Slow Smoked · Oak Fired · Outlaw Made

Texas barbecue, sold on Texas dirt. Weekend pop-ups across DFW - with a long ride west on the horizon.

See the Bounty Board Join the Trail
▼ Ride On ▼
The Black Raven perched at sundown
The Legend

Born in Texas.
Wanted Everywhere.

Real barbecue doesn't come from a warming tray or a shortcut. It comes from fire, oak, salt, and time - and a pitmaster stubborn enough to stand watch over all four.

Black Raven BBQ is Texas craft barbecue built by two real Texans. Atticus Poe runs the pit - briskets smoked low and slow through the night on the Poe Pit, our own custom smoker. No gas assist. No liquid smoke. No mercy. Greg Nelson runs the rest - scratch-made sides that outclass most restaurants' mains, and desserts good enough to get a man in trouble.

We're outlaws about one thing only: we refuse to serve barbecue that cuts corners.

- Atticus Poe & Greg Nelson

The Menu

The Bounty Board

Every plate on this board earned its reward the hard way - by the hour, over oak.

Wanted · Dead Slow

Prime Brisket

14 hours over post oak. Peppered bark, smoke ring deep as a grudge. Sliced fatty or lean - order it fatty, trust us.

Reward: By the ½ lb
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
14 hours, post oak, overnight watch
Wanted For
Bark theft. People steal each other's bark.
Known Associates
Charcoal salt, white bread, pickles
Pitmaster's Note
Fatty end. Don't argue.
Wanted · Falling Apart

Pork Ribs

Dry rubbed, smoked till they surrender. Tug clean off the bone - no sauce needed, but ours is there if you want it.

Reward: Half & Full Rack
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
5-6 hours till they give up clean
Wanted For
Making sauce optional
Known Associates
Slaw, Fool's Gold, extra napkins
Pitmaster's Note
Bite should pull clean, not fall off. That's braising, not barbecue.
Wanted · Flew The Coop

Smoked Turkey

Brined, smoked gentle, sliced thick. The juiciest bird you've had and the reason Thanksgiving is jealous of a parking lot.

Reward: By the ½ lb
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Brined overnight, smoked easy
Wanted For
Ruining every dry turkey that came before it
Known Associates
Cranberry? Never heard of her.
Pitmaster's Note
People sleep on the turkey. Their loss, your gain.
Wanted · Half At Large

Half Chicken

Whole birds split and smoked - crackling skin, ember-kissed, juice running when the knife lands.

Reward: By the Half
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Smoked whole, split at the end
Wanted For
Skin crimes. The good kind.
Known Associates
White sauce, Dead Calm, a pile of napkins
Pitmaster's Note
The thigh is the best bite on the truck. Start there.
Wanted · Armed To The Teeth

Smoked Wings

Smoked first, crisped after. Rubbed with the house blend and tossed to order.

Reward: By the Half-Dozen
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Smoked low, finished hot
Wanted For
Making sports bar wings look like parole violations
Known Associates
Ranch, if you must. We won't watch.
Pitmaster's Note
Get them naked first time. Then experiment.
Wanted · Armed & Delicious

Jalapeño Cheddar Sausage

Coarse ground, snap-casing links with real heat and real cheese. Made in-house, smoked in the Poe Pit.

Reward: By the Link
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Smoked slow till the casing snaps
Wanted For
Armed with real jalapeño. No pepper flakes.
Known Associates
Mustard, saltines, cold drinks
Pitmaster's Note
If it doesn't snap, we don't serve it.
Wanted · Riding Shotgun In A Bun

The Rib Dawg

Shredded rib meat piled in a toasted hot dog bun with all the fixins. A rack's greatest hits, one hand, no bones about it.

Reward: One Dawg
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Ribs pulled at their peak, shredded to order
Wanted For
Smuggling a full rack past your better judgment
Known Associates
Pickles, onions, raven sauce
Pitmaster's Note
Invented for people who love ribs but hate waiting.
Wanted · Pulled Over

Pulled Pork

Smoked shoulders pulled by hand, bark folded through so every bite gets a piece of the crime.

Reward: By the ½ lb or Sandwich
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Overnight, wrapped at the stall
Wanted For
Resisting a rest. It got one anyway.
Known Associates
Slaw, sauce, soft buns
Pitmaster's Note
Bark in every handful. That's the law here.
Wanted · Fully Loaded

Loaded Baked Potato

A one-pound spud buried under smoked meat of your choosing, butter, cheese, and the works. It's not a side. It's a hostage situation.

Reward: One Spud, Choose Your Meat
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Baked in the pit's shadow
Wanted For
Carrying a concealed brisket
Known Associates
Butter, cheddar, sour cream, chives
Pitmaster's Note
Order it with chopped brisket. Thank us later.
Wanted · Say It Loud At The Window

Deez Nuts

Cherry bomb peppers stuffed with brisket and cream cheese, wrapped in bacon, smoked till the wrap crackles. Our take on the Texas Twinkie - rounder, redder, meaner.

Reward: By the Pair
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Smoked till the bacon locks in
Wanted For
Making grown adults giggle while ordering
Known Associates
Cherry bombs, cream cheese, bacon
Pitmaster's Note
Hotter than the jalapeño version. That's the point.

The Sides

Wanted · Cold Blooded

Dead Calm

Cold smokehouse pasta salad - cheddar, bacon, jalapeño - finished with crushed bark chips and charcoal salt off the pit.

Reward: By the Scoop
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Built the night before. Gets meaner overnight.
Wanted For
Wearing pit bark like a badge
Known Associates
Charcoal salt, hot afternoons, second helpings
Pitmaster's Note
Nobody else can make this. They don't have our bark.
Wanted · Cold, Heavy, Final

The Undertaker

Yukon gold potato salad - bacon lardons, Raven Eggs, sharp cheddar, whole grain mustard, a whisper of hot honey. Buries everything else on the plate.

Reward: By the Scoop
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Cider vinegar hits the potatoes while they're still warm. That's the secret.
Wanted For
Making every other potato salad taste like a church picnic
Known Associates
Bark chips, charcoal salt, a shovel
Pitmaster's Note
Once you've had it, nothing else satisfies.
Wanted · All That Glitters

Fool's Gold

Skillet cornbread drowned in hot honey. Sweet on the way in, heat on the way out - like most things worth chasing.

Reward: By the Slab
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
Cast iron, hot out of the pit-side oven
Wanted For
Fooling folks into thinking it's dessert
Known Associates
Hot honey, melted butter, regret-free seconds
Pitmaster's Note
Order two. One never survives the walk back.

The Sweet Hereafter

Case File Sealed

The Sweet Hereafter

Greg Nelson's bread puddings and cobblers, from a sealed recipe file. The rotation changes weekly. Witnesses describe grown adults going quiet mid-bite.

Reward: Ask What's In The File Today
Flip for the rap sheet
Rap Sheet
Time Served
[REDACTED]
Wanted For
Causing silence at the table
Known Associates
A classically trained chef with priors
Pitmaster's Note
Rotates weekly. Sells out first. You've been warned.

Tap a poster to flip it. The full bounty board - plus weekly specials - posts with each weekend's sighting.

The Code

Nothing Wasted

An outlaw operation runs lean. Every part of the fire and the animal gets used - that's respect, not thrift.

Charcoal Salt

Spent oak coals from the pit, ground into a black finishing salt. The fire, bottled.

Bone Marrow Butter

Roasted marrow whipped into butter. Goes on the toast. Changes your life.

Bark Chips

Crisped brisket bark ends, seasoned and bagged. The best bite of the brisket, by the handful.

Sightings

Last Seen

Tracking the raven across DFW. Current intelligence below - and the long ride west.

TRINITY SAN DIEGO · 1,300 MI THE LONG GAME FORT WORTH STOCKYARDS TERRITORY · STAKING OUT ARLINGTON RUMORED HUNTING GROUND DALLAS IN ITS SIGHTS N

Weekend sightings post here first. Trail riders get the word before the smoke rises.

Find the Truck

Join the Trail

The raven rides on weekends for now - pop-ups across DFW while the truck fund grows. We don't cut corners on barbecue or on business, so we're building this the right way: plate by plate, weekend by weekend. The long ride? San Diego. But Texas eats first.

Get on the trail and you'll be first to know where the raven lands each weekend - locations, dates, and what's coming off the pit.

The Black Raven descending