Dear barbecue buffs, fans, mavens, hounds, fanatics, cognoscenti, nuts, addicts, maniacs, aficionados, zealots, enthusiasts, devotes, groupies, and lovers:
Do you have a barbecue destination that you think is worthy of being on Texas Monthly’s “The Top Fifty BBQ Joints in Texas” list?

Now’s the time to tell us! Next year will mark the five-year anniversary of the last list, published in June 2008. Soon we will begin traveling and evaluating for the next top fifty feature, to be published in June of 2013. We don’t want anybody to feel like they didn’t have a chance to be considered.

If you’d like to give us a tip on a favorite place, please go to the comment section below. Mention the place and be SURE to tell us the address, city, and what your favorite dishes are. A phone number for the place would be helpful. Hours, too,  if you know them.

We will automatically revisit the previous Top 50 (including  Snow’s, Kreuz, Smitty’s, Louie Mueller’s, and City Market in Luling, and the other 45). Same goes for newly famous Franklin and JMueller, in Austin, which were on our February 2012 cover.

Let the nominating begin!               (Photograph by LeAnn Mueller)

Tagged: barbecue, City Market, Franklin Barbecue, JMueller BBQ, Kreuz Market, louie mueller barbecue, Smitty's Market, snow's barbecue, Top Fifty BBQ Joints in Texas

The second annual Texas Monthly BBQ Festival was held Sunday, October 30, at the outdoor terrace of Long Center in Austin. Some 3,000 people attended to sample barbecue from 22 vendors (all of whom had been named to our Top 50 Barbecue Joints in Texas in 2008), listen to music (Jimmie Vaughan and Asleep at the Wheel), and vote for the people’s choice in four categories. The prizes were won this year by Franklin Barbecue of Austin (best brisket), Louie Mueller Barbecue of Taylor (best beef ribs and best sausage), and Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q of Tyler (best pork ribs). Last  year’s best brisket winner was Snow’s BBQ of Lexington. Here are some random observations from an assortment of well-fed attendees.

It’s kind of like drinking from a fire hydrant. There is so much here!—Seth Dockery

This is Texas, so the temperature could have been 40, it could have been 95. But today was perfect.—Jen Pencis, Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q, Tyler

Cooking’s easy. The hardest part is figuring out the amount of meat. –Todd Ashmore, Opie’s Barbecue, Spicewood

This event is definitely off the ground. Yesterday I was telling people I was in town for the barbecue festival and everybody knew what I was talking about. Last year they had no idea.—Daniel Vaughn, Full Custom Gospel BBQ blog (more…)

Tagged: Foodways Texas, Franklin Barbecue, Kerry Bexley, louie mueller barbecue, Snow's, Stacy Franklin, Stanley's, Texas A&M University, Texas Monthly BBQ Festival, Tootsie Tomananz

Bobby Mueller, the owner of Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, is dead at the age of 69. His son Wayne Mueller, vows to carry on his dad’s tradition. Bobby–who was the son of Louie, who founded the sprawling barbecue restaurant in 1949–died in his sleep on Saturday morning. The death was unexpected, as Bobby had been in excellent health. In the obituary in the Austin American-Statesman, Wayne reported, his dad had been an avid runner until a few years ago. Although the barbecue joint was located in Central Texas, its fame is statewide, and ‘cue fanatics would drive miles to eat there. This magazine, in fact, had named it one of the state’s top five (or even top two) joints since the early 1970′s. No competitor even came close for beef ribs, notoriously hard to do right, and Louie Mueller’s brisket could be transcendent, as well. Thank you, Bobby, for the happiness you brought to ‘cue lovers around the state. Our sympathy to the Mueller family.

Tagged: bobby mueller, louie mueller barbecue, taylor, texas