Aledo-based Dayne's Craft Barbecue is going international with a new location in Taipei, Taiwan.
In what is certainly a watershed moment for Texas barbecue, a second location of an acclaimed local barbecue joint will soon open in Taipei, Taiwan.
Dayne Weaver, the owner of the top 10-ranked, Aledo-based Dayne's Craft Barbecue, announced on social media Monday that a second location of Dayne’s will soon open in Taipei. Matter of fact, Weaver posted, he’s in Taipei right now overseeing the final phases of the restaurant’s opening.
“It was hard to tell if it was actually going to come to fruition,” he says in a video posted on Facebook and Instagram, which you can see below. “But I'm here, we're doing it.”
Reached by text, Weaver said the restaurant will open to the public July 31.
"They've been working on it for a few months now," says co-owner Ashley Weaver. "We hadn't announced it because, for a while, we weren't sure if it was going to happen, then there was a lot of legal stuff to work through. I didn't even know Dayne had announced on social media until people started calling me about it yesterday. I was like, `Well, I guess he broke the news.'"
Dayne says the restaurant will have a slightly different name, Dayne's Texas Barbecue, and will seat about 80. Unlike the Aledo location, it will be a full-service, sit-down restaurant. There will be a full bar, too, along with a chef's counter for a more personal, elevated dining experience.
"It'll be like a private dining," Ashley says. "I know they're still working out the details but you'll be able to sit at this particular table and watch them prepare your food."
On a new Instagram page dedicated to the Taiwanese location, there are images and videos of the Taiwan crew training at the new location, all wearing Dayne’s T-shirts emblazoned with the company’s motto: “Work hard, be nice, eat BBQ.” Dayne appears in many of the images and videos, training staff and demonstrating how to slice brisket and ribs.
Ashley says the menu will include most of the smoked meats and smashburgers from the Aledo location, along with several new dishes, such as brisket fried rice. In true Texas barbecue style, meats will be smoked on-site in a pair of offset smokers, Dayne says.
The announcement closely follows another significant achievement for Dayne's: Their Aledo location recently earned the No. 7 spot on Texas Monthly’s highly anticipated list of the Top 50 Texas Barbecue Joints - a transformative moment for the Weavers, who found their culinary footing in Fort Worth through pop-up events and a food trailer they used to park at Lola's.
Around the same time as the list's release, Dayne received a message from a group of Taiwanese barbecue fans, he says.
“I didn’t really take it serious at first," he says in the video he posted Monday. "They were talking about how they wanted to come and train with us and maybe open a barbecue spot in Taiwan. I told them I’m not even gonna take this serious unless you show up here and I can meet you in person and see you in person.”
A week later, Dayne says, several people from Taiwan journeyed to the couple's Aledo restaurant, where they spent three weeks training as pitmasters, servers and kitchen employees.
"They staged, expoed, waited on people, they learned it all," Ashley says. "We got to know them really well and it became obvious that they're passionate about this food and this project."
Ashley says that a Taiwanese restaurant group is funding the new restaurant. They're compensating the couple for consultation services and paying them a percentage of royalities for the use of Dayne's name, she says.
"Once the restaurant gets off the ground, we'll go over there from time to time, maybe once a year, to check on everything and make sure they're adhering to our standards," Ashley says.
The restaurant's opening marks the first time a family-run Texas barbecue joint has expanded internationally — a defining moment not just for the Weavers but for the cuisine itself. The popularity of Texas barbecue has raged over the past few years, and this international expansion by a local, independent pitmaster validates its growing global appeal.
"That's too much for me to even process right now, to be honest," Ashley says, laughing. "It's just been such a surreal experience - surreal and awesome."
