H-E-B True Texas BBQ Review: Is Grocery Store Barbecue Worth It in 2026?

H-E-B is one of the most beloved brands in Texas. And unlike Whataburger, Texans aren't the only ones singing its praises. The grocery chain has built its reputation on balancing value with quality, which is why some people are surprised to discover that H-E-B also serves barbecue. When I first moved to Austin eleven years ago, I was genuinely impressed. The barbecue was solid and compared favorably to many of the legacy barbecue places around town. But barbecue in Texas has changed dramatically since then. The craft barbecue movement has raised the bar, with places like LeRoy and Lewis, Burnt Bean, and La Barbecue redefining what great barbecue can be. Those places often come with long lines and limited hours. H-E-B offers something many of them don't: Convenience. In my latest Outrageous Foods review, I stopped by H-E-B True Texas BBQ to see how it scored on taste, price, and calories. Watch the full review!

H-E-B True Texas BBQ Review by the Numbers

Taste Score: 7.9/10

The meats were good. Really good. Brisket, turkey, ribs—I enjoyed all of them. H-E-B delivers competent, satisfying Texas barbecue, and considering you're eating inside a grocery store, that's no small feat.

Why It Didn't Score Higher

Barbecue has evolved. Like it or not, the craft barbecue movement changed expectations. While H-E-B's barbecue is very solid, it's hard to put it in the same class as the elite joints pushing creativity and technique to another level. My sides were decent too despite chatter that they can be the achilles heel, but they lack the innovation and cultural mashups happening throughout modern Texas barbecue. Bottom line? H-E-B barbecue is excellent for a grocery store. But it isn't elite barbecue.

Price Score: 5.0/10

My three-meat plate cost nearly $30. That's a lot of food, but it's also approaching what you'd pay at elite spots like Micklethwait.

Why It Didn't Score Higher

Thirty bucks isn't cheap. And that's the problem. At that price, H-E-B finds itself competing with some of the best barbecue in Texas. If I have thirty dollars and the choice is between H-E-B and Micklethwait, the answer is easy. I'm going to Micklethwait.

Calories Score: 4.0/10

This platter was an absolute monster. Brisket: 370 calories Turkey: 190 calories Ribs: 600 calories Fried okra: 810 calories Coleslaw: 350 calories Total: 2,320 calories. Even split between two people, that's 1,160 calories each. We're talking Five Guys territory. And somehow the biggest caloric bomb on the plate wasn't the meat. It was the fried okra.

Why It Didn't Score Higher

A day's worth of calories is staggering, even for a platter intended to be shared. And honestly, one of the reasons I enjoy doing these reviews is that it forces us to understand what we're actually eating. H-E-B perhaps gets unfairly put through the meat grinder because they publish calorie information while many barbecue restaurants don't. But calories are calories whether they're posted or not. And if nothing else, this experience made me appreciate just how quickly fried foods can add up.

Final Thoughts on H-E-B True Texas BBQ

H-E-B barbecue absolutely scratches an itch and, in the context of grocery store dining, you really can't do much better. In fact, I'd love to find a supermarket that does sushi as well as H-E-B does barbecue, though I suspect I'd have to fly to Japan for that.

And therein lies the brilliance of the whole thing. This is Texas after all, where barbecue is king, and of course a beloved institution like H-E-B would figure out how to serve good barbecue. In many ways, True Texas BBQ is simply another reason why Texans are so fiercely loyal to the grocery chain.

Nothing comes free, however. Calories are calories, and barbecue has become expensive. So when you order that three-meat plate, understand that you're consuming roughly a day's worth of calories and spending nearly enough money to eat at some of the state's elite barbecue joints.

Which raises an uncomfortable question.

If you're already spending thirty dollars, perhaps it's worth waiting a few hours in line and treating yourself to the very best barbecue Texas has to offer.

Last Bite

H-E-B True Texas BBQ is convenient, tasty, and better than most grocery store food has any right to be. But for nearly thirty dollars, I'd rather spend a little more time and get truly elite barbecue. Overall Score: 16.9/30 Good barbecue. Not great barbecue. And certainly not cheap barbecue.

Best Food in Madrid, Spain: Where to Eat in 2026

When it comes to answering the question of where to find the best food in Madrid, one could spend a lifetime chasing the answer. What I can offer instead is my own Madrid food guide—a collection of restaurants and food experiences that made my first trip to Spain, and my first trip to Europe as an adult, unforgettable. Kind of crazy to say those words out loud, but better late than never. This was a family vacation, so our choices reflected that. But one thing quickly became clear: Spain is a place where one can eat high and low and find both experiences equally rewarding. Some of my favorite bites came from formal restaurants, others from humble cafés and bars where lunch cost little more than a couple of coffees back home.

La MaMa

The Vitals: the spot: La MaMá, near Santiago Bernabéu Stadium the eats: Tomato salad, Grilled Squid, Shrimp with rice, croquettas, the whole menu the bucks: €20-€40 the full nelson: Michelin Bib Gourmand winner that could pass for a Michelin 1 star restaurant 

Tourist Bonus: Walking distance to Real Madrid's legendary stadium Our most formal meal in Madrid came at La MaMá, a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand restaurant located near Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Honestly, if someone told me this place had earned a Michelin star, I wouldn't have argued. Spain makes lunch the main event, and by our second day I had fully embraced the concept. Perhaps a little too enthusiastically, because we ordered enough food to feed a small army. Yet the dish I still think about wasn't some elaborate tasting menu creation. It was a tomato salad topped with smoked herring. A tomato salad. The tomatoes in Spain are simply remarkable. The dish ended up being one of the highlights of the entire trip and a reminder that extraordinary ingredients often require very little embellishment. Thank God my wife isn't afflicted with the same food obsession that plagues me because I nearly lost my mind over the thing. The staff spoke English, graciously accommodated my son's peanut and tree nut allergies, and humored my embarrassingly poor attempts at speaking Spanish.

Bajo Cero Heladería

The Vitals: the spot: Bajo Cero Heladería, near the Royal Palace the eats: Gelato, cappuccino, croissants filled with Jamón the bucks: €10-€15 the full nelson: Get the damn gelato Tourist Bonus: Perfect stop before or after visiting the Royal Palace Twenty-five years ago, when friends returned from Europe raving about gelato, I promised myself I too would someday experience the magic. Of course, America has since experienced its own ice cream revolution and quality gelato no longer carries quite the same mystique it once did. Still, Spain sits next door to Italy and shares plenty of culinary DNA. Which means one thing: Get the damn gelato. Bajo Cero proved to be the perfect stop before one of those tourist attractions everyone does because, frankly, everyone should. While my son indulged in gelato, I enjoyed a cappuccino and a croissant stuffed with Spanish jamón. Let's just say I consumed an irresponsible amount of jamón during this trip and regret absolutely nothing. Affordable and with multiple locations throughout Madrid, Bajo Cero quickly became one of those places we recommended to anyone who asked.

La Venencia

The Vitals: the spot: La Venencia the eats: Sherry and Pinchos the bucks: €10-€15 the full nelson: Hemingway vibes and the art of sip and nosh

Tourist Bonus: Old Madrid atmosphere that feels frozen in time La Venencia is first and foremost a sherry bar, and according to legend, one of Ernest Hemingway's favorite haunts. Then again, if you spend enough time researching Madrid, you'll discover Hemingway apparently drank everywhere. The sherry is the attraction here. In America, sherry is often relegated to dessert wine status. In Spain, it feels much more like a cocktail, one that pairs beautifully with pinchos and small bites. The place gets crowded and the service is brisk. Photos aren't allowed, which somehow only adds to the old-world atmosphere. I managed to sneak a few on my phone, though perhaps Hemingway himself would approve of keeping some things mysterious. What I loved most was the rhythm of the place. A sip of fortified wine. A little bite. Another sip. Another bite. No giant meal. No fuss. Just the simple pleasure of eating and drinking, which the Spanish seem to pursue with both constancy and consistency. Honestly, that felt like Spain in miniature.

Café Hortensia

The Vitals: the spot: Cafe Hortensia the eats: Fabada, Asturian cider, hearty northern Spanish cooking the bucks: €20-€30 the full nelson: some of the heartiest cooking of Northern Spain in the middle of Madrid

Tourist Bonus: One of the best places in Madrid to explore Asturian cuisine Café Hortensia was high on my list because I wanted to experience the food of Asturias, the region in northern Spain known for hearty cooking and famously hard cider. The signature dish is fabada, a rich bean stew loaded with cured pork and blood sausage—the kind of meal built to sustain one through a cold winter. Naturally, I ordered it on a ninety-degree afternoon. The restaurant was offering a €22 two-course lunch, which felt like one of the better values we encountered during our time in Madrid. Alongside the famous fabada, I enjoyed a fish dish cloaked in a sauce so rich it bordered on decadent. The Asturian cider provided a welcome lift and tasted nothing like the sweet concoctions college students consume back home. We even finished lunch with an herbal liqueur, because by that point I had fully embraced the Spanish way of life. Or at least my approximation of it.

Last Thoughts on Madrid

Madrid reminded me of Tokyo—not because the cities are similar, but because both places take food seriously at both ends of the spectrum. Of course one can find plenty of fine dining, but greatness can be found in the €10-20 range. And once you move into the €20-30 category, the quality becomes truly extraordinary, especially with tried and true regional Spanish fare. Still, there were two noteworthy standouts: The Tomato salad from La MaMA was the right-hand knockout blow I didn't see coming. My eyes are always drawn to rich, fatty meat dishes because I am, above all else, a savory eater. But this salad was every bit as savory as the Fabada at Cafe Hortensia, but better suited for the warm weather we experienced in Madrid. The Fabada is the dish I will attempt to create at home though . .  stay tuned for that. As I write this back in Austin, Texas while waiting for my son's late-night volleyball practice to end, I can't help but laugh. There's a decent chance dinner tonight will come from a fast-food drive-thru. Such is life. But for one glorious week, life tasted like sweet and tart tomato salads, thirst quenching Asturian cider, savory jamón, and sherry.

Sonic Tropical Heat Smasher Review: Should Burgers Be Sweet?

Sonic thinks they should. The fast food chain's newest limited-time burger, the Tropical Heat Sonic Smasher, takes a classic smashburger formula and adds something that has been causing food arguments for decades: pineapple. Pineapple on pizza remains one of the internet's favorite food debates. But pineapple on a smashburger? That felt like new territory. So I headed to Sonic to find out if their Tropical Heat Sonic Smasher was actually worth ordering in 2026—or if this sweet-and-spicy smashburger experiment should have stayed on the drawing board.

What's on the Tropical Heat Sonic Smasher?

According to Sonic:

"Two juicy, hand-smashed patties made with Angus beef, stacked with melty pepper jack cheese and crispy bacon, topped with a Jalapeño Pineapple Glaze—bringing the perfect sweet-heat kick to every bite. Balanced with crisp lettuce and creamy mayo—all on a soft potato bun."

On paper that sounds like a Guy Fieri trip to Flavortown. Smashburger. Bacon. Pepper jack cheese. Sweet and spicy glaze. Potato bun. What's not to like? Unfortunately, the answer starts with the beef.

Watch the Full Review!

Sonic Tropical Heat Smasher Review by the Numbers

Taste Score: 5.7/10

This score surprised me. Going in, I assumed the Jalapeño Pineapple Glaze would be the problem. It wasn't. In fact, the sauce was one of the highlights of the burger. The sweet-and-spicy combination worked surprisingly well, especially alongside the pepper jack cheese and bacon. The burger itself was juicy in that greasy-fast-food sort of way that can be satisfying when you're in the mood for it. I like to call it JGG: Juicy, Greasy, Good. Something that screams late night bite or "Im gonna eat my feelings" or "Im skipping the gym today" But then I started pulling the burger apart. And tasting individual elements. And that's when the problems became obvious. The beef on it's owned tasted strange. Not bad enough to spit out. But close. Not bad enough to demand a refund. But enough to push to the side. In other words: gross Almost mystery-meat adjacent. The bacon, cheese, and even pineapple glaze do a tremendous amount of heavy lifting here. Without them, the burger simply doesn't stand on its own. The lettuce wasn't particularly fresh either, although oddly enough it didn't hurt the overall experience. Oh and that mayo was CHEAP and not in a good way.

Why It Didn't Score Higher

The toppings were better than the beef. That's never a good sign for a burger.

Price Score: 4.6/10

The Tropical Heat Sonic Smasher cost me $8.32 with tax. That's not cheap. And while the burger includes bacon and pepper jack cheese, neither of those additions are enough to justify the price. Especially when there are better burgers available for similar money. Or less.

Why It Didn't Score Higher

For roughly the same amount of money, I'd rather go to In-N-Out. Spend a little more and I'd much rather have Shake Shack. Either option delivers a better burger experience.

Calorie Score: 5.2/10

At 870 calories, the Tropical Heat Sonic Smasher is a serious burger. A double smashburger with bacon, cheese, mayo, and a sweet glaze should be calorie-dense, so the number isn't shocking. The good news? It actually feels substantial. The bad news? The burger isn't good enough to justify the calorie investment. I didn't even finish it.

Why It Didn't Score Higher

If I'm spending nearly 900 calories on a burger, I want something memorable. This wasn't.

Final Thoughts on the Sonic Tropical Heat Smasher

I genuinely expected the pineapple glaze to ruin this burger. Instead, it turned out to be one of the best parts. The real problem was the beef. The toppings successfully masked it most of the time, but every bite eventually reminded me that something felt off about the burger itself. And that's a difficult problem to overcome when the burger costs more than eight dollars and carries nearly 900 calories.

Last Bite

The Tropical Heat Sonic Smasher scored 15.5 out of 30 in my Worth It? review series. That's firmly in "mid" territory. Not terrible. Not offensive. But definitely not worth it. Surprisingly pineapple(sauce) works. The beef doesn't. And that makes it easy to drive right past Sonic and keep looking for a better burger.

Taco Bell Shredded Beef Dipping Taco Review:

Can Taco Bell Actually Pull Off Birria?

I haven’t been to Taco Bell in over 30 years.

And honestly?

That was intentional.

Once you discover taco trucks and actual regional Mexican cooking, Taco Bell starts feeling less like Mexican food and more like a late-night survival strategy.

So I returned fully expecting disappointment.

Instead?

I was… semi impressed.

Watch the Full Review!

Taco Bell Shredded Beef Dipping Taco Review by the Numbers

Taste Score: 6.8/10

Better than expected. Much better.

The biggest surprise here is that the shredded beef actually tastes decent.

Not “life changing.”

Not “authentic birria.”

But perfectly passable fast food.

Honestly, if someone handed this to me at a random airport Mexican restaurant, I probably wouldn’t complain.

The consommé-style dipping sauce helps, and the beef has far more flavor than the ground beef Taco Bell built its empire on.

Why It Didn’t Score Higher

Because actual birria exists.

And once you’ve had properly slow-cooked birria tacos from a legit taco truck or Mexican restaurant, this still feels like fast food cosplay.

Still…

credit where credit is due.

This was far better than expected.

Calories Score: 7.1/10

At 285 calories per taco, the numbers are surprisingly reasonable.

Two tacos comes out to a fairly modest fast food meal calorie-wise.

And honestly?

You probably shouldn’t eat more Taco Bell than that anyway.

Why It Didn’t Score Higher

While the calories are relatively low, the meal itself feels small.

And personally, I can’t imagine eating three of these things without immediately regretting my life choices.

Price Score: 5.8/10

Turning Taco Bell’s Shredded Beef Dipping Tacos into a proper meal will cost you around $9.

And that’s where the value conversation starts getting shaky.

There was a time when $10 at Taco Bell felt like an outrageous amount of food.

Now?

It barely qualifies as a meal.

Why It Didn’t Score Higher

At this price point, you’re entering legitimate taco truck territory.

And if you live somewhere with a strong Mexican food scene, spending the same money on actual birria becomes a pretty easy decision.

Unless you live in somewhere like Bismarck, North Dakota.

In which case…

maybe Taco Bell is your birria plug.

Final Thoughts on Taco Bell’s Shredded Beef Dipping Tacos

The name may be absurdly long, but the tacos themselves were far less disappointing than I expected.

And honestly, that alone feels like a win for Taco Bell.

No, this isn’t authentic birria.

No, it won’t replace a real taco truck.

But in the context of fast food?

These tacos are surprisingly competent.

Apparently if you give Taco Bell 30 years, they eventually start catching up with the times.

Last Bite

If you want real regional Mexican food, seek it out.

Support taco trucks. Support family restaurants. Support the real thing.

But if you find yourself in a Taco Bell drive-thru?

You could do a lot worse than the Shredded Beef Dipping Taco.