JMueller BBQ in Austin
I finally got around to trying JMueller BBQ a few weeks ago. I switched jobs and had some other things going and didn’t get around to writing up the post. So never the less here it is. I ended up taking all of the photo’s with my iPhone as well.
I have passed the location for JMueller BBQ almost daily since they’ve been open. The problem was that I never knew it was there because I was looking at some restaurants across the street. I knew it was in the area, but just didn’t realize it was where it was. It’s a trailer after all and it just didn’t really catch my attention. The sign is parallel with the street instead of perpendicular, which may have led me to miss it as well.
Photos by Ray Pierce
When we arrived it was about 11:15am. The line was fairly deep, as you can probably tell be the photo. It took us about 45 minutes to get through the line. They had already started to sell out of things by the time we got to the window to order, specifically the Prime Rib. Their prices weren’t as high as I had expected them to be. It was still really affordable for a good bit of food. Another big plus for me is that you get a small sample at the window before you order.
I wanted to get a bit of everything, but my body can only hold so much. So I started off with the basics. Brisket, Beef Sausage, Pork Ribs, and a gigantic beef short rib. Needless to say, it took be three meals to finish off everything because my eyes tell me that I can eat it all. The sausage was very good, it had a great smoke flavor and a really good consistency. I’m not sure if John makes it onsite, or just has it made for him, but it is good. The pork ribs were very tasty with a good peppery rub on them. The meatier end was fantastic, but the lean end was visibly dry and chewy.
Knowing that John grew up in the pits of Louie Mueller’s I couldn’t pass up ordering a beef rib. And I was rewarded for it. It’s a huge amount of meat on the bone, but it was so tender and flavorful. I was able to just take my fork and do some light pulling on it for a bite. The brisket was more of the same. Fantastically smoked and super moist. All I needed was fork to cut it/shred it in the bit sizes.
The BBQ sauce is something a bit different than you typical place. It’s chunky, it has bits of onions in it. It’s almost the consistency of chunky picante sauce. It’s got a different flavor than most “Texas” BBQ sauces, but it similar. Although you don’t need it for the meat, it’s still gives it a different experience.
JMueller BBQ also has a few sides if you are in the mood. The potato salad was good, but nothing spectacular. The side of note is the baked squash, it was really well done and you just don’t find it on many other BBQ menu’s.
So far this is in the top 2 for BBQ joints for me. Everything that I had across the board was really good.
Lambert's BBQ Brisket Sandwich
I had a craving for BBQ today and with my new office location Lambert’s is just a couple of blocks away. I was in the mood for a BBQ Sandwich so that’s what I ordered along with my side of Mac and Cheese. Sorry no pictures, only had the iPhone with me and not a lot of light in there.
Lambert’s is one of those places that serves cornbread before the meal. They are served as little mini-muffin size with real butter. They are a jalapeno based cornbread with pieces of real corn in them. They are quite tasty. The only problem is that they are served cold. The butter doesn’t melt, and a lot the goodness is lost in my opinion.
On the main attraction though. I’ve been to Lambert’s several times before, but this is the first time that I’ve actually ordered something other than the traditional brisket and pulled pork plate I always lean towards. The plate was called the BBQ Beef Chopped Brisket Sandwich. Sounds like a tasty mouthful. The bun was I believe your standard fare sesame seed bun, but they went to the effort of toasting it, which was a nice surprise. There was a pretty sizable quantity of meat on the sandwich as well. It was an $8 sandwich, the cheapest thing on the menu if I recall correctly. But that’s what I wanted. The meats wasn’t overly saucy, and it was a fairly large cut chopped brisket. Not the fine ground stuff a lot of places server. This was real sliced brisket that had been chopped. It was topped off with a bit of finely chopped relish.
The sandwich had a great flavor and great consistency. There was one piece in the sandwich that wasn’t cut enough to get in one bite and ended up on the plate. Lambert’s has a hot sauce on every table that is quite tasty, it’s a little more vinegar based than the regular sauce but is still a thick sauce. If you want add a bit of spice to your meat I would highly recommend it, it’s not going to “burn” you, but it just adds a little something extra. So I put a generous helping of it on the meat and applied the top half of the bun. I do like to add some regular sauce to pretty much each bite. Lambert’s sauce is well done. Not too sweet, not vinegary, and not to peppery.
If you like Mac and Cheese order it, it’s for you. There is plenty of melted cheese in the dish, and a nice crusted American cheese layer on top. I almost felt that it was too cheesy if there can be such a thing. I think a bit of gratin would have been nice, but it stands up well on it’s own.
The only draw back to coming here at lunch is the price. Today’s adventure was reasonably affordable for downtown, but if I order what I normally do it would have been well over $20. As it was with tip and everything it was about $14. I thought it was a pretty good value based quality and quantity of food that I got. I definitely recommend it to people, but beware that you will be paying downtown prices for BBQ. It’s well executed, and quite tasty.
