Wikipedia

Draft:Brandon Hurtado

  • Comment: Resubmitting after neutral rewrite addressing tone concerns raised in the 20 March 2026 decline. Promotional language removed; storytelling reframed as third-person factual prose; non-encyclopedic quotes cut. Bxboxer (talk)
  • Comment: Further update: each statement is now supported by an independent, reliable source — corrected the citations for Loma at Choctaw Stadium, the Bosque Ranch catering, and the Landman appearance, and dropped a non-independent interview source. A paid-contribution disclosure has also been added at User:Bxboxer in line with the Terms of Use. Bxboxer (talk)
Brandon Hurtado
Hurtado at the Hurtado Barbecue location in Arlington, Texas (2025)
Born
Irving, Texas, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Arlington (BA, 2011)
Occupations
  • Restaurateur
  • author
  • pitmaster
Known forFounder of Hurtado Barbecue
SpouseHannah Hurtado
Children3
Websitehurtadobbq.com

Brandon Hurtado is an American restaurateur and pitmaster. He is the founder of Hurtado Barbecue, a Central Texas-style barbecue restaurant in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex that incorporates Tex-Mex elements into its menu.[1] The restaurant was included in Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ Joints list in 2021[2] and at No. 46 on Southern Living's Top 50 BBQ Joints of the South.[3] In 2024, Hurtado Barbecue received the Most Valuable Business Partner Award from the Texas Rangers and Major League Baseball.[4] He is the author of Barbacoa: The Heart of Tex-Mex Barbecue (Harvard Common Press, 2025).[5]

Early life and education

edit

Hurtado was born in Irving, Texas. He has cited his father's home brisket cooking and his grandmother's Mexican recipes as influences on his later culinary work.[6][5]

Hurtado attended the University of Texas at Arlington, where he graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in public relations.[7]

Career

edit

Pop-ups and food truck (2018–2019)

edit
Hurtado at the Windy City Smokeout festival in Chicago, Illinois

In 2018, Hurtado and his wife Hannah began holding barbecue pop-up events at breweries in Arlington, Denton, and Fort Worth.[1] Their menu combined Central Texas-style barbecue with Tex-Mex preparations.[5] Division Brewing in downtown Arlington was the primary host venue.[8]

In 2019, the operation moved to a food truck parked at Division Brewing, initially open on Saturdays for lunch and later expanding its hours.[8][1]

Brick-and-mortar and COVID-19 (2020)

edit
Hurtado at the Hurtado Barbecue location in Arlington, Texas

In February 2020, Hurtado opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant at 205 E. Front Street in downtown Arlington, in a former railroad station building.[1][6] The following month, the COVID-19 pandemic led the restaurant to shift to online ordering, pre-orders, delivery, and curbside pickup.[1] Hurtado had not previously worked in the restaurant industry prior to opening the location.[5]

Expansion (2022–present)

edit
Hurtado outside the Arlington location of Hurtado Barbecue

Hurtado Barbecue opened additional locations across the Dallas–Fort Worth area:

  • In September 2022, a second location opened at 1116 8th Avenue in the Southside neighborhood of Fort Worth, in a space previously occupied by Derek Allan's Texas Barbecue.[9]
  • A third location opened at 900 S. Harwood Street near the Dallas Farmers Market.[10]
  • A fourth location opened at 226 N. Walnut Creek Drive in Mansfield, Texas.[11]
  • A fifth location in Argyle, Texas was announced in late 2025 for a spring 2026 opening.[12]
  • A separate Tex-Mex concept, Loma, was announced for Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, with a planned spring 2026 opening.[13][14]

Texas Rangers partnership

edit

In 2021, Hurtado Barbecue participated in the Arlington EATS program at Globe Life Field, which rotates local restaurants through concession stands.[4] In 2023, it was named the Official Barbecue Restaurant of the Texas Rangers and opened a permanent stand inside the stadium.[15][16]

On July 12, 2024, during MLB All-Star Week at Globe Life Field, Hurtado Barbecue received the Most Valuable Business Partner Award from the Texas Rangers and Major League Baseball.[4][17] Hurtado Barbecue operates two concession stands at Globe Life Field.[4]

Other ventures

edit

In 2024, Hurtado Barbecue catered an event at Taylor Sheridan's Bosque Ranch near Weatherford, Texas.[18] He and three Hurtado Barbecue pitmasters appeared as extras in the television series Landman.[19]

Published works

edit

Hurtado's first book, Barbacoa: The Heart of Tex-Mex Barbecue, was published on April 1, 2025, by Harvard Common Press, an imprint of The Quarto Group. The 240-page volume contains 80 recipes.[20]

Recognition

edit
  • Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ Joints (2021)[2]
  • Southern Living Top 50 BBQ Joints of the South, No. 46 (2025)[3]
  • MLB Most Valuable Business Partner Award, Texas Rangers (2024)[4]
  • Texas Monthly Honorable Mention (2025)[21]

Personal life

edit

Hurtado lives in Argyle, Texas, with his wife Hannah, who co-founded Hurtado Barbecue, and their three children.[22] He is of Hispanic descent.[5][6]

References

edit
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Only open since February, Arlington business Hurtado Barbecue quickly earning a reputation despite pandemic". WFAA. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  2. 1 2 "The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  3. 1 2 "5 North Texas BBQ restaurants rank among Southern Living's best". WFAA. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Hurtado Barbecue receives Rangers' Most Valuable Business Partner Award". MLB.com. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Liles, Lindsey (September 30, 2025). "Love Barbecue and Tex-Mex? Brandon Hurtado's Got the Cookbook for You". Garden & Gun. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  6. 1 2 3 "New craft barbecue restaurant fires up in Arlington with Tex-Mex flair". CultureMap Dallas. May 8, 2019. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  7. ↑ "Brandon Hurtado Alumni Spotlight". University of Texas at Arlington. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  8. 1 2 "Barbecue Fans Wait in Long Lines for Food Truck's Tex-Mex BBQ". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  9. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue Will Soon Open in Cowtown". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  10. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue opening in Dallas". WFAA. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  11. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue opens new location in Mansfield". WFAA. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  12. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue opening fifth location in Denton County". WFAA. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  13. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue owner to open Tex-Mex restaurant at Arlington stadium". CultureMap Fort Worth. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  14. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue Team to Open New Tex-Mex Spot to Arlington". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  15. ↑ "Hurtado BBQ and the Texas Rangers". Lone Star Ball. March 3, 2023. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  16. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue Is a Win for Texas Rangers Fans". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  17. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue serving as Texas Rangers All-Star headquarters". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  18. ↑ Garcia, Brayden (March 11, 2024). "Billy Bob Thornton chows down on Fort Worth Hurtado BBQ at Taylor Sheridan's ranch". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  19. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue opens Richardson shop at popular brewery". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  20. ↑ "Barbacoa: The Heart of Tex-Mex Barbecue". Quarto. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  21. ↑ "Best Texas BBQ: Honorable Mentions". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
  22. ↑ "Hurtado Barbecue's new Argyle location will bring local couple's lauded restaurant closer to home". Denton Record-Chronicle. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Brandon_Hurtado&oldid=1359493879"