University of Texas has tried for years to acquire Players, the tiny burger joint on MLK just north of the state capitol.

Back in the mid double aughts UT tried to muscle down on the local restaurant through the use of eminent domain but eventually backed off when the hue and cry went nuclear.

Lots of wheels around these parts matriculated at UT and ate their body weight in burgers from Players so there was no shortage of power brokers who know their way around the smoke filled back rooms of Austin.

University of Texas chooses their battles wisely.

The southern end of UT campus has seen a lot of changes since 1981 when Players opened. Property values have skyrocketed so we imagine Players owners & operators, Carlos Oliveira and Eddie Hempe are going to be trundling duffel bags filled with cash back to their homesteads when the whole affair is said and done.

We've been eating at Players for years. We loved it when they were 24/7 and spent many a 3 am in the wood paneled dining room eating cheap, flame grilled burgers and plotting our next move.

Rest In Peace.

all Austin Texas restaurant obituaries http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/RIP-Rest-

July 28th of 2011 will go down in Austin barbecue folk lore as a dark day in our town's history.

This was the day that "Operation Meat Locker", a covert sting operation ran by Austin Police Department, came to a head with arrests at 3 area restaurants.

La Morenita, Willie's Barbecue and Sam's Barbecue were all implicated in the affair with police alleging that the 3 restaurants were engaging in black market meat purchases from brisket bandits who were smuggling foods out of area HEB Supermarkets.

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Many thanks.

We've been traveling up to Williamson and Milam County Texas for years to eat, drink, take pictures and breathe in a little fresh country air.

You'll not meet a nicer group of people in the great state of Texas.

Then we hit a roadblock.

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Spotted.

An ancient ghost sign. In real life it's barely legible but I dialed up the light to make it easier to see.

I imagine there's some old timer out there who'd recollect "Oh Hell yeah, I ain't seen those around here in a coon's age. I remember when all the barbecue joints around here used to sell barbecue chicken faces."

With brisket headed north of $3 per lb could the day come when future generations only know of this treasured meat from old ghost signs and photographs?

I shudder to think of a world like that.

all Austin Daily Photos http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/Austin-Da

more Texas barbecue http://chowpapi.com/wordpress/wordpress-2.8.6/wordpress

63 articles in the last 30 days. We're working overtime to get all the Austin food news that matters to our loyal readers. Thanks for making this site such a huge success y'all.

Onto the top 5 articles from this past week. As always, determined by page views.

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Team Scrump is loading up in the Econo-line and heading down to Palmer Event Center here in a few hours for the one night where Austin lets her hair down.

Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Who all's going?

Info http://www.sambaparty.com/

We've been getting a kick out of the Shaggybevo food board; GM Steakhouse. The men over that way are dyed in the wool chowhounds who seemingly do little other than eat massive amounts of barbecue and drink gallons of beer around Austin then write posts about it.

It reminds me of the old days of Austin's Chowhound board before the unpaid, volunteer moderators ran everybody off.

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Taking it national y'all. Yes, this weekly article will mainly concern itself with Austin Texas Chowhound but after reading a post earlier tonight we will also delve into the national board.

We'll never forget penning a post on Chowhound about our love for homemade tortillas and the mujeres who make them. We were met with vitriol from an assortment of eaters, "Torchy's apologists" if you will.

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Fricano's has shuttered their original location. We loved this restaurant from the moment they opened. Yes, they were slow, toddler-like, out of the gate but once they found their rhythm they became a very good source for fat, deli sandwiches.

It was touch and go from day one whether they were going to remain open. Crowds were slow to arrive and you could tell the little business was struggling to stay afloat.

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Getting excited about what's coming to the little old building across from East End Wines that's housed a variety of restaurants over the years.

Gene's Po Boys was one of our very favorite cafes in Austin but after a 10 year run in our town, chef Gene decided to call it a day and move back to his beloved New Orleans.

J Kelly had a brief run in the building where he basically just ran the business into the ground taking Gene's classic version of old standards and rendering them unrecognizable and unpalatable.

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