Growing up “an inner-city Houston kid,” Grant Pinkerton played youth football and raised pigs as part of Future Farmers of America.
Every year, he’d have the pig he raised slaughtered, then roast it on a rotating spit for a neighborhood barbecue.
“I started cooking at a young age. I think I was 12 years old when I smoked my first brisket,” Pinkerton told Robert Rivard on episode 75 of the bigcitysmalltown podcast. As a member of FFA, he said, “for my ag project, I built a barbecue pit.”
Pinkerton is now overseeing the opening of his third Pinkerton’s Barbecue. The first was in his hometown in Houston, where the third one is going in. But the second is in downtown San Antonio, adjacent to Legacy Park and across East Houston Street from Frost Tower.
Today, when the weather is decent, the park is often filled at lunchtime with people noshing on brisket, ribs and sausage. Unlike many barbecue joints that sell out in the early afternoon, Pinkerton’s is open for dinner six nights a week. It also boasts a full bar.
Pinkerton, who attended UT but missed the barbecue renaissance that was starting to take root there (he was busy barbecuing on the front lawn of his house or at football tailgates) only visited hotspots like Franklin’s Barbecue years later.
His takeaway? “These mega-long lines that you see are not full of locals. They’re full of new people coming to Texas to discover barbecue.”
Pinkerton wanted to tap into this food tourism, and San Antonio was the place to do that, he said. “When you come to Texas, especially San Antonio, you’re looking for two things. You’re coming for Tex-Mex, and you’re going to want to eat some barbecue.”
Despite the long lines, Pinkerton’s Barbecue has also felt the effects of the pandemic, rising prices and inflation. Labor “is our number one issue,” Pinkerton said. “I think we went nine months trying to hire a [general manager].”
A football fan and friend of UTSA coach Jeff Traylor — “the UTSA program is in great shape as long as he’s at the helm” — Pinkerton said he often compares running a restaurant to running a college football program.
“You’re dealing with a lot of people who are 18 to 23 years old,” he said, and “everybody has a job that they need to do.” The job of the coach or manager is to delegate appropriately.
“You see guys who are head coaches of football teams, and if they’re micromanaging the defense — look at Oklahoma right now. Things don’t go so well, you know?”
Pinkerton also sees football parallels to the culture he’s trying to create at his barbecue restaurants. He admits that he likes to personally train new hires “in the Pinkerton way — you know, going back to football, like the Patriot way or the ‘Bama way.”
But he also understands the transient nature of restaurant employees.
“I really don’t want anybody scooping potato salad for 10 years for me,” he said. “I want them to learn how to be responsible employees, show up on time, dress for the job, work well with others, and take those skills that we’ve helped them cultivate.”
Tune in to episode No. 75 to hear Grant Pinkerton on restaurateurs’ responsibility to their community, tipping culture and the worldwide domination of Texas barbecue.