On a trip to Austin back in 2013, the WallyQ Crew had a hankering for some good Lone Star barbecue. The obvious first choice for visitors is Franklin, and rightly so. You absolutely cannot go wrong with this Texas barbecue legend and the daily lines at lunch are proof of that. It was those lines, though, and a recommendation from a sales associate at a boot shop that sent us to la Barbecue.
At the time, la Barbecue was a semi-permanent food truck in a small food truck community on South 1st. Situated a few feet from the order window were a handful of picnic tables. Across the way was Gourdough's Airstream doughnut truck (GOURmet DOUGHnuts - oh yeah!) - the perfect dessert for those looking to use the experience of a sugary fried dough nirvana crafted in multiple, sometimes curious, varieties to test the true elasticity limits of their stomach linings after gorging on bbq.
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| Photo Courtesy of FoodTruckConnetion.co |
When we reached la Barbecue's truck, the lines had dissipated. Fortunately the meat had not - not yet, anyway. So we ordered a little sliced brisket - both fatty and lean, hot guts (their term for sausage), a chopped brisket sandwich, a smoked turkey sandwich, and some Cokes in glass bottles, which was a nice touch.
Y'all...seriously...
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| Sandwiches at la Barbecue - My mouth's big, but c'mon! |
This was the best barbecue I'd ever eaten and nothing has beaten it yet. It was the beautiful experience epiphanies are made of. The wow factor was off the charts.
You know how sauce is commonly necessary to improve parched and bland turkey? Not necessary here. This turkey took care of itself. Every bite was juicy and rubbed with just the right amount of spice to make my mouth smile. Succulent!
A word about "hot guts" - the name sounds disgusting. I think it is a ploy to keep from giving out in the first half hour of business. Those who let the straightforward label deter them from ordering a link or two are missing out. For those of us who show up later, though, we thank you for your lack of adventure - there's more for us to eat! Fantastic spicy and smokey flavor, juicy, slightly firm but not rubbery, and the audible "pop" when stabbed with a fork or knife that is music to our mouths topped off this tasty treat.
The Barbe-coup d'etat, though, was definitely the brisket. Lean, fatty, chopped, sliced - didn't matter. I think our server could have tossed the brisket onto the dirt outside their food truck, stampeded it with a polo pony, dragged it through the South Congress Street Bridge bats' guano, and run an August full-pad UT Longhorn football practice on it and it would have still been delectable.
Best brisket I've ever eaten. The only one that matches can be found in Charleston, SC and crafted by the very same pit master that smoked the one we had at la Barbecue. More on that in a few. The flavor was amazing - the perfect mix of yum and mm-mm good. A slight hint of sweetness accompanied the perfect peppery smokiness that makes this brisket the Uncle Wally's brisket benchmark.
Uncle Wally history lesson: John Lewis was the pit master at la Barbecue when we visited. He now works his magic mainly in Charleston, SC. The man is a genius and quite possibly the best pit master in the world (or maybe the universe). He helped the legendary Franklin get off the ground and was brought over to la Barbecue to join another venture from the also legendary Mueller family. The Texas barbecue tree has many limbs and roots, many are gnarled and twisted. The Austin scene is especially a dramatic tangled web. I could go into detail here, but that would take too long and others have already a better job than I could ever do. So, I highly recommend the following articles for extra reading on the Mueller family, Aaron Franklin, and John Lewis.
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| Jonathan Boncek/Thrillist |
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| Texas Monthly - "Of Meat and Men" Feb. 2012 |
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