Texas Monthly named Burnt Bean Co. in Seguin the No. 1 Texas barbecue joint in its 2025 Top 50 list. Founded in 2020 by pitmasters Ernest Servantes and David Kirkland, the restaurant rose from No. 4 in 2021 to the top spot through consistency, craft, and deep ties to tradition. Known for dishes like brisket croissants and Hot Cheeto queso mac, Burnt Bean blends bold flavors with a small-town soul. The win cements Seguin’s place on the national barbecue map.
Contact Us Today
SEGUIN, TX — Texas Monthly has officially named Burnt Bean Co. the No. 1 Texas BBQ joint, topping its revered 2025 edition of the “Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas” list.
Texas Monthly’s list is compiled every four years by a dedicated team that visited 319 joints across Texas in 2024, driving thousands of miles and conducting multiple anonymous return visits. From a record-breaking pool of 120 serious contenders, just 50 made the final cut. Burnt Bean Co., which debuted at No. 4 in 2021, rose to No. 1 in 2025—a rare and hard-earned climb in what Texas Monthly calls the most competitive era in Texas barbecue history.
Founded in 2020 in the heart of Seguin, Burnt Bean Co. is the creation of pitmasters Ernest Servantes and David Kirkland, who took a risk opening during the pandemic. From the start, lines wrapped around the block for oak-smoked brisket, barbacoa tacos, house-made sausage, and the now-famous bourbon peach cobbler taco.
For Servantes, the recognition is personal. In an interview with Texas County Reporter, he shared his heart.
“They would ask me, ‘Well, are you cooking to cook for the list?’” he said. “I would be lying if you're not cooking to be number one. That’s just the competitive nature of any man.”
Known as The Pope of Barbecue, Servantes earned his nickname on the competition circuit and wears it with pride.
Burnt Bean’s rise to No. 1 is about more than craft—it’s about culture, roots, and relentless consistency.
“The List, of course, is the holy grail,” Servantes said. “At the end of the day, there was no James Beard and there was no Michelin—now there is. But back in the day, it was The List. That’s why it’s called THE List.”
Inside their exposed-brick dining room and out on the smoker-lined patio, the team dishes up everything from brisket-stuffed croissants and menudo to huevos rancheros. Their Sunday brunch, in particular, has become a must-visit event, drawing food lovers from across the state.
“When you come to the Burnt Bean on Sunday, it’s something so special that it hits you—and whatever ethnicity you are, it'll hit you,” Servantes said.
Kirkland, who oversees pit operations, emphasized the work it took to earn their spot.
“We stayed here and grinded every day to try to make it where at the end of the day, if we weren’t number one, there was nothing [more] we possibly could have done,” Kirkland shared with Texas Country Reporter.
Burnt Bean’s success has also become a point of pride for Seguin—a small industrial town now recognized on the national food stage.
“Who would think that a small town like Seguin, Texas, has every culinary award you can get in the world?” Servantes said. “Put that on paper—what awards New York has, Seguin has too. It’s huge for a little city like this, this little sleepy city, an industrial town.”
Even as accolades stack up, the mission remains focused.
“The focus is not on the awards. The focus is on the food,” Servantes said. “My grandma always told me: you stay humble and you let your food walk with a big stick.”
Burnt Bean Co. is open:
Thurs–Sat: 11 a.m. until sold out
Sun: 8 a.m. until sold out
Location:
Burnt Bean Co.
108 S. Austin St.
Seguin, TX 78155
(830) 609-7189
Instagram: @burntbeanco