There’s a little barn off Houston’s North Loop West that you can make out as you come down the curve eastbound, just a little past Ella Boulevard. Much like the very well-lit Applebee’s nearby, Hungry Farmer Bar-B-Q is one of those destinations that is a real neck-turner. It’s bright. It’s colorful. It’s right next to a Brake Check.

Hungry Farmer Bar-B-Q is actually a small chain of local, family owned barbecue restaurants in the Houston area founded by Jeff McNeill. The original restaurant opened in 1975, but its beginnings actually stretch much further than that. Houston Chronicle barbecue columnist JC Reid, in his 2015 profile of Lenox Bar-B-Q off Harrisburg Boulevard in Second Ward, mentioned how Hungry Farmer’s origin story got wrapped up with Jeff’s father Leonard McNeill’s restaurant.

“With guidance from his father, Jeff McNeill even opened a barbecue joint in Las Vegas called Hungry Farmer Bar-B-Q. Though that location would close, a former employee of Lenox would return to Houston and open several Hungry Farmer Bar-B-Q joints, two of which still exist (no longer related to Lenox or the McNeill family),” Reid wrote.

Today, Hungry Farmer has locations at 1503 North Loop W, another off East Crosstimbers Street near the North Freeway, and a third off South Post Oak Road near Beltway 8 South. Each location is open from 10:30 a.m. to roughly 9 p.m. daily. The drive-thru stays open from 30 minutes to an hour after close, depending on the day.

Hungry Farmer has been described by some as cafeteria style, but at the North Loop location it was counter service, and you get a tray of food that you have to bring back to whatever table you’re sitting at. And inside, the restaurant resembles old-school Texas chophouses with old traffic signs, license plates, and a big cattle statue next to the fixin’s bar.

Hungry Farmer’s menu encompasses East Texas barbecue with some regional Louisiana fare, including boudin and jambalaya. I grabbed the Farmer’s Supper, a four-meat plate with beef brisket, links, ham and pork ribs. Sides included mac and cheese and potato salad.

The ham threw me off, but it’s not uncommon. Goode Co. BBQ in Houston and Stanley’s Famous Pit Barbecue in Tyler have it in their menus. That said, the ham was perfectly acceptable. On the other hand, the mac and cheese was a little bland, and the potato salad was on the sweeter side. But on the other other hand, the brisket was thinly sliced and mostly juicy and tender, as was the pork rib. 

I left wanting to try more of the menu, including the boudin, the brisket baked potato and the beef ribs. There are also a bunch of desserts on display by the counter.

There’s something fun about simple eating places like Hungry Farmer. It’s not flashy, it’s relatively inexpensive, and it has a menu large enough to merit multiple visits. It’s also why the restaurant attracts a lot of old-timers, at least for a weekday around 2 p.m. Sometimes classic barbecue really is timeless.