Butter’s BBQ in Sinton, Texas, has taken brisket off its regular menu after wholesale costs rose; owner Andrew Soto said the new price would have to be $51 per pound, up from $37. Smoked beef cheek replaces it, though brisket may still be available by advance order.
Soto said brisket accounted for more than 70% of the restaurant’s supply spending, while sales of the cut this year were tracking below any year he had recorded. He said he had tried to absorb repeated increases and apologized to customers.
Butter’s appeared on Texas Monthly’s Top 50 barbecue list in 2021 and 2025. The article also reports wider beef-price pressure: years of drought and high operating costs have left the U.S. cattle herd at its smallest in 75 years, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. USDA Economic Research Service data put April’s average retail beef price at a record $9.64 a pound, about 13% above a year earlier.
