08/17/2026
You’ve got to thank Mother Nature for part of the magic of Longhorn Barbecue. That’s because the Texas pit-style barbecue uses apple, cherry, and alder wood to prepare its famous smoked meats.
“The pits cook low and slow,” explained co-owner Erin Everart. “We start a fire every single morning, and we've got coals going until we close.”
Co-founder Gene Lehnertz designed Longhorn’s custom brick barbecue pits, each measuring about 8 by 15 feet. The restaurant's two locations go through approximately 125 cords of wood each year to keep the pits heated. To put it in perspective, a cord of wood measures 4 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long.
Former owner Randy Ingraham remembers being a teenager and seeing workers splitting wood outside the Argonne location.
"I was driving around in my '76 Nova, and they were out cutting wood. I’d never heard of the Longhorn before,” Randy said. “So, I stopped by and asked if they needed help. They said no, and so I drove off."
The next time Randy showed up, days later, the Lehnertz brothers set him to work slicing onions. And, just like that, Randy was sold on all things Longhorn. He still remembers the tough Texan brothers who founded the restaurant and never shirked from hard work.
“I think Chic (Lehnertz) was, like, close to 80 years old before he finally had me use a chainsaw to finish his log,” said Randy.
Once the fires are lit at one end of the brick pit, heat travels under a steel plate, over the top of the smoked meats, and out the stack. One pit can smoke about 750 pounds of ribs at a time.
Workers cut and load up wood a few times a year. The type of wood is critical as each species brings its own flavors. Apple wood provides a mild, sweet, and fruity smoke flavor with honey-like notes. Pitmasters use alder wood because it offers a light, sweet, and earthy flavor that enhances delicate foods like poultry. Cherry wood gives meat a dark, mahogany color, is hard to over-smoke or turn bitter, and provides a mild, sweet, and fruity flavor.
We’ve tended the Longhorn pits since 1956. That’s the year the Lehnertz brothers first opened the Longhorn's doors and introduced the Northwest to barbecue and southern hospitality, Texas-style.
