The Truth About Brendan Lamb From BBQ Brawl Season 2

If the second season of "BBQ Brawl," which premieres on the 14th of June, dared to air without at least one Texan, riotous grumblings would have ensued in portions of social media. However, since Brendan Lamb shall compete, we do not have to worry about that.

Before developing his BBQ chops in Austin, that Mecca of BBQ, Lamb had attempted two other career paths, the first as a football player and the second as an actor. The former ended, according to his IMDb page, when he sustained an injury. Then, as he told Kevin's BBQ Joints in an interview, he followed his friend James Preston, who is best known for playing Lukas Ford in "The Gates," to Los Angeles. He played a few small roles, modeled, and wrote a few scripts that went nowhere really and lived there for seven years. "They're going to go online and look at my horrible credits and go 'What the heck,'" Lamb joked.

Then, during one trip back to Texas, friends of his step-mom wanted to open a Texan BBQ place in Los Angeles and brought him on board to be their Los Angeles pit master. So, he trained as a pitmaster, was promoted, and began to train his replacements for when he left to Los Angeles — only for the California deal to fall apart before he could go out there. So, Brendan Lamb proceeded to make his name in the Texan barbecue scene.

In 2018, Brendan Lamb decided that it was time for him to start his own barbecue joint. The restaurant in question is called Smiley's BBQ and is located in Ponder, Texas. A mixed profile published by Texas Monthly in 2019 chided Lamb for serving cold beans and for putting too much glaze on the brisket. However, as of writing, it seems that either that was one particularly cantankerous reviewer or Lamb has upped his game, since on Yelp the food truck with a dining area boasts 4.5 stars. 

In addition to this, Brendan Lamb also works with BBQ XO, a group that offers barbecuing classes. His profile for the group states that his classes and consulting has helped ensure the success of many other barbecue start ups. How such a background will translate to a competitive environment in which other cooks have a more established background has yet to be seen.