These guys go big in the Houston Bay Area…welcome to T-Bone Tom’s! This delicious family-style, finger-lickin’ eatery draws folks from all over the country for their tender, oak-smoked barbeque, juicy ribeye steaks and so much more. Since 1974, they’ve been serving tasty comfort food to loyal patrons 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — that’s over 40 years of full bellies and counting!
Chances are you’ve seen them more than once on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives. The real star of the show here is Chef CJ. He gave Goodtaste cameras one heck of a behind-the-scenes tour-de-taste!
T-Bone Tom’s originally started out as a local county meat market, and to this day they continue to cut slabs of meat using their very own in-house band saw. Now that’s something you don’t see very often! Another refreshing tidbit about Tom’s: every item is made from scratch, from the dry seasoning to the BBQ sauce.
The restaurant also only uses Certified Angus Brand Beef, which has one of the highest marbling factors on the market. This goes for their signature filets down to their hearty hamburgers and brisket. The key is to begin with great quality product and control it through the entire process to plate, to include properly storing and aging the meat themselves.
On average, Tom’s smoker turns out a 1000 lbs of product per night! A quick peak inside this classic contraption instantly emits an infectious aroma unlike anything we’ve experienced…the stuff of meat-lovers’ dreams! Just imagine the juices and fats of beautiful pork butts, and Certified Angus briskets dripping all over one another for the ultimate in natural flavor.
Among T-Bone Tom’s best sellers is their UNBELIEVABLE Armadillo Eggs appetizer — jalapeños stuffed with homemade chopped beef, breaded in Panko and deep-fried to perfection.
Additional menu standouts are their homemade sausage (ground in-house!), chicken fried steak with homemade gravy and something they call Tom’s Campfire [below]. Here a marinated ribeye steak (still rare) is brought out to your table and YOU get to play chef and cook it yourself on a miniature grill to the temperature of your liking…how cool!
A wonderful array of food, weekly live music in Tom’s Back Yard and all-around good times can be found at this (not-so) little red barn near the water in Kemah, TX. We’ll be back soon!
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