Drop everything at 7pm on a Tuesday to lock in an order for the most ambitious, exceptional barbecue in the West and beyond.
It’s Saturday. Four-wheel drives are pulling into the parking lot, the roller door is up, a queue snakes outside, and there’s the scent of smoke in the air. By the counter an all-caps BARBECUE sign marks the spot. These are the hallmarks of central Texas on a weekend, but the only catch is we’re in an industrial swathe of Perth. What Donovan Macdonald (AKA Big Don) has built over almost 10 years, since buying a smoker on a whim, was already impressive when he was selling out pop-ups. Cut to today, and things are serious: eight full-time staff, an array of offset smokers, a thousand-square-metre warehouse, and a reputation that sees the one-day-a-week pre-ordered service sell out in minutes (there’s no walk-ins). The reason? Big Don offers, hands-down, Australia’s best Texas-style barbecue, if not some of the finest in the world. But while the platters, loaded with sliced-to-order dry-brined brisket, snappy smoked sausages oozing cheese, syrupy cornbread, collapsing pork belly and sauces to write home about, are undeniably the draw (as are specials such as peach moonshine burnt ends), the atmosphere makes it. Families pile onto sofas, friends set up their BYO camp chairs, mates crack tinnies from the fridges, the live band belts out Tom Petty. A unique, essential experience, right here in the West.
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