Back in 2017, the barbecue competition special BBQ Rig Race aired on Food Network. At the end of it, the Tu Bones BBQ team, led by pitmaster Michael Prince and his friend Kirk Boudreaux, took home the $10,000 prize. Rather than using the money to get out of the food truck he’d been operating from, Prince gave it to Boudreaux, who desperately needed a car. The business thrived anyway, thanks to the recognition, and a few years later, Price traded his food truck for a stall at Frisco Fresh Market, where he still serves every Saturday and Sunday.
After early success at the market, Prince sought to grow into a new restaurant space, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed those plans. “This may be the right spot to stay at right now,” he told me of the small counter in the back corner of the market. It’s hard to argue when a line of customers forms before the morning opening (9 a.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. on Sundays). I arrived shortly after 11 a.m. on the first Sunday of the month, or, as Tu Bones calls it, Soul Food Sunday. The line wrapped back behind several other vendors, putting the menu out of sight. That’s when employee Andrew Flagg, wearing his Sunday best, walked up. Prince calls him the Tu Bones hype man. Flagg explained the menu, touted the daily specials, and shook hands with everyone in line. I just hoped the joint had smoked enough of its signature oxtails.
As the line inched up, I saw how reasonable the prices were. A four-meat plate with two sides was just $22. For $15, you can get about a pound of rib tips and two sides. Of the daily sides, I enjoyed the nicely browned mac and cheese and the smoked baked beans, made with a mix of black, kidney, navy, northern, and pinto beans. The dessert special of peach cobbler is topped with a lattice pastry crust and finished in the smoker. A big portion is served in a pie tin with a side of freshly whipped cream.
The cabinet smoker, made by Pits by JJ, sits behind the counter. Prince fuels it with a mix of oak and pecan wood. It’s hard to imagine how the cooks are able to fit such a wide variety of meats, sides, and desserts into one smoker. Prince said it’s quite the juggling act, and that the smoker runs from 4 a.m. on Friday until close on Sunday. The remaining space behind the counter isn’t all that generous, but, Prince said, “We do anything any other restaurant can do out of there.”
A big reason the line moves efficiently is Ericka Hightower, Prince’s wife, who quickly assembles and dishes and sends out the orders. A few minutes after placing mine, I was sitting with three bags of barbecue on a picnic table outside the market. When I opened the container of oxtails, the black bark glistened in the sun. The plate with two sides was a splurge at $30, but oxtails are expensive everywhere. Prince noticed their popularity growing in barbecue and added them to the menu last year. The pieces of juicy beef pulled easily from the bone, though I wished I had some sauce or gravy to dip them in—make sure you request some with your order.
Prince credits his employee Joe Harvey with the rib tip recipe. Harvey hounded him to add rib tips to the menu, then imposed his will on the seasoning and the preparation method. The tender tips had a well-formed bark, plenty of smoke flavor, and great seasoning. I preferred them over the standard pork ribs. I also loved the specialty sides of rich dirty rice and creamy red beans and rice that came alongside.
Sliced brisket isn’t an option at Tu Bones BBQ. Prince said it bogs down the line and is more difficult to portion than chopped brisket. Both the chopped brisket and the pulled pork were juicy, with plenty of well-seasoned bark mixed in. The baked sweet potato is topped with a mix of the two, while the regular baked potato only gets chopped brisket. I asked for pulled pork instead on my regular potato, but I was told brisket was the only protein allowed. That was the first time I’d seen only one meat option for a stuffed potato, and Prince said he’d reconsider the policy.
The food at Tu Bones BBQ doesn’t look like that at many other new Texas barbecue joints, and that’s because the Princes didn’t grow up in Texas. Hightower is from central Illinois, where she grew up eating regionally popular smoked rib tips, and Prince was raised in Tifton, Georgia. His grandfather Tvester Prince taught him how to cook whole hogs, and Prince cooked his first at the age of twelve. Tvester’s nickname was Tusome—he went by Tu for short—and the barbecue business is named in his honor.
Prince said the workers struggle to keep barbecue available after 2 p.m. “It’s a blessing,” he said, and they’ll keep smoking as much meat as they can. “We got a system. It’s working, but we’re running out of space,” Prince said, acknowledging that Tu Bones may outgrow the market eventually. For now, he’s happy to have his feet on the ground instead of having to find a place to park the old truck.
Tu Bones BBQ
9215 John W. Elliott Drive, Frisco
Phone: 469-777-8531
Hours: Saturday 9–4, Sunday 10–3
Pitmaster: Michael Prince
Method: Oak and pecan in a cabinet smoker
Year opened: 2020
