Lamberts Downtown Barbecue

“"Fancy barbecue" with cocktails and live music”

Housed in a historic downtown building, Lamberts calls itself 'fancy barbecue' and means it — a two-story, full-service restaurant with a bar program and a live-music stage upstairs, aimed at diners who want Texas smoke as a proper night out rather than a paper-tray lunch. It has been reworking the sit-down barbecue format on West 2nd since 2006. The kitchen leans into refinement without abandoning the pit. The coffee-rubbed brisket is the signature, its crust deepened with a dark, bitter edge, and the maple- and coriander-crusted pork ribs bring a sweet-savory polish rare in the genre. Wood-grilled steaks and a hangar steak push it toward steakhouse territory, and the cocktails and nightly music complete the pitch. This is barbecue dressed for dinner — smoke and craft with a tablecloth sensibility.