American's BBQ partnership with Pecan Lodge hits the spot

Some airline routes are special because of the insatiable passenger demand they create, like Seoul to Jeju in South Korea, which is often ranked as the world’s busiest route. Others are special because they link two globally influential cities like New York and London.

Then there’s Dallas to New York, which is increasingly attracting a higher than average proportion of business travelers, and, as of February 2026, is notable in another way: American Airlines’ new inflight Texas barbecue sandwich.

When American announced in January that this route — and specifically only the Dallas to New York (LGA and JFK) direction — would offer a custom and limited-availability meal with a legitimate BBQ partner, Pecan Lodge, and that it would be available to First Class passengers and those who plan ahead and pre-order, I knew I had to try it on an upcoming trip.

I was so intrigued by this partnership that I actually visited Pecan Lodge for dinner the night before my flight to give myself a point of reference. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

I was waiting for a notification leading up to the flight telling me to pre-order my meal, but that didn’t arrive. Maybe it would have been sent later but I beat the airline to the punch. American’s pre-order system is nothing new, but I was disappointed that, on both desktop and mobile, the option for the Pecan Lodge meal was “below the fold,” listed as the absolute last item in the list.

Unless you scroll down past the typical options available on this route, you will miss this option altogether. At least it was identified with the restaurant’s logo once in view!

The pre-order system listed the available meal as the Pecan Lodge Barbecue Platter, something I knew contradicted American’s January press release which promised that a smoked chopped brisket sandwich would be offered in March. I thought maybe plans had changed but was more than happy with the advertised platter so I locked in my order.

Flash forward to the day of flight, I passed on the opportunity to take an earlier flight home as my selected meal would not have made the transfer with me. I assume most passengers aren’t this driven by a special meal selection, but I was dead set on trying it.

As suspected, what was delivered to my tray table was not what was listed for pre-order. I wasn’t by any means disappointed by the smoked chopped brisket sandwich that landed on my tray table, but other passengers very well might be.

The passenger seated next to me, who also pre-ordered this meal, didn’t seem at all fazed by the mix up.

Not all special airline meals are worth writing 600 words about, but I seriously enjoyed this one. The sandwich was huge, a true Texas-sized portion that filled me up like a proper meal should. A sandwich of this type is a tricky thing to eat without making a mess even on the ground, so this was a fork and knife affair.

The pork was really tasty and crispy while also still juicy. The bun was thankfully not too soggy or too hard, a tricky balance to strike when reheating a meal in flight.

The side of potato salad, while not an exact match for what I had on the ground the previous night, was excellent. The side of BBQ sauce also let me control just how sloppy I wanted this sandwich to get. The little side dish of pickles and onions was also a nice touch that made it feel more like a real meal and not just a sandwich on an airplane.

I must admit, I was impressed by this offering from American. Would I pay to upgrade to First Class solely for this sandwich again? Absolutely not, and I’m not going to tell you how much I paid for this upgrade.

Let’s just say it was the most expensive sandwich I’ve ever eaten. But if I was booking another premium cabin flight on this exact route, the Pecan Lodge partnership might just sway me in American’s direction again.