Heirloom Market BBQ

Have you ever had sticky ribs cooked by a famous K-Pop star? Well, you’re missing out. Since 2010, we’ve had a fan-like obsession with tiny Heirloom Market BBQ near Cumberland, which is helmed by former Korean pop star-turned-chef and her Texas-raised husband. One of the top barbecues spots in the entire state, Heirloom Market BBQ gives you the best-of-both-worlds in menu items like their smoked ribs with a gochujang rub and tender beef brisket. We also like the mix of sides from the spicy, lightly fried and cubed tofu to the mac and cheese made with shell noodles.

Heirloom doesn’t have any indoor dining, only a small fenced-in courtyard with umbrella-covered high boys. But even cold and rainy days don’t stop navy suit crowds, neighborhood families, and other fans of this cherished BBQ-meets-KBBQ spot from filling up the space.

Kalbi Beef Ribphoto credit: Mhandy Gerard

Brisket Tacosphoto credit: Mhandy Gerard

Heirloom Exterior photo credit: Mhandy Gerard

Tofu

Food Rundown

photo credit: Mhandy Gerard

Mac And Cheese

Expect mega cheese pulls from this extra cheesy bowl of lightly spiced, roux-based mac and cheese. The big shells, tilted on their sides, create little pools of cheese sauce that we happily dive into.

Spicy Korean Pork

Our favorite meat on the menu, the pork is smoked, chopped, and topped with a little sprinkle of sesame seeds. It comes already tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce but adding more Korean BBQ sauce never hurts.

photo credit: Courtesy of Heirloom BBQ

Brisket

Thick-cut slices of brisket sit with a hefty char that we’ve never been able to replicate when cooking meats ourselves.

Pulled Chicken

With a mixture of breast and thigh meat, this chicken is not familiar with the word dry. Even without dunking the tender pieces in sauce (which you should absolutely do, preferably the Korean BBQ or more mild Table Sauce) the chicken falls apart in your mouth and maintains a moisture level that only the weather in the Pacific Northwest can compete with.

Brunswick Stew

This Southern stew has a sweet heat and giant chunks of pork that don't feel like second-tier scraps. We’d eat this entire tomato-based, brothy bowl even in triple digit temps in July.

Kimchi Slaw

Kimchi lovers will fall hard for this tangy, fermented cabbage in a bowl topped with sesame seeds. For those that can’t handle a little spice, traditional slaw is available too. But you need to get the kimchi version for the full Heirloom effect.

Kimchi Mayo

This sauce gets a special shout out because it completes the fries—like soulmate level, missing piece of the puzzle type of stuff. Dunk ‘em in the slightly spicy, zesty pink-ish sauce and kiss your ketchup and fry days goodbye.