David Beckham and Victoria Beckham visited this Dallas barbecue joint for brisket

Employees at Blu’s Barbeque in Far North Dallas got the surprise of a lifetime when retired footballer David Beckham and fashion designer and singer Victoria Beckham showed up at their walk-up window for Texas brisket and turkey.

“You are David. David Beckham,” said the man at the window, manager Rahul Bagchi, grinning.

David Beckham is co-owner of Inter Miami, the soccer club that traveled to Frisco this weekend and beat FC Dallas in a sold-out “thriller” of a game. Soccer superstar Lionel Messi was the talk of the town all weekend — though the Beckham family’s presence in Dallas-Fort Worth is making international news, too. The Daily Mail says People magazine’s 2015 “sexiest man alive” David Beckham was “mobbed by supporters” in Frisco after the game on Aug. 6, 2023.

Both David Beckham and Victoria Beckham have said in the past they enjoy plant-based foods, though Bagchi says they both seemed to enjoy the turkey and brisket sandwiches.

David Beckham ordered brisket, pork ribs and pork belly burnt ends.

For those wondering how Beckham ended up at Blu’s Barbeque, his wife asked that very same question in a video posted to Facebook and Instagram.

“What are we doing here?” says an off-camera Victoria Beckham.

Her footballer husband replies, “We’ve just landed in Dallas for the game tonight, and our first stop is barbecue. Blu’s Barbeque. Brisket.”

“I am shaking right now,” Bagchi said.

In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Bagchi says the Beckhams were hungry when they landed in Dallas on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. They asked their driver to find a restaurant close by and he took them to Blu’s.

“It’s a tiny hole in the wall,” Bagchi said about Blu’s. He’s still pinching himself from the experience.

The restaurant has been open on Preston Road between Frankford and Campbell roads since 2019. It’s a small place with no indoor dining. Whereas some Texas barbecue joints keep menus simple — smoked meat, a few sides — Blu’s has extensive daily specials. (On Sunday, the day the Beckhams stopped by, the specials are prime rib, beef ribs, smoked chicken salad, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs and more.)

In 2020, the restaurant advertised a rare shipment of 14 alligators that went straight into the smokers.

Blu’s founder Zach Bergenholtz, a Plano native, was named one of the country’s “15 young leaders to watch” by QSR Magazine.

Bagchi says David Beckham was generous with his time. “When I brought the food out to the car, David Beckham came out and said, ‘I want to do a video with you,’” he says.

Bagchi called the afternoon “amazing.”

Blu’s Barbeque is at 17630 Preston Road in Dallas. We expect to see an influx of barbecue fans headed their way, but note: Blu’s is closed Mondays.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.