Darren Warth is a renowned barbecue pitmaster, a recent inductee into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame (having racked up more than a thousand local, regional and national awards in 11 years) and the co-owner of Smokey D’s BBQ in Des Moines, Iowa. He’s currently in the middle of a soft launch of a new breakfast concept in nearby Ankeny, It’s My Jam Café, and while the full menu has yet to be released, the initial list of offerings is surprisingly, given his resume, light on barbecue ingredients and signatures.

It’s coincidental evidence that despite its inherent craveability and popularity, barbecue at breakfast and brunch is somewhat rare in the restaurant community, whether at “Q” joints or among broader concepts. It’s an observation that Warth doesn’t debate, and he offers some thoughts on why this may be the case. To begin, says Warth, space is at a premium, and the marriage of barbecue and traditional breakfast favorites can be difficult to accommodate.

“Griddle space and changeover time is a huge reason most barbecue restaurants don’t do breakfast,” he notes. “Any eggs or pancakes are going to require a lot of flat griddle space, and this isn’t prevalent in barbecue kitchens. Plus, at some point, you have to switch out the sausage gravy and hollandaise sauce on your cook line for barbecue beans and mac and cheese.”

It’s also difficult for restaurants that offer a more extensive menu to incorporate barbecue dishes—within any daypart. “Barbecue overall is tough,” cautions Warth. “It takes some skill to prepare correctly, it is very expensive to produce and it doesn’t have a long shelf life. There’s little margin for error. These things alone scare a lot of operators away from barbecue.”

Still, Warth finds encouragement in “some great products that are coming to market that deliver high-quality barbecue without the need for an experienced pitmaster.” As these products continue to gain traction, he’s observed more operators putting barbecue on the menu.

For operators interested in capitalizing on barbecue trends, Warth suggests they look to brisket. “Brisket is super hot right now, especially in the breakfast market,” he says. At It’s My Jam Café, he plans to use brisket in both a taco and a burrito, as well as for the base meat in a build-your-own barbecue-style Benedict. “We’re also thinking of introducing a brisket hash in place of a traditional corned beef hash as a specialty item. We might do the same thing with pulled pork.” Operators who really want to shake things up might try making chilaquiles with pulled pork. Or a “porkstrami” hash. “Brine a pork butt like you would a brisket for corned beef, then smoke it like pastrami. Chunking it with potatoes and onions makes for a truly amazing dish,” he suggests.

Photo Credit: Butchertown Hall/Amaranth Hospitality Group

The Cowboy Breakfast at Butchertown Hall, Nashville, Tenn., rides high as the brand’s most popular brunch item.

Brisket not only propels much of the menu at Butchertown Hall, Nashville, Tenn., it is the raison d’etre behind the decision to launch a brunch service in the first place. Understanding more of the modern barbecue restaurant’s origin story provides valuable context. Terry Raley, owner of Amaranth Hospitality Group, the parent of Butchertown Hall and other Music City concepts, spent some of his formative years in South-Central Texas, where, he says, “Brisket is a religion in that part of the world. You become a snob about it. But when I moved back to Nashville in 2001, I was in pulled pork barbecue country, so I was taking a bit of a risk with oak-fired brisket.” That risk was one in a series in his quest to deliver a barbecue sensibility that stood out from the crowd. “I didn’t want the restaurant to be known as another ‘Q’ house. I wanted it to be a bit more elevated,” he explains. “In addition to our smoker, I wanted to bring a wood-fired grill inside the restaurant and have offerings that most Q joints wouldn’t.”

Butchertown Hall, which opened in 2015, was developed to be something of an amalgamation that reflects both the German-Czech communities of Texas Hill Country, as well as the meat markets (and beer halls) that defined a Nashville neighborhood dominated by a similar immigrant demographic in the mid-19th century. Oh, and it just so happens that it was the Germans who created brisket, claims Raley.

“Brisket needs to be cooked long and slow to be edible, producing that delicious buttery, smoky quality,” he says. And while many barbecue joints stop serving when the day’s supply runs out, Raley was determined that no customer who wanted brisket would ever be denied, no matter how late they placed their order. Making good on this promise meant that sometimes there would be leftover brisket at the end of the night. “That’s the reason we started offering brunch,” he explains. “So we could use the leftover brisket in the morning while it was still delicious and then start again fresh at dinner that night.”

One of the first items on the brunch menu, introduced during the restaurant’s second year in business, has become the most enduring: the Cowboy Breakfast, a nod to the dish Raley ate all through his high school years in San Antonio. “I’m a fiend for sentimentality,” he admits. The Butchertown Hall iteration features two eggs, potato hash, Texas toast and the guest’s choice of brisket, pulled pork or Texas wurst. The brisket option is far and away the preferred pick.

Another favorite destination for the previous night’s leftover brisket is the Biscuits and Brisket Gravy, where the iconic Southern breakfast dish sees brisket swapped for the traditional sausage. Popular breakfast tacos feature scrambled eggs, cheddar, chipotle aïoli, cilantro and a choice of brisket, carne asada, house bacon, chorizo or Texas wurst. The brunch lineup also includes a “Deli-Style” Brisket Sandwich, evoking a New York deli, with a Texas twist. “I thought it would be a nice approach to put a pound of brisket on Texas toast and, instead of barbecue sauce, serve it with slaw,” explains Raley.

Photo Credit: Burnt Bean Co.

The insanely craveable Blue October at Burnt Bean Co., in Seguin, Texas, ditches traditional barbecue sandwich carriers like tortillas, biscuits and Texas toast in favor of a buttery croissant.

For Warth’s money, the most memorable morning barbecue is found in Seguin, Texas. “Chef Ernest Servantes of Burnt Bean Co. is lapping the market when it comes to breakfast/brunch in the barbecue space,” Warth says. “Every item on his brunch menu is barbecue-inspired and truly amazing.” Barbecue enthusiasts can arrive as early as 8 a.m. Sunday mornings to feast upon the legendary Brisket Huevos Rancheros and Barbacoa Tacos, both on the permanent menu. Social media posts alert diners to periodic specials like the sweet-savory Blue October (named for Servantes’ favorite band), a truly decadent build, featuring a warm croissant, moist brisket, jalapeño cream cheese, strawberry jam and a fried egg.

Carrier swaps are also on the menu at Crave Hot Dogs & Barbecue, a multi-unit fast casual based in Long Island, N.Y., with 25 brick-and-mortar franchise locations across the U.S., along with a fleet of food trucks and a Walmart tenancy agreement. Its breakfast menu features Pulled Pork Sliders that lean into the morning daypart by sandwiching the meat between two waffles. This breakfast waffle-based slider concept also extends to crispy chicken and bratwurst offerings, with all three of the sandwiches getting a drizzle of syrup. The pulled pork iteration is the No. 2 seller on the breakfast menu, reports Mona Jones, director of training and franchisee support. “Everyone loves pork and pork sliders—and chicken and waffles. So putting the pulled pork on waffles was a no-brainer. It’s a delicious, sweet, salty and savory bite.”

Crave also features breakfast bowls with a barbecue profile on its Express Menu, including a build-your-own option that diners customize by topping scrambled eggs with their choice of meat (pulled chicken, pulled pork, chili or bacon) and toppings. Separately, the Loaded Breakfast Bowl serves up pulled chicken, pairing it with eggs, cheddar, onion, tomato, craft beer cheese and crispy baked tater tots. Plus, assures Jones, pretty much any of Crave’s barbecue menu offerings can be requested in the morning hours.

In Austin, Texas, Moreno Barbecue has been building an extensive Sunday breakfast menu since late 2020. Select items are served between 9 and 11 a.m., while others remain available until they run out. Favorites include an extensive line-up of egg taco varieties, paired with brisket, bacon, chorizo, potato, beans and cheese. Also popular is the premium Smoked Barbacoa, made with Akaushi Wagyu beef cheeks that are oak-smoked and cooked in brisket tallow.

Throughout 2024, Moreno has been pushing the envelope with a number of new breakfast offerings. Topping the list is the “45” Breakfast Burrito, named after the local zip code (78745) and stuffed with chopped brisket, bacon, refried beef tallow beans, breakfast potatoes, eggs and cheese, and topped with queso, pico de gallo and a housemade lime-avocado tomatillo salsa. (The restaurant’s Facebook page issues a challenge: Order one to share or try tackling it solo.) A similar combination with small variations is available in the “45” Breakfast Taco. Moreno has also been trying out Brisket Chilaquiles and Brisket Huevos Rancheros, as well as delving into the sweet space through French toast variations served with a side slice of brisket.

Photo Credit: Moreno Barbecue

Dishes like chilaquiles are an easy entry point for operators seeking to add barbecue to the breakfast menu, and Moreno Barbecue, Austin, Texas, shows how it’s done.

A restaurant doesn’t have to be all-in on barbecue to take advantage of barbecue flavors at breakfast. Bull and Bean is a neighborhood café in Durham, N.C., featuring a menu largely centered on soups, salads, sliders and sandwiches. Its breakfast menu, available all day, every day, is an eclectic mix of savory and sweet. In the Famous Loaded Hashbrowns, perhaps the heartiest offering, potatoes are smothered with bell peppers, green onions, Jack cheese, jalapeños, fried eggs—and a choice of pulled pork or beef brisket.

While these barbecue meats don’t appear anywhere else on the restaurant’s permanent menu, they may show up as part of a brunch special, such as Brisket Breakfast Skillet (with roasted potatoes, spinach, onions, bell peppers, eggs and Swiss cheese) or Chipotle Bennie (toasted ciabatta topped with chipotle brisket, caramelized onions, poached eggs and hollandaise). Bull and Bean’s specials also serve as a reminder that barbecue flavors are not exclusive to meat. The BBQ Pork Loin Bennie is an English muffin topped with roasted pork loin, sauteéd garlic spinach and a barbecue-flavored hollandaise.

But barbecue options—at breakfast, brunch or any daypart—needn’t be restricted to pork and beef. Butchertown Hall has found success in including Smoked Chicken Salad on its brunch menu, appealing to customers seeking a lighter option in this daypart and further demonstrating the breadth of opportunity to explore in the barbecue space. The dish features mixed greens, watermelon radish, pickled red onion, charred mandarin oranges, sprouts and shreds of smoked chicken—all finished with cilantro-lime dressing.

Barbecue at breakfast and brunch may not be breaking new culinary ground, but those who’ve figured out how to capitalize on its elemental craveability in this daypart are opening eyes to the potential and possibilities that lie within reach. Operators ready to tap into the diverse and fertile ground of the barbecue category will discover many ways to incorporate its signature meats, sauces and sides into the morning meal.