The Barbecue Easy Button: Zavala's Barbecue Adds Affordable Meat Plates

Just the other day, I opened my electric bill with a bit of trepidation. We just wrapped up one of the hottest summers on record, and if I wasn't already aware of just how blisteringly hot it was every time I stepped outside, my electric bill served up a fiscal reminder of the price I pay to live in air-conditioned comfort.

One of the downstream effects of getting a shock on the electric bill is how it affects the rest of your monthly budgeting. Anything remotely discretionary will get cut back. Going out to eat? Not if I want to keep the lights on. It's time to look for bargains.

So it seemed well-timed that I got an email from Zavala's Barbecue with a new offer. Instead of the usual per-pound order, Zavala's is offering up a two-meat plate with two sides and one of their fantastic tortillas for just $25. For five bucks less, you can get two tacos with the meat of your choice, plus beans and hominy. Winner winner, brisket dinner.

I popped over to Zavala's late on a Thursday afternoon, which can be a risky proposition. While they try to stay open until 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, I pulled up to find Joe Zavala sitting at a table out front, glancing at his phone. As it turned out, they were wildly busy during lunch and had sold out of almost everything. I was going to get the last meal of the day.

"Some people are happy when they sell out, but I just know that some people who wanted to come later are gonna be disappointed," Zavala said. Smoking a bunch of barbecue remains a guessing game, and the summer doldrums have slowed restaurant traffic, making the prediction game that much harder for everyone in the business.

Thankfully, there was plenty of brisket to build a plate, and I opted for a pizza pepper sausage link as my second protein, and added cheesy hominy and a side of slaw. Zavala's will often give a 10% discount after the lunch rush to move out the rest of the day's food, and even though there would be no evening rush, Joe still generously applied the discount to my lunch. I added the discount back into the tip jar, grabbed a Topo Chico and sat down to enjoy the barbecue bargain.

There's a reason we named Zavala's brisket as the best in Dallas, and our reasoning was backed up with three glorious slices of beef, bark glistening, the extra zing of Zavala's spicy rub evident in every bite. We took one slice, laid it on the tortilla, then topped it with a bit of slaw and red salsa for an impromptu taco, and momentarily forgot all about the electric bill. Bites of the pizza pepper sausage just added to our euphoria.

"We need to give people easy button and good price point," Zavala told us about the plate offerings, and we can't disagree. Both plate options are available any day the restaurant is open.

While we ate, we chatted with Joe Zavala about his latest venture, the Backyard BBQ Box from his side hustle, BBQ Distro. In the back of Mas Coffee, Zavala sells an assortment of his own sauces and seasonings along with rubs and accessories from other barbecue vendors across the state. In the summer, he launched the Backyard BBQ Box, a monthly selection of rubs from Zavala's and from a rotating cast of barbecue notables. Last month's collaborator was Kris Manning of Smokey Joe's BBQ (another Top 100 destination), and Zavala said that next month's box will offer products from Panther City BBQ.

We picked up a box of seasonings last month as a raffle prize from another event we attended, and our box had beef, poultry, pork and fajita rubs, plus a jar of seasoning salt and a bottle of Zavala's infamous Sloppy Juan sauce. As I'm writing this, a pork shoulder is resting in the kitchen thick with Zavala's pork rub. BBQ Distro sells seasonings individually or lets you build a custom box with as much as you need.

The Backyard Box is $55, along with the seasonings and sauces, unlocks recipes, tips and tricks from Zavala's and its collaborators, as well as online videos and Q&A sessions to make your next backyard cookout a hit. Zavala's plans to collaborate with a different barbecue restaurant each month, and if backyard smoking is really your thing, there is a recurring subscription service to ship you a new box each month.

Cooking at home is definitely a way to save money, and we appreciate that Zavala's has found a way to get some of its exquisite barbecue flavor at home. Of course, knowing that a plate of affordable goodness awaits at the restaurant isn't a bad thing, either.

Zavala's BBQ, 421 W. Main St., Grand Prairie. Thursday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. (or until sold out).