Smoke'N Ash BBQ
Smoke'N Ash dips its sliced brisket in awaze, a sauce of berbere spices and clarified butter, and serves the tray on injera the kitchen makes itself.1
Why go
Patrick and Fasicka Hicks cook Texan barbecue and Ethiopian food out of the same kitchen in Arlington.1 The James Beard Foundation made them semifinalists for Best Chef: Texas in 2025 and again in 2026.32 The MICHELIN Guide put the room in the Recommended tier of its first Texas selection in 2024.6 Texas Monthly made it an honorable mention in its 2025 tasting run and D Magazine's judged panel places it fourteenth in North Texas.85
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Tex-Ethiopian platter, which Vaughn describes as
smoked chicken doro wat, pork ribs, and sliced brisket dipped in awaze.
1 - Eat it off the bread. Everything comes on house-made injera, which Vaughn glosses as
a spongy flatbread that's a staple of Ethiopian cuisine.
1 - Order: the injera nachos, which Fort Worth Magazine names alongside Panther City's brisket elote as one of the scene's signature plates.7
What locals & experts say
- Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly, 2025:
This Texan-Ethiopian smokehouse brings together the flavors of wood smoke and East Africa.
1 - Brian Reinhart, D Magazine, January 2026, on the Beard roster:
Patrick Hicks is co-chef of Smoke'N Ash with his wife Fasicka, but the Beards left Fasicka out, honoring only Patrick.
The foundation corrected it.4 - D Magazine's barbecue guide:
Even the New York Times and the Michelin Guide have taken note, naming Smoke'N Ash one of the 50 best U.S. restaurants of 2022 and giving it a Michelin recommendation in 2024.
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Good to know
- Order something dipped in awaze rather than something plain.1
Verdict
must-visit — Berbere in the rub and awaze on the brisket, with the whole tray served on injera the kitchen ferments itself. Order the Tex-Ethiopian platter and eat it with your hands off the bread.