Former Sabar BBQ owner Zain Shafi, who started a small Fort Worth trailer serving Pakistani-Tex barbecue and made the state Texas Monthly Top 50 list, is joining the owners of Michelin Guide-recommended Goldee’s BBQ, he said this week.
Shafi told Texas Monthly he will join Jalen Heard, Lane Milne and Nupohn Inthanousay as owners of Goldee’s, a former state No., 1-ranked barbecue restaurant started by Arlington school classmates Heard and Milne on a rural backroad south of Kennedale.
Shafi joins the partnership in place of co-founder Jonny White, he said. Heard, Milne and White had learned the craft barbecue business in Austin and then came home to open a consistently top-ranked restaurant..
Shafi worked at Goldee’s, then left to open his own Sabar BBQ in South Main Village. He closed it two weeks ago, saying only that he had a “new opportunity we couldn’t pass on.”
Sabar BBQ was praised in Texas Monthly for Shafi’s brisket, seekh-kebab sausage and Sichuan lamb ribs. Sabar was also noted for the spicy lentil stew.
Goldee’s, 4645 Dick Price Road, opened in 2020 and has always served barbecue from a variety of cultures, notably Laotian sausages.
The core menu is made up of traditional Texas barbecue classics: brisket, housemade sausages, beef and pork ribs, plus sides and homemade bread.
Zain Shafi, the owner of Sabar BBQ, is photographed at his barbecue trailer parked at the corner of East Vickery Boulevard and South Main Street near downtown Fort Worth.
Goldee’s is usually open weekends for lunch only and will reopen Jan. 2 after the holidays.
It’s open from 11 a.m. Fridays through Sundays. Lines are long until about 12:30-1 p.m., but the brisket may sell out earlier.
Goldee’s is 4 miles south of Interstate 20 off Mansfield Highway, or 6½ miles east of Interstate 35W off Everman Parkway and Shelby Road; facebook.com/goldeesbbq.
White continues at Ribbee’s, open Wednesdays through Sundays at 923 E. Seminary Drive, Fort Worth; ribbees.com.