January 1, Texas BBQ Joint Drops Brisket After Skyrocketing Beef Costs Devastate Menu

Wyatt’s Take

• Small-town Texas barbecue joint forced to remove brisket from menu due to record-breaking beef price increases
• Owner blames years of rising costs and government-driven supply shortages for the drastic decision
• Working families and small businesses continue paying the price for failed policies that hurt heartland America

A small Texas barbecue restaurant in Sinton made the tough call to pull brisket from its regular menu after years of skyrocketing beef prices made it impossible to keep serving.

Andrew Soto, owner of Butter’s BBQ, said the restaurant has been battling rising beef costs for the better part of five years.

“We’ve been dealing with the price hikes, specifically in beef and briskets, for the better part of, I would say, five years,” Soto said.

Prices had gone up and down over time, but in the last eight months to a year they climbed so fast the business could no longer absorb the increases.

When the restaurant tried raising prices and cooking smaller batches, customers stayed away and sales dropped.

“I guess the straw that broke the camel’s back was last week. I was talking to one of my food reps, and he informed me that brisket had once again gone up in price,” Soto said.

The latest jump came to nearly one dollar per pound, which adds up fast when ordering hundreds of pounds at a time in a small town.

According to the USDA, beef and veal prices rose 5.9 percent from August 2025 to August 2026, with another 9.4 percent increase expected this year.

“It was a hard one, but I made the decision to pull our brisket from the menu completely,” Soto said.

The restaurant is now pushing pork ribs and sausage while testing beef cheek as a cheaper substitute.

Brisket will still be available through an online pre-order system, but it will no longer be a daily menu item.

“We’re in Texas. It’s a big deal,” Soto said.

In a Facebook post to customers, the restaurant explained: “We apologize tremendously, we’ve done all we can to combat the constant price hikes, but we can no longer sustain our current business model with brisket eating up over 70% of our total grocery costs.”

Some locals warned the move could hurt business, suggesting the restaurant should simply raise prices instead.

“In my opinion, not selling brisket will hurt your business,” one commenter wrote.

Others were more supportive, calling for more pork options and smoked pork steaks as affordable alternatives.

Soto made clear the decision was about survival, not preference.

“We’re just trying to protect our business and our livelihood,” he said.

“Please come and support us. We still have some really good barbecue, despite not having the brisket on our menu.”

Wyatt Matters

Hardworking folks in small-town America are the backbone of this country, and when government policies drive up the cost of everyday staples like beef, it hits family restaurants and working families the hardest. Supporting local businesses that refuse to give up is how we keep our communities strong.