The Houston-based Southern Smoke Foundation has been named a 2026 Impact Award honoree by the James Beard Foundation this week, recognizing its work supporting food and beverage workers across the country.

Find Houston rodeo food deals, pop-ups and events, from barbecue collaborations to limited-time menus and live music.

For the second year in a row, KPRC 2 proudly partnered with the Southern Smoke Foundation to livestream the Yeti Culinary Stage at Southern Smoke Festival.

As families across the Texas Hill Country continue to recover from the devastating floods that swept through the region over the Fourth of July weekend, a Houston-based nonprofit is stepping in to help a community that often serves others first: food and beverage workers.

Host of "Eat Like a Local," Chris Shepherd, is behind the nonprofit Southern Smoke Foundation, which is committing $150,000 toward the Hill Country Relief Fund application to assist food and beverage workers impacted by the devastating flood.

The Southern Smoke Foundation held its annual Southern Smoke Festival recently, through which more than $1.5 million was raised to support people affected by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

Can’t make it to the festival? The YETI Culinary Stage cooking demos will be livestreamed on KPRC 2+ starting at 4:30 p.m. The demonstrations will be hosted by chef, YouTube personality, and New York Times bestselling author Brad Leone.

He's a James Beard award-winning chef and one of our favorite TV hosts; Chris Shepherd is in the host seat. We caught up with him as he gets set to premiere season 2 of 'Eat Like a Local' this Saturday.While you may be used to seeing him right here on KPRC, it's what he does behind the scenes to support Houston food and beverage workers that's even more impressive. His Southern Smoke Foundation is expanding to help those in crisis across the nation. We found out exactly how it's helping on an SSF takeover of Houston Life.

She’s a two-time James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of New York City's popular Milk Bar, and she's bringing her tasty treats to Houston!

A Montrose restaurant owner who is part of a class-action lawsuit suing CenterPoint because of the recent power outages, is speaking to us about the impact having no power for days had on our local food industry.

Chris Shepherd, a local renowned and award-winning chef, has dedicated his efforts to providing a means of support to food and beverage workers across the nation.

Tonight the city’s top mixologists will compete in a friendly competition to see who can come up with most creative cocktails representing H-Town, all for a good cause.

Erin Smith, co-owner of Houston’s Feges BBQ, shows us the simple side dish that is perfect for your summer barbecue or next Tex Mex meal at home. With just 6 ingredients, elote is an affordable and quick dish that will impress your family. The recipe can easily be scaled up to feed a party crowd. Watch the video to see how to make it!

Catch up with Chris Shepherd.

Houston-based charity organization Southern Smoke Foundation was awarded as the 2021 “Best of the Best in Dining” for their ongoing charity efforts by industry magazine Robb Report.

HOUSTON – Two renowned Texas chefs are joining forces with a Houston brewery to craft a special pilsner that allows you to give back to the community. Austin-based chef Aaron Franklin and Houston-based chef Chris Shepherd joined forces to create a one-of-a-kind beer with Karbach Brewing in hopes to bring something good out of 2020. The new beer, called Horseshoe Pilsner will benefit Southern Smoke Foundation, supporting food and beverage workers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, according to a release. Horseshoe Pilsner is “made to be the perfect palate cleanser” and is perfect to enjoy with Texas barbecue, said Franklin, who owns Franklin Barbecue in Austin. Both Franklin and Shepherd hope they will raise up to $100,000 for Southern Smoke Foundation.