A Houston BBQ Favorite Adds Cocktail Potency as It Moves to New Memorial Digs – Pit Hall Continues to Expand

Michael Sambrooks, owner of the tony Houston steakhouse Andiron, actually cut his teeth as a good pitmaster creating traditional Central Texas-style smoked meats. Years before making a name for himself in the fine dining world, Sambrooks turned his passion for live-fire cooking into what is one of Houston’s most popular barbecue outposts, The Pit Room, which added a restaurant in Memorial City earlier this year to accompany the original on Richmond Avenue.

For the uninitiated, Central Texas style barbecue is pretty simple. The meat, in most cases, is simply rubbed with salt and black pepper (although some barbecue masters add a few other spices as well). Cooked low and slow over the indirect heat of pecan, oak or mesquite wood, it is traditionally served without any sauce.

Truth be told, Sambrooks has bottled its own barbecue sauces, which include house-made mustard sauce and bourbon coffee. Not to mention spices, for ambitious backyard barbecue enthusiasts hoping to get close to what the pros can do.

Whether you choose to go (The Pit Room can prepare takeout for up to 50 people), the barbecue menu that has made The Pit Room one of Texas’ most respected practitioners in the art of meat Smoke offers a range of expertly sourced meats. such as brisket, beef ribs, pork ribs, pulled pork, turkey and chicken. Made daily, the assorted sausages (including Czech-Style Beef, Jalapeño-Cheddar Pork, and Black Pepper-Garlic Venison) have become a Pit Room staple.

And what’s a one- or three-meat Texas barbecue dinner without the required sides? At the Pit Room, the cast of worthy homemade sides includes macaroni and cheese, mustard potato salad, elote, charro beans, coleslaw and green beans. Did we mention there are also Tacos, Chips and Dips, Chili Pies and Fritos?

Mixologist Sarah Crowl was hired to elevate the cocktail program, creating signature drinks such as a hibiscus margarita and a sparkling version of ranch water.

For those of us who can’t imagine a meal ending without a sweet treat, Sambrooks tapped its talented pastry chef Alejandra Salas to whip up homemade cookies that you can enjoy on their own or as a sandwich with your ice cream flavors favorites. And finally, for adventurous cooks who want to barbecue in their own backyard, the all-new Memorial City Pit Room is home to a retail meat market stocked with brisket, ribeyes, T-bone steaks and sausages packaged for takeout ready to cook at home.

The Pit Room has restaurants at 1201 Richmond Avenue and 10301 Katy Freeway in Memorial City. Both sites are open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.