To complete the trifecta of insider information, where I peppered BBQ joints with questions about what tools they utilize, I present a massive list of what cutting boards BBQ spots from across the United States use. As you'd imagine the responses are all across the board (unintended pun) and where I could I included the actual words from the pitmaster, owner, or chef so you can see where they were coming from.
In case you hadn't seen them, the first piece was Knives Used by Your Favorite BBQ Joints and the second was Sharpeners and Honing Tools Used by Your Favorite BBQ Joints. Even if you aren't in the market for a knife or sharpener, the responses are fun and worth a look.
ALSO, because there are SO MANY custom cutting board fabricators (large and small), I have a SEPARATE list of those artisans HERE. This list will be growing and get more detailed over time.
Here's THE MASTER LIST covering 110 BBQ spots and growing:
1701 Barbecue - Beaumont, Texas - We use a John Boos Block.
2M Smokehouse - San Antonio, Texas - As far as cutting boards we got ours as a gift. It’s a huge cutting board, 30” long by 24” by 3” thick. We use that for cutting all cooked meats. For trimming and raw meats we just use a standard white cutting board.
Adamson Barbecue - Toronto, Canada - We use local boards from Knotty's Woodworking in Etobicoke.
AJ’s Tex Mex & Barbeque - Sherman Oaks, California - For cutting cooked meats I use Boos. For trimming I really like this San Jamar cutting board. It has rubber corners
Animales Barbeque Co. - Minneapolis, Minnesota - We use Boos blocks. They are the best.
Avi Cue - Los Angeles, California - I use Boos Block cutting boards.
Banger's Sausage House and Beer Garden - Austin, Texas - From Chef Ted: "Regarding cutting boards: a nice wooden board. I prefer a maple wood board. Wood will not dull your blade the way plastic does. However, I always use plastic for poultry. (Yard birds can be gross)".
Big Al's Smokehouse BBQ - Dallas, Texas - We have custom plastic 2-sided 1.5” thick cutting boards with a well.
Blake’s BBQ - Martin, Tennessee - I still use the same little 2-3 lb. thin wooden board I bought on amazon or at Walmart in like 2016 when I opened. Not a good one at all, but it works for me. Just barely large enough to fit a big finished brisket (5.5-7 lb. brisket).
Blake's Place - Anaheim, California - We use wood and plastic cutting boards.
Blood Bros BBQ - Bellaire, Texas - We hae custom Boo’s blocks at the cutting stations.
Blue Oak Barbecue - New Orleans, LA - We use NoTrax Cutting Boards, Anti-Microbial Rubber Compound, 12 x 18 x 1/2". These are awesome! The knives just bounce off the board.
Bodacious Bar-B-Q (Hallsville) - Hallsville, Texas - For a cutting block we use Boos wooden block, but mostly the white plastic kind which we have cut to order from a restaurant supply place here.
Bodacious Bar-B-Q - Longview, Texas - For service we use Boos Block and for trimming just cheap plastic ones.
Boneyard Bistro - Sherman Oaks, California - For cutting meats we use Boos Block Cutting Boards
Brett's Backyard Bar-B-Q - Rockdale, Texas - We use Aaron @ Post Oak Customs. Most guys in Central Texas use him.
Brix Barbecue - Fort Worth, Texas - Plastic cutting board in the food truck. Just easier to clean and whatnot.
Always prefer wood at home or if presentation is important (catering, etc.).
Burnt Bean Co. - Seguin, Texas - My board was given to me by a gentleman that makes cutting boards.
Butter’s BBQ - Mathis, Texas - The cutting board for us was actually made and handed down from my dad and his brothers. They used it at various events in their days. It’s actually a table board with casters. Super overbuilt.
Buxton Hall Barbecue - Asheville, North Carolina - Cutting boards for us are used that for our barbecue. We also have this custom table that’s half prep table. Flips over to hold the hogs. We use this table to chop the BBQ inside the pig skin. That tables texture from chopping sometimes the cleavers go through the skin. We use just regular old white cutting boards for most everything else. I’ve got a really sick one of just a handful of custom really unique designed cutting board at my house.
Breakwater Barbecue -El Granada, California - I use Boos butcher blocks.
Brick Vault Brewery & BBQ - Marathon, Texas - Boos blocks for cutting boards.
Capelo's Barbecue - Hey. I use Boo’s Blocks for cutting boards.
Cattleack Barbeque - Dallas, TX - John boos cutting boards and they are on Amazon
Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous - Memphis, Tennessee - Smith Fixtures in Memphis makes our cutting boards. They are cork.
City Limits Barbeque - Columbia, South Carolina - 30 x 18 x 1 3/4” wood cutting board.
CM Smokehouse - New Braunfels, Texas - I usually go with Boos Block.
Convenience West - Marfa, Texas - Polyethylene cutting boards for trimming and other prep, you know the color coded ones: red for meat, green for veggies, etc. We slice all barbecue on a couple of Boos Block cutting boards.
Daddy Duncan's BBQ - Katy, Texas - We use a heavy duty 3” thick Catskill wood cutting board on our food truck for slicing by the serving window. It's a beast and probably weighs about 25 lbs. A few 2” thick bamboo La Mongoose boards for chopping and everyday use. I love “bamboo” and the durability. They last forever with little care needed. 2” thick Post Oak Customs with our engraved logo for special events. That’s my baby. I highly recommend any of the above.
Dozier's BBQ - Fulshear, Texas - Cutting blocks are maple, all from John Boos. The cutting block that is on the serving line is 30" x 48". We have a few other sizes that we use for prep work.
Eddie O's Texas Barbecue - Houston, Texas - Cutting board is a Boos block large and for trimming I use a Chef's Supreme 15" x 20" Brown Plastic Cutting Board w/ Handle.
Estrada's Texas Barbecue - Creedmoor, Texas - As for cutting boards, I use Boos block wood cutting boards. Always loved the thickness and life span of them.
Feges BBQ - Houston, Texas - My favorite cutting boards are made from antimicrobial compressed rubber. Better for your knives, keeping an edge, and also easier to keep clean and sanitized than other materials.
Flores Tortillas - Whitney, Texas - I prefer a Boos block cutting board for most anything I cut except for raw protein. For that I use a polyethylene Board.
FOX&FIRE Barbecue - Kansas City, Missouri - I have a Boos cutting board/butchers block that a friend found for me during a house demolition.
Flatpoint Barbecue - Santa Monica, California - Boo’s block cutting boards.
Fletcher's Brooklyn Barbecue - Brooklyn, New York - Our main service line has a five foot butcher block made by boos. This is where all finished barbecue is chopped, sliced, and plated. For prep work, we use large white plastic boards... the big heavy ones which are an inch thick, and at least 36”x24”. Your cutting board can never be large enough!
G-Que BBQ - Denver, Colorado - We use cutting boards that are completely generic.
Goldees’s Barbecue - Fort Worth, Texas - It’s a trade secret. We can’t divulge.
Guess Family Barbecue - Boos blocks for cutting boards.
Hays County Bar-B-Que - San Marcos, Texas - We use solely Boos Block.
Helberg Barbecue - Waco, Texas - We have a Post oak Customs cutting block. I think it’s 36 x 18.
Heritage Barbecue - San Juan Capistrano, California - John Boos maple cutting blocks.
Heirloom Market BBQ - Atlanta, Georgia - We use Boos Cutting Boards.
Holy Trinity Barbecue - Portland, Orgeon - Our cutting board is from Aaron @ Post Oak Customs.
Hoodoo Brown Barbeque - Ridgefield, Connecticut - We have big boos blocks. Some from Ed’s BBQ boards.
Hurtado Barbecue - Arlington, Texas - Our boards are custom made by Unico Woodworks in Grand Prairie.
Jack's BBQ - Seattle, Washington - Various plastic cutting boards – 18-24”.
Jon G's Barbecue - Peachland, North Carolina - For trimming we use 15" x 20" white poly cutting boards. They're cheap and easy to replace once they get scarred up and hard to clean. For slicing, we use Michigan Maple. With minimal care, we haven't had one crack or warp.
Joseph’s Riverport Bar-B-Q - We use the basic plastic cutting boards because we do so much chopping here and I’m afraid it would just wear a nice wooden board out too quickly.
JQ’s TexMex BBQ - Houston, Texas - Plastic or wood cutting board. Nothing specific.
Liberty Barbecue - Round Rock, Texas - Per Bill Dumas, "I am old school and prefer a Boos brand solid maple butcher block. Maintained well by keeping it sanded and oiled."
Khoi Barbecue - Houston, Texas - Notrax cutting boards.
LeRoy & Lewis Barbecue - Austin, Texas - For cutting boards we use wood to carve on from some local guys and also like our big Boos Butcher tables.
Lillie's Q - Chicago, Illinois - We always use wood and almost always it's BOOS.
Little Miss BBQ - Hi Kevin, we buy Boos Block butcher block counter tops 1.5” and cut to size.
Maple Block Meat Co. - Culver City, California - For cutting boards... MAPLE!! More specifically hard rock maple. I worked closely with the John Boos team custom design our 12’ x 4’ x 5” carving made out of maple. Some call it the “meat alter”, others call it the “maple alillter”). When we’re at events we use a couple big 2”+ thick Boos blocks made out of hard rock maple. Most of our blocks are edge grain, but we have a couple end grain blocks as well. Both work well, the end grain is a little more expensive, but it last longer. I can get super geeky ?with this stuff so just let me know if you want me to elaborate on anything.
Mason Barbecue - Texas - I have a Bloodroot Blades cutting board.
Miller's Smokehouse - Belton, Texas - Per Dusty, we use a synthetic cutting board that we had made to fit onto our custom tables. No wood!
Mimsy's Craft Barbecue - Crockett, Texas - I prefer a 30 x 18 composite cutting board. Plenty of space for large protein trimming.
Moo’s Craft Barbecue - Los Angeles, CA - Boo’s Block Cutting Boards.
Morgan’s Brooklyn BBQ - Brooklyn, New York - For cutting boards we use John Boos maple cutting board.
Owlbear Barbecue - Denver, Colorado - We don’t use anything I particular, but will be using one from this Kickstarter - The Decent Butcher Block: Cutting boards built to last. It's so dry here that wood cutting boards warp the second they don't get oiled properly.
Pappy's Smokehouse - St. Louis, Missouri - From our co-founder John Matthews: Best bang is commercial plastic cutting boards-easier to clean than wood.
Panther City BBQ - Fort Worth, Texas - Cutting boards we have a couple from Post Oak Customs.
Patriotic Pig - As far as our cutting board, this is what we use in the restaurant. It’s 8 feet long with a backsplash all the way around it. Works perfectly for our two cutters and two scales. It's the Eagle Group MT3096B-BS Wood Top Work Table with Galvanized Undershelf and 4" Backsplash - 30" x 96".
Pecan Lodge - Dallas, Texas - We use simple polyethylene cutting boards for day to day activities (easier to sanitize) and will use something similar to the John boos wood block cutting board for special events.
Peg Leg Porker - Nashville, Tennessee - We use standard poly cutting boards.
Pinkerton's Barbecue - Houston/San Antonio - Boos cutting boards.
Pitt County BBQ - Edmonton, Alberta - Cutting boards just standard commercial grade ones for now.
Plowboys Barbeque - Kansas City, Missouri - For the restaurants we use a basic plastic cutting board from restaurant supply houses. For personal use: John Boos RA-Board Collection Reversible Cutting Board Maple Edge Grain.
Podnah's Pit Barbecue - Portland, Oregon - There's nothing special about that. It's a 3x4 piece of butcher block countertop.
Pody’s BBQ - Pecos, Texas - I use a 24 x 18 x 1/2” White Polyethylene Cutting Board.
Prime Barbecue - Knightdale, North Carolina - My cutting boards come from Ed’s Shape Shack and have to be the maple 3” height.
Red White & Que Smokehouse - Kearny, New Jersey - We have a custom chopping block made by Ed’s Shape Shack out of North Carolina.
Ricewood - Ann Arbor, Michigan - We use Boos Blocks.
Rollin Smoke BBQ - Austin, Texas - We use Post oak Customs cutting board.
Rosie's BBQ & Grillery - Cutting boards are always Boos block boards, which we are going to start selling soon.
Rossler's Blue Cord Barbecue - Killeen, Texas - We use John Boos butcher blocks with our logo laser engraved by @postoakcustoms along with Dexter 12” serrated bread knife to slice all my meats. Of course Post Oak does that for us too. I use a dexter boning knife to trim all my meats.
Schmidt Family Barbecue - Bee Cave, Texas - We have a 16" deep, 4 ft wide Maple Butcher Block.
Scott’s Kitchen and Catering at Hanger 29 - Kansas City, Missouri - We use plastic cutting boards.
SLAB - Los Angeles - We use Boos for sure.
Slaughter's BBQ Oasis - Sulphur Springs, Texas - We use a 12 x 24 Boos chopping Block.
SlowBurn BBQ - SF/Bay Area - A nice cutting board, that’s my next investment. I have a 24 inch plastic that’s I mostly use. Boos is the industry desired one.
Smokey Joe's BBQ - Dallas, Texas - We use hard plastic cutting boards which are about 1.5" thick.
Smoque BBQ - Chicago, Illinois - As for cutting boards, we use poly plastic color coded boards in the restaurant. Of course, I’d prefer to use wood, but in Chicago, the health department can get a little funny about wood, even though it’s perfectly safe.
Smoke-A-Holics BBQ - Fort Worth, Texas - I use handmade cutting boards from Unicorn Woodworks.
Sock’s Loves Barbecue - Cumming, Georgia - I use the Winco Wooden Cutting Board 18” x 24”.
Stamey’s Barbecue - Greensboro, North Carolina - So we use big butcher blocks to chop on, you’ll see a very old one at one of our locations and a newer John boos one at another. The old one we need to resurface but for now just put a plastic cutting board on top of it. Gives you a nice stable service to chop on.
Sticky Business Barbecue - Napa, California - Right now it’s just a San Jamar board when the restaurant comes together it will be a wood one.
Sweet Lew's BBQ - Charlotte, North Carolina - We have a local carpenter custom make them to fit our counter.
Tejas Chocolate and Barbecue - Tomball, Texas - Boos on the cutting boards and sometimes just a good ole hard plastic cutting board.
Terry Blacks Barbecue - Austin/Dallas - We use John boos blocks.
Truth Barbeque - Brenham/Houston, Texas - I prefer the non slip cutting boards so you don’t have to use a mat under it. We use San Jamar 12x18, White .
Tyler's Barbeque - Amarillo, Texas - We use a wine cart from Boos (see below). I use the smaller cutting board so the table will last it’s 7 years old now and I have been through tons of the smaller boards. I use the smaller cutting board so the table will last it’s 7 years old now and I have been through tons of the smaller boards. Most of the other tables and toolbox carts will last 2 years then start falling apart from the micro vibration from chopping.
Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q - Grapevine, Texas - I get my cutting boards from Andy at Two Acre Woodworks. Easy to work with and completely custom. I have him build me some catering boards that are incredible.
Victorian’s Barbecue - Houston, Texas - I use one that is black walnut that my father in law in Michigan made me and I’m currently working on two really long ones for pop-ups.
Wanderlust Craft BBQ & Coffee - Austin, Texas - We use standard issue polypropylene ? and Post Oak Customs.
Wright’s Barbecue - Johnson/Bentonville, Arkansas - We use Boos block cutting boards.
Zavala’s Barbecue - 36 x 30 x 3” cutting board from Unico Woodworks @unicowoodworks.
ZZQ Texas Craft Barbecue - Richmond, Virginia - Our cutting boards are custom made of oak.
AND just for fun, watch these guys make 3 different types of cutting boards:
Note that Kevin's BBQ Joints is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
