35 Years of Hand-Cut Steaks and Homemade Sausage at T-Bone Tom’s
“It ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That’s been the philosophy at T-Bone Tom’s Steakhouse in Kemah, Texas since 1973, and when Guy Fieri rolled the ’67 into this Houston-area joint, he discovered exactly why some traditions are worth preserving.
Located just south of Houston near Galveston—not far from the Johnson Space Center—T-Bone Tom’s started as a meat market selling barbecue before becoming a full restaurant in 1983. General manager Anna Kennedy explained that they still cut all the steaks and do all the butchering on-site, just like always. When owner Barry Terrell bought the place more than 10 years ago, he kept the original menu intact and simply added to it.
The Tom’s Choice: A Marinated Ribeye Worth the Trip
Guy got hands-on with their top seller, the Tom’s Choice—a 12-ounce ribeye transformed by a simple but effective marinade. The recipe starts with a corn oil blend, soy sauce, and pineapple juice, giving it what Guy called “a little bit of a teriyaki type thing.” Add granulated garlic, granulated sugar, black pepper, and dry mustard, and you’ve got it.
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The steaks marinate for a full day in the refrigerator, then hit a hot char broiler the next day. Guy ordered his medium rare and delivered the verdict: “That’s a great steak, that really is. That’s a nice, quick, simple, easy marinade—you can’t identify just one of the flavor.”
Making Polish Sausage from Scratch
But the real showstopper was watching Guy get elbow-deep in sausage making. T-Bone Tom’s makes their own Polish sausage—50% beef, 50% pork—and they smoke it right on the pit in back. Guy even got recruited to grind the meat himself, though he declined the apron: “Not so much.”
The seasoning blend includes seasoned salt from a local spice company, curing salt (a mix of nitrate and salt), and a generous amount of mustard seed. Water helps distribute the seasoning through the meat. After mixing for about 10 minutes by hand, they grind it again, stuff it into natural casings, and smoke it for an hour and a half.
When Guy bit into the finished sausage, he noted the snap of the casing and the juice pouring out: “That is about as tender as sausage I’ve ever tried.” The house-made barbecue sauce—ketchup, liquid smoke, and a hint of red pepper—proved the perfect complement.
Armadillo Eggs: Deep-Fried Texas Pride
Perhaps no dish screamed Texas louder than the Armadillo Eggs. These monsters start with brisket rubbed in a recipe from T-Bone’s father himself: salt, granulated onion, granulated garlic, cracked black pepper, fine ground black pepper, paprika, and red pepper. The brisket smokes low and slow—16 hours at 165-175 degrees.
The tender, chopped brisket gets loaded with homemade barbecue sauce, then stuffed into seeded and deveined pickled jalapeños. A double dredge through flour, buttermilk, more flour, then panko, and into the 350-degree fryer they go. Served with ranch dressing, four to an order.
Guy’s reaction? “Barbecue is great. The jalapeño being a pickled jalapeño really makes it—that’s an added little flavor that you wouldn’t expect.”
Tips from the Tom’s Kitchen
For marinades: Keep it simple. The Tom’s Choice marinade works because you can’t pick out any single flavor—everything blends together.
For sausage: Good white fat is essential. Mix your seasoning for a full 10 minutes to ensure even distribution, and grind the meat twice—once before seasoning, once after.
For brisket: Lower and slower creates tenderness. At 165-175 degrees, the fat cap bastes the meat as it cooks, turning almost liquid by the time it’s done.
Whether you’re craving a *Dynamite* Luau Stew on Oahu or prefer the Texas approach at T-Bone Tom’s, Triple D consistently finds joints that do things the right way. Like those Dynamite Duck and Potato Pierogies, some dishes are worth making from scratch.
Barry Terrell moves more than 3,000 pounds of beef through T-Bone Tom’s every week, and regulars keep coming back for the same experience they’ve had for decades. Find T-Bone Tom’s and other Guy-approved spots in our restaurant directory.