co., a barbecue restaurant in Seguin, Texas. (John-Henry Perera/Chron)
Texas barbecue restaurants don’t all do the cafeteria-style model. The Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q chain uses a ticket system, wherein a number gets called and you pick up your order. Some places will bring the food to you. And almost all of them have some form of online ordering and pick-up-and-go system.
If there is a worry that H-E-B’s kiosk would replace something, trust that it’s still a big barbecue world. Theirs is just a method that fits the H-E-B model, Weber said. The tried-and-true Texas barbecue experience of people-to-people ordering, or “magic” as Weber referred to it, isn’t going anywhere.
H-E-B is currently planning to open a location inside its upcoming Montgomery store, which will be unveiled later this year at Highway 105 and FM 2854.
“At True Texas BBQ we want to provide guests a great experience and options on how they can purchase and receive their restaurant orders,” the H-E-B representative said. “We’re excited to continue offering more Texans high-quality, premium Texas barbecue at the some of the lowest prices.”
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This article originally published at Texas pitmasters wrestle with a future riddled with more technology.
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