We keep waiting for the hot headed John Mueller to launch a missile drop kick out of the window of his white hot barbecue trailer down in Bouldin Creek but apparently the man hasn't had his buttons pushed just right, just yet.
The new John Mueller is going to be known as the barbecue Santa Claus if he's not careful what with handing out free beer and having a "no standing in line" take out window and all.
That's fine by us. The old anxious days of standing in line at the Manor Road location and wondering whether the cranky Taylor, Texas native was going to serve us the black and fatty we requested or just level a baleful glare our way are apparently gone.
A recent lunch taken under a shade tree in the courtyard of the business found Mueller on top of his game. He's come out of the chute good and hard, serving what we estimate to be Austin, Texas' best brisket and hot guts sausage.
We do have distant memories of one Aaron Franklin's beef being of this caliber but they are starting to fade as we haven't managed to get fed since he moved into his new joint over on 11th street.
It's on our path and we love the marketing strategy that's brought on the epic lines but we can't carve two hours out of our day for barbecue no matter how delicious the food.
With Franklin about to take a much earned respite from the game it will be interesting to see if Mueller can handle the crowds that are about to descend on his new operation. Something tells us the old pit boss will adapt. We see him stepping into the role of meat cutter at the new joint and it will be intriguing to see if he still wields a mean knife hand.
Austin is now in embarrassment of riches mode with 2 grade-A barbecue joints and another half dozen b-graders. Who's been to Mueller's new place? How was the output?
Central Texas Barbecue reviews http://chowpapi.com/wordpress/wordpress-2.8.6/wordpress
relevant http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2011/6/7/
#1 by eltex on 10/29/11 - 12:13 PM
I loved both the prime rib and the brisket, and the ribs were above average, but not quite as perfect. The tenderness and flavor of both the prime rib and brisket was just outstanding. I can't say that I've ever interviewed John or Aaron, but to think they use such different techniques for brisket, and both turn out so wonderful, says that they really know their craft. The sauce seemed similar to his more spicy sauce from over on Manor road, but I don't really use sauce so I am no expert there. John was ferrying the food back and forth from the pit and he had his crew working inside the serving trailer. His meat cutter seemed new on the knife, but maybe some more experience will fix that. I fear the prices of food at most of the better BBQ joints is becoming an issue. $14/lb for brisket, and $20/lb for prime rib can put a serious crunch on your wallet if you want to experience it all. I didn't notice if he had 2-3 meat plate specials or anything like that, but that might be a good way to go for some of us. We also got the chipotle coleslaw and the cheesy-squash casserole. The squash was good, just like back in the day, and the coleslaw was a good mix of flavors that usually don't find their way into coleslaw.
I will say that in my opinion, John and Aaron are the two best BBQ guru's in the city limits. I give Franklin's a slight nod as the pork ribs were a bit better, but if you are a fan of smoked prime rib, head over to Johns and sink your teeth into pure succulence. I think this puts John Mueller's right into the top 5 BBQ joints I have ever sampled in Texas. It deserves to be mentioned with Aaron, Vencil and Snow's. I'm glad the street fighter has returned, it had been too long.
#2 by rl reeves jr on 4/29/12 - 4:44 PM