In Texas, no less. This can’t be good for Republicans in Texas (boldface mine):

Last week, Andrew Soto learned the wholesale price of his brisket had increased by $1 a pound, a dramatic leap even at a time of soaring beef costs across the country. The owner and pitmaster behind Butter’s BBQ in Sinton, Texas — one of the top 50 smokehouses in the state, according to Texas Monthly’s estimable list — figured he would need to charge customers $51 a pound to justify keeping brisket on the menu.

The increase would represent more than a $10 markup from his most recent price of $37 a pound. “That was the final straw that broke the camel’s back,” Soto said in an interview. “I’m not charging that.”

So, the owner did something drastic in a state where brisket is considered king among pitmasters and patrons alike: Soto decided to take the cut off his menu, even though it’s his top-selling item. He announced it Sunday in a brief social media post, saying that brisket is “eating up over 70% of our total grocery costs.” Butter’s is the first smokehouse on Texas Monthly’s list to drop brisket completely, said Daniel Vaughn, the magazine’s barbecue editor.

This is like a bagel place deciding not to sell bagels. If I were a Texas Republican, this isn’t what I would want to see less than two months before an election. And this is the kind of thing people notice, though not as much as rising fuel prices.