GW’s BBQ expands with new family-friendly beer garden in San Juan

Just months after earning national recognition as a James Beard Award semifinalist, GW’s BBQ owner and pitmaster George Watts III is expanding his growing South Texas barbecue brand with the opening of Post Oak Beer Garden, a new outdoor entertainment venue in San Juan.

The beer garden celebrated its grand opening Saturday evening behind GW’s BBQ at 107 N. Nebraska Ave., marking the culmination of a vision Watts said has been years in the making.  

“This has been a project probably five years in the making,” Watts said. “Almost since we opened the barbecue restaurant, I had the plan of trying to do something like that out there.”  

The expansion comes after a milestone year for the locally owned restaurant. 

In January, Watts was named a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas, placing him among the state’s top culinary talents after previously earning statewide acclaim from Texas Monthly for his barbecue. The recognition helped put both GW’s BBQ and the Rio Grande Valley’s barbecue scene on the national map.

Located behind the restaurant, Post Oak Beer Garden features a shipping container bar serving Texas beers on tap, signature cocktails, bourbon flights and wine, along with picnic tables beneath oak trees, a live music stage, sports televisions and a playground for children.

The venue also offers nonalcoholic beverages, including soft drinks and lemonade, and expands GW’s menu with beer garden-exclusive items such as brisket pizza, brisket burgers, brisket nachos, and brisket cheese fries.  

Watts said the goal was to build a place where families could gather together.

“We’re trying to bring not the typical bar scene, but more of a beer garden family gathering area where people can come, bring their children out there,” Watts said. “That’s why we have a playground. We don’t even want to call it a bar. It’s a beer garden. Imagine your backyard, but it’s somebody else’s place.”  

Watts said the project was intentionally developed over several years to allow the business to grow at a sustainable pace.

“Of course, we had to do everything at a pace that was something that we could handle, not take on too much,” he said.  

The project also reflects the continued expansion of GW’s BBQ, which has become one of the Rio Grande Valley’s best-known barbecue destinations. The restaurant routinely draws long lines and visitors from across Texas, with its blend of traditional Texas barbecue and South Texas flavors earning statewide and national recognition.

Watts credited the San Juan Economic Development Corp., city leaders, and the local community with helping bring the beer garden to life.

“I approached them about this project probably about a year and a half ago, maybe two years, and they were in full support of it,” Watts said about the city and San Juan EDC. “They have definitely helped us with investing in the Beer Garden, investing in us.”  

He said the support demonstrates the city’s commitment to investing in local businesses.

“This project has come to fruition a lot because of their support and then all the hard work that we put into it on our side, but it absolutely comes full circle with the support that the EDC has given us,” Watts said without going into detail about the support his business received. “It’s their way of showing they’ve invested into the city, into the community, and into small businesses like ours.”  

In announcing the opening on social media, the Watts family described Post Oak Beer Garden as the fulfillment of a long-held dream to create a place where they could host family, friends and the visitors who travel to San Juan to eat at GW’s BBQ.

“We would not be here without this community’s friendship and support,” the family wrote.

The grand opening featured live music by Wreckless Heart Band, officially welcoming guests to what Watts hopes will become a new destination for family-friendly entertainment in San Juan.