Sloan Rinaldi, founder of Texas Q and a fourth-generation pitmaster, is expanding her barbecue brand into international media, with a new series and a Houston-focused show. Her family's barbecue legacy dates to 1909, when they opened a shop in Crockett, Texas. Rinaldi, who spent years in construction before leaving at 50, was inspired to enter barbecue after a sliced brisket sandwich at Killen's Barbecue. She has since built Texas Q into a brand offering sauces, rubs, and private barbecue crawls in Houston.
Rinaldi's upcoming projects include "From Texas With Love: United We BBQ," a nine-episode series filming across eight countries and three continents, including Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, and Japan. The series explores live-fire cooking traditions, from Ibérico hogs to Japanese wagyu to Argentine gaucho asado, with each episode ending in a Texas barbecue collaboration. The final episode will bring all featured cooks to Houston for a cook-off. This initiative aims to bridge cultural divides through food, highlighting barbecue's unique ability to unite people. Rinaldi's philosophy, as she puts it, is that barbecue is "the most uniting cuisine or culinary culture on earth," capable of bringing together individuals from all walks of life.
In addition, Rinaldi is filming "Grillz on Grills," a Houston culture series with rappers Bun B, Slim Thug, Trae tha Truth, and Paul Wall. The show examines the city's food, music, and custom-grillz scene, which Rinaldi notes has gained global attention. She and her co-host will have custom grillz made during the series. The show is expected to launch on YouTube, with Rinaldi expressing interest in bringing it to Netflix. These media ventures follow Rinaldi's success in landing a statewide deal with H-E-B for her original Texas Q sauce, which she later reformulated to remove high fructose corn syrup. Her international reach is already evident: she recently hosted two Taiwan-based venture capitalists on a private barbecue crawl in Houston, where they fasted for a day and flew 15 hours to attend. The itinerary included one of only three Michelin-starred barbecue restaurants in the world and two Top 15 stops. By the end of the day, discussions had shifted from barbecue to business, with Rinaldi hinting at potential new markets.
The implications of Rinaldi's expansion are significant for the barbecue industry and beyond. By showcasing international live-fire traditions alongside Texas barbecue, she positions the cuisine as a global connector, potentially opening new markets for American barbecue products and fostering cross-cultural exchange. Her media projects also highlight the growing intersection of food, music, and entrepreneurship, particularly in Houston's diverse cultural landscape. For viewers and consumers, these series offer a window into how traditional cooking methods can evolve into modern business ventures. Rinaldi's story—from construction to pitmaster—underscores the possibilities of career reinvention and the power of a single experience to spark a new passion. As she continues to build her brand, her efforts may inspire others to explore the unifying potential of food. For more information, Email Contact.
