Houston—In the historic 6th ward of Houston, you’ll find this neighborhood store attracting all sorts of customers. That includes furry friends just looking for someone to throw them a bone.
“The bulldog is a sight to see, man, he’s a big guy,” said Michael Martin.
“You’ll see him and he’ll just stop and he won’t move until he gets a treat,” explained Veronica Avila, one of the owners of Henderson & Kane.
Veronica, her brother Jesse and her husband John started this small business in 2018 and have already cooked up quite the reputation.
“It’s pretty tremendous barbecue,” said Joe Bailey Jr.
“Some of the best brisket if you’ve ever had it,” claimed Scott McLemore.
Breakfast tacos, barbecue and baked goods. It’s the trifecta. “For sure, and coffee,” added Veronica.
Being in the food industry was not Veronica and John’s main goal in life. Veronica was an architect for 15 years, and John did accounting, but when they followed their family lineage in food making, destiny had another destination for the couple.
“I think that I knew when we met that it was going to end in all of this one way or another,” she said.
“We both do come from families that are more involved with food a long time ago and I think that the passion and the love that was in that industry was not necessarily in accounting or architecture,” John added.
Veronica’s grandparents owned a restaurant in El Paso and John’s owned a tamale and BBQ joint in Bryan.
“When I walk in, and I smell the brisket, in my mind, I’m not smelling brisket but I’m smelling my grandfather’s old place in Bryan, Texas. To me, that’s good for the soul,” John explained.
Well I was ready for a sample and Veronica suggested something sizable.
“We call our five meat plate the Pitmaster… because it does give you a little bit of all of our smoked meats and quite a few of our sides,” she said.
So here we are at the Henderson and Kane General Store with a barbecue platter that is not very general, it is particular with smoked meats: brisket, pulled pork, ribs, sausage, turkey and all sorts of sides. We’re going to start with the brisket because that’s usually the star of the show, but it might not be here. They all might be stars. Smells amazing, looks amazing, cooked amazing, smoked amazing. How many more amazing can there be? Tastes amazing.
“I’ve eaten enough barbecue in my life to concern a cardiologist a few times and this place is incredible,” Scott said, “I’ll ignore what my cardiologist says if he tells me not to eat here.”
“Out of one to ten, it’s like eleven, twelve,” Michael commented.
“There’s Texas barbecue and then there’s really great Texas barbecue” Scott added, “and they got it nailed.”
Well, if you’re a little piggy that needs to go to the market for some bodacious barbecue and you happen to be in Houston, Henderson and Kane is well worth a stop on the Texas bucket list.
“We’re proud in Texas” said John, “anytime there is anything to be proud of, we love letting the world know and Texas barbecue is definitely one of those things which is the best in the world.”