Botto's BBQ

Botto's BBQ is a Texas-style barbecue restaurant on SE Milwaukie Avenue, near Powell Street, in Portland, Oregon. It also goes by the name Botto's Craft BBQ.

Botto's began as a food truck and moved late in 2020 into an A-frame building, its first fixed home, across the street from the Aladdin Theater. Diners sit at picnic tables outdoors, beside a shipping container that holds the steel offset smokers, so the cooking happens in plain sight of the tables. Daniel Vaughn, the barbecue editor of Texas Monthly, stopped here for a feature asking whether Portland still has the best Texas-style barbecue outside Texas.

The meat comes from naturally raised animals and is smoked slowly at low heat on the day it is sold, then sliced only when an order is collected, so it does not dry out waiting. Brisket is the core, and Vaughn found even the lean cut glossy with fat. Sausages include a hatch chile and cheddar link made in house, a Texas hot link and a Polish sausage. Sides and sauces are made from scratch, and daily specials change. Slicing to order is a small habit, but it is the kind of detail that separates a barbecue kitchen focused on its meat from one that cooks in advance.

Beyond the trays, the kitchen turns its brisket into other dishes. A smashburger made with a brisket patty gets American cheese, burger sauce and thin slices of white onion, and a thick slice of smoked meatloaf goes into a sandwich with brisket gravy on the side. There is a baked casserole of brisket, sausage, hash browns, cheddar, onion and spices, and mac and cheese topped with crispy onions and a choice of meat. Vaughn advised taking the burgers as seriously as the barbecue. Catering is available for larger groups.