Zavala’s Barbecue in Grand Prairie: Come on Sunday for the Beef Cheek
Tacos are one of my food groups, so I started with the Sloppy Juan. Mark started with the beef cheek, and the rest of the tray waited its turn: sliced brisket, pizza pepper sausage, Pop’s Beans, cheesy jalapeño hominy and a stack of flour tortillas.
Zavala’s Barbecue sits on West Main Street in downtown Grand Prairie, in a round little building with a wooden turret on the roof. Texas Monthly has put it on its barbecue lists twice, Top 50 (2021) and Honorable Mention (2025), and its Sloppy Juan made the 50 Best Tacos list.
WHAT’S IN THIS GUIDE
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The Brisket Test
Mark is our resident brisket judge, and he silently grades brisket on the same three things: the bark, how the fat renders, and the bend test.
The brisket and the beef cheek are both 44 Farms beef.
What he looks for: the dark, seasoned crust that forms on the outside during the smoke.
Every slice had a fantastic, dark bark loaded with coarse pepper.
What he looks for: fat that renders, melting into the meat instead of staying chewy.
The fat rendered completely. It was remarkably soft and velvety, and it melted instantly on the tongue.
What he looks for: a slice that drapes over a finger without breaking, then pulls apart with a gentle tug.
The slices passed the ultimate test with a beautiful bend and hold.
If we had to nitpick, they were cut a bit too thin for our preference, which left them leaning slightly on the dry side. The flavor was still phenomenal, but we definitely prefer a nice, thick-cut slice to lock in that moisture and texture.
Her Pick, His Pick
It’s only on the menu on Sundays. (Beef ribs are the Saturday-only special.)
Best side: Pop’s Beans for me, the cheesy jalapeño hominy for Mark
The Rest of the Tray
How they get that much flavor into this meat, I don’t know. Shredded meat can hide the occasional fatty, gristly or just-off bite, and believe me, one of those and I’m done. Not a single one here. Plenty of places go light on the rub, but Zavala’s doesn’t hold back on the pepper, and that black pepper crust with the clean wood smoke and the tender cheek makes for a rich, heavy bite. It has a little kick, so if you don’t do spicy, steer clear. I loved it on nothing but a flour tortilla, and Mark dressed his with pico and green sauce.
Side NoteThe green sauce is poblanos, cilantro, serranos, tomatillos and garlic.
This is where I started, and they do not skimp on the meat.
Pit NotesIt’s a riff on an East Texas sloppy joe: trimmings from several smoked meats, chopped together with sauce and piled on a flour tortilla.
Texas Monthly named it to its 50 Best Tacos list in 2024.
Mark likes every sausage Zavala’s makes, from the pizza pepper to the jalapeño cheddar, and on more than one visit he couldn’t pick, so we ordered them all. The pizza pepper is a standout for him: the red pepper flakes give it a nice little kick without real heat, and the casing gets a great crisp. If you see boudin on the board, it’s only there now and then, and it’s really good.
The name came from an employee who didn’t know what red pepper flakes were called.
I’m a sides chick, so I judge a place by its sides. Here, Pop’s Beans were the standout: good and full of flavor.
Mark loves it. I want to love it, because I love cheesy grits and mac and cheese, but I don’t.
Side NoteHominy is dried corn soaked until the kernels puff up big and chewy.
First in Line on a Sunday
We got there about 10:45 and were first in line. A few more people were there by the time they opened, but it looked like a slow start. Sunday hours are new for them.
It isn’t always that quiet. When the World Cup was in town, they were open 30 days straight, and they were very busy.
We sat inside. Outside, there are picnic tables on the patio, and they’ve built a large cover on the side with more tables under it.
About Zavala’s Barbecue
Joe Zavala grew up in Grand Prairie and was working in IT when he cooked his first brisket in 2015, on a beat-up smoker he likes to say he stole from his father-in-law. By 2018 he and his wife, Christan, were selling barbecue on Saturdays from an alley beside The Brass Bean coffee shop, three blocks down Main Street, and in early 2019 they opened at 421 W. Main to a line more than 70 people deep.
That same year, Joe was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He kept the restaurant going through chemotherapy and has been in remission since June 2020. He and Christan started the Zavala Family Foundation to help restaurant families facing cancer.
The round brick and stone building went up around 1946 as a Weber’s Root Beer stand. Its wooden turret was shaped like a root beer mug to catch the eye of drivers on the Bankhead Highway, the old main road between Dallas and Fort Worth, and the city has since named it a Grand Prairie landmark.
In 2020, Grand Prairie renamed the side street Brisket Lane at Zavala’s request, and the sign out front now marks the corner of Brisket Lane and Sloppy Juan Way. Texas Monthly put Zavala’s on its Top 50 list in 2021, just two years after it opened, and on its Honorable Mention list in 2025.
Quick Facts
Zavala’s Barbecue
On-Site Verified
Grand Prairie, Texas
Texas Monthly Top 50 (2021) · Honorable Mention (2025) · Counter service
The drive: 41.1 miles from Frisco. Zavala’s is downtown on Main Street at the corner of Brisket Lane.
The Verdict
Worth the drive from Frisco, and if you go on a Sunday, get the beef cheek.
More Texas Eats
Brisket and burgers in Aledo, Sunday Thai street food, and a tableside dinner.