Small-town North Texas is holding out on you — five spots up US-380 and 377 worth the drive north.
Head up past the Aubrey and Pilot Point city limits and small-town North Texas quietly turns into some of the best eating in Denton County — real pitmasters, scratch kitchens, and family recipes hiding out on the US-380 and 377 stretches. Drive north. Save this before word gets out.
The shortlist
Tender Smokehouse. Twenty-five-plus years of pitmaster behind the pit and Wagyu brisket coming off it, right out on US-380 in Aubrey. This is a make-the-drive brisket, not a grab-lunch one.
Bebo’s and Kathy’s Cafe. Gourmet burgers, live music, and walls packed with memorabilia on 377 in Pilot Point. A local institution with an actual personality — go for the burger, stay for the room.
Nick’s Italian Restaurant. Family-owned in Pilot Point, running heirloom recipes traced all the way back to the Rossini Brothers of Queens Village, NY. The pasta’s handmade and you can taste the lineage. Open Tue–Sat.
Upper Park Cafe. Downtown Aubrey’s cozy breakfast-and-brunch corner on Main Street — cinnamon rolls, pecan coffee, everything baked fresh that morning. Get there before the cinnamon rolls are gone, because they go.
Over Yonder. “Honest to goodness scratch home cooking” on US-377 in Pilot Point — brisket wraps, burgers, fried okra, and a homemade cobbler worth saving room for. Founder’s recipes, no shortcuts.
None of these are on any tourist list. That’s kind of the point.