Austin Daily Photo: Tony White. Young Gun Pit Boss At Louie Mueller Barbecue In Taylor Texas

Dec 29

posted by RL Reeves Jr in Austin Daily Photo

Walking out of Ed's Place one afternoon up in Taylor Texas this summer we notice a man hard at work splitting wood out behind Louie Mueller Barbecue.

Having just eaten the best hamburger in central Texas we have no need for food but we're always up for some good conversation so we mosey over to have a chat and see what this cat is up to.

Mississippi native Tony White is the assistant pit boss at Louie Mueller Barbecue. We stand around for awhile as he works his way through a cord of Texas oak, utilizing a powered log splitter that hums along as a sort of narrative to our conversation.

We talked about everything under the sun but the conversation always circles back to barbecue. This guy's in deep. A short day is 12 hours of hard work with Sunday being the only day of rest.

After a spell White excuses himself to go back into the smokehouse for more duties. In the world of barbecue your job is never really done with dozens of attendant tasks that need to be addressed on an hourly basis.

It'll be interesting to see what this man does if and when he decides to branch out and get his own operation going.

2012 is shaping up to see an explosion in growth for Austin area barbecue houses. How many young guns like White are out there biding their time waiting for their shot at the spotlight?

Interesting times.

more Texas barbecue http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/Barbecue

3 Comments

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This entry was posted on December 29, 2011 at 1:14 PM. There are currently 3 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

     

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• #1 by Clermont Bill on 1/12/12 - 5:51 PM

  

  I just had the pleasure of meeting, and eating from, Tony White. What a nice young man, and the woman working the counter was equally nice. I pulled in to Louie Mueller just before 2pm today. A couple guys were getting their lunches to eat in. There was no one in line behind me so it was a relaxing visit. I got 1 lb moist brisket, 1 lb lean brisket, 1 sausage link and 1 huge $15.00 beef rib, to go. When he said my request for a pound of beef ribs would be 1 rib, I recited back my favorite line from John T Edge's Southern Belly. "One Rib, you want one rib? One rib wouldn't do nothing but make me mad." I couldn't remember the BBQ house that the quote came from, but a quick check shows it was from a now closed placed in Elgin.
  
  I don't know how you people here can rank all your excellent beef BBQ. I took the slow road here from Florida and grabbed some BBQ from Fargo's in Bryan on the way based on a 5 star review from FCGBBQ. It was excellent and only $10 a pound. What I got today from Louie Mueller was also excellent. I'm sure it is easy to weed out the bad stuff, but when there is so much good stuff how do you choose. I was interested in trying Franklin's, but at $16 a pound and a couple hours to dedicate to the endeavour I think I will pass and try some more of the other excellent options. One thing I do know, I can never eat what passes for BBQ brisket in Florida again.

• #2 by rl reeves jr on 1/12/12 - 6:11 PM

  

  welcome to Texas Bill. Good to hear that Louie Mueller was firing on all cylinders today. Hope you saved room for the best cheeseburger in the Austin metro area at Ed's Place,directly behind Louie's joint

• #3 by Clermont Bill on 1/12/12 - 6:17 PM

  

  That will be the plan then if/when I make a return trip. Cheeseburger for lunch and BBQ to go. Thanks.