Banana pudding, potato salad, beans, corn casserole, sausage, pulled pork and brisket at Golden Hour Barbecue
If you placed pins representing Texas-style barbecue joints on a map of the United States, most would cluster around the major cities on the East and West coasts.
One pin, however, would stand apart. On the far western edge of Nebraska sits Golden Hour Barbecue, one of the country’s best Texas-style barbecue destinations outside the Lone Star State.
Owned by former Houstonians Fletcher and Flor Sheridan, the restaurant is the result of a leap of faith that brought authentic Texas barbecue to one of the most rural corners of the American Midwest.
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Fletcher, 32, grew up in Georgetown and attended a University of Nebraska campus in Kearney, where he met his future wife, Flor. While in college, he worked part time at a local barbecue restaurant.
After graduating, Fletcher took a telecommunications job that required extensive travel. Before long, he realized corporate life wasn’t for him. He returned to Kearney to be with Flor and went back to working in barbecue.
After Flor graduated, she accepted a teaching position in Alief, and the couple moved to the Houston area in 2019.
In Houston, Fletcher immersed himself in the city’s acclaimed barbecue scene, working at Truth Barbeque, Roegels Barbecue Co. and Dozier’s BBQ in Fulshear.
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During those years, the couple regularly traveled to western Nebraska to visit Flor’s family in Alliance, a small town best known to many travelers as a stop on the road to Mount Rushmore. On one visit, they noticed a prominent building on Main Street was for sale.
That’s when the idea took shape.
The couple moved back to Nebraska, purchased the building and opened Golden Hour Barbecue in March 2024.
The restaurant’s name is a nod to Nebraska’s expansive skies and spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Since they’re typically tending the smokers during those “golden hours,” the name felt like a natural fit.
The restaurant occupies the entire first floor of a three-story building constructed in 1914, with space for dining, events, the kitchen and the ordering counter. The Sheridans also purchased the neighboring lot, where two offset smokers and a cabinet smoker produce the restaurant’s barbecue.
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The menu would feel right at home in Texas, featuring brisket, pork ribs, house-made sausage, pulled pork and turkey. Traditional sides include cornbread casserole — practically mandatory in Husker country — alongside desserts such as banana pudding.
Fletcher is quick to credit Flor and her family for helping make the restaurant a reality, from purchasing and renovating the building to keeping the smokers fueled. Flor’s uncle, a truck driver, makes twice-yearly trips to Houston to haul back loads of post oak, the wood that gives Texas barbecue its signature flavor.
Despite leaving Houston behind, Fletcher says the city played an essential role in Golden Hour’s success.
“Houston was very good to us,” Fletcher said. “We learned from some of the best, worked our tails off and gained the experience we needed to make what we’re doing in Alliance a success.”
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Houston may have lost a talented pitmaster, but barbecue-loving Houstonians heading through the Midwest have gained an unexpected destination worth the detour.
Golden Hour Barbecue
110 W. Fourth St., Alliance, Nebraska; goldenhourbarbecue.com
Friday-Saturday: 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
