Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy Hutchins
Hi Tracy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My family and I have been a part of the Texas BBQ community for decades and grew up surrounded by this style of cooking. In 1978 in Princeton, Texas our parents attached a BBQ restaurant to our home, making it so my brother, Tim, and I literally grew up living and breathing Texas BBQ.
Tim took over the family business in 2002 when we had only one Hutchins BBQ location in McKinney. In 2014, we opened our Frisco restaurant, and I officially came aboard as co-owner.
With Tim at the lead, Hutchins BBQ completely changed. He really took the time to immerse himself in the Texas BBQ world even more and helped shape our recipes into what they are today.
Since 2014, we have been blessed to see massive growth in our restaurants, and have received several very prestigious awards including multiple “Best in DFW” wins through The Dallas Morning News for best BBQ, being named to Texas Monthly’s Top 50 Best BBQ Joints list and even cooking in the James Beard House twice. While we’re best known for our Texan classics like USDA Prime smoked brisket and beef ribs, we’re also the creators of the Original Texas Twinkie, an extra-large jalapeño stuffed with cream cheese and brisket and wrapped in bacon.
We are continuously looking for new ways to make Hutchins BBQ even better than before. We’re building a BBQ legacy for the next generation.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not, and I’m sure everyone in the restaurant industry would tell you the same thing! In this field, there are so many ups and downs when it comes to day-to-day operations.
Our most obvious hardships were the two fires that occurred at our McKinney restaurant in 2012 and 2021. Thankfully, no one was hurt and neither knocked us down for too long, but those times were challenging and required us to rebuild. We’re thankful for our amazing team and staff whose support helped us to come out the other end better than ever.
In addition to the fires, our restaurants also survived a global pandemic, and we are now navigating through rapidly rising food prices. Each of these events posed its own difficulties, but the family we’ve built at Hutchins BBQ has helped us every step of the way. We can’t thank our team and the McKinney and Frisco communities enough for all they’ve done to bless us over the years.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At Hutchins BBQ, we stick to Texas tradition when it comes to the preparation and smoking of our meats. We start with high-quality meats, which make a huge difference in the taste of the final product, and use simple seasonings on most menu items. For example, our brisket rub is just coarse black pepper and Kosher salt bound onto the meat with yellow mustard. We pay close attention to the quality of each piece of meat that ends up on the cutting block so that every dish is as good as the last. Our briskets have always been one of our best-sellers and are a staple for any Texas BBQ restaurant. But I have to say, the item that really put us on the map has to be our Texas Twinkie. We even helped found a national holiday dedicated to the delicacy and marked October 16 as the official National Texas Twinkie Day!
I have to give credit to our sides and desserts, as many of them come from family recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. Some of our most popular sides are our broccoli salad and mac & cheese. Our desserts are both free and all-you-can-eat for our dine-in guests. We serve homemade banana pudding, and our peach cobbler is officially Keith Lee-approved!
I’m most proud of the love we get from everyone who walks through our doors. While people stop by from all over the country and are amazed by their first Texas BBQ experience, we also have regulars who have been coming in for years and continue to sing our praises. It’s an honor to be able to make a guest smile whether it’s their first time or the thousandth.
One of our biggest differentiators as a craft BBQ restaurant is that we have consistent lunch and dinner hours. Many popular BBQ spots only post their opening hours, as closing hours depend on when they sell out. We can put food out all day long from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every single day. Being able to keep up with demand while still putting out quality BBQ has been a challenge, but at the end of the day, we strive to make sure everyone is fed!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
There’s plenty of risk-taking when it comes to owning a restaurant. The industry itself has many uncertainties, especially in this economy, relating to food costs, labor availability and more. It’s our job as the leaders of Hutchins BBQ to make sure things run smoothly and that our people are taken care of, staff and guests alike.
Pricing:
- All of our pricing can be found at: https://hutchinsbbq.com/menus
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hutchinsbbq.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hutchins_bbq
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hutchinsbbq/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hutchins-bbq-mckinney-2
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hutchinsbbq
Image Credits
Kathy Tran
