Austin

BBQ|
February 1, 2014

Austin BBQ Explosion

Sixty-six years ago on January 29, 1948, rush hour in downtown Austin was given a jolt by an explosion. A small barbecue joint called the West Sixth Street Barbecue & Market was left in shambles. The news was reported as far away as Sweetwater where the snippet in the February

Writers Writing About Writers|
January 16, 2014

When Writers Write About Writers

In his new book, James Magnuson, the head of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin, skewers (lovingly) the people who attend programs like the one he directs.

BBQ Joint Reviews|
December 10, 2013

Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ

My first trip to Valentina’s was on a whim. I stopped at the trailer behind the Star Bar on Sixth Street in Austin on my way out of town. A friend was writing a story on taco variations, and I thought I might be able to add a novelty to

BBQ|
September 30, 2013

Smoke @ ICC

The International Chefs Congress (ICC) is in its eighth year, but this weekend in New York they hosted their first ever barbecue competition.  It was simply called Smoke @ ICC. Ten teams from six states were competing for the grand prize of a trip for four to South

BBQ Joint Reviews|
September 24, 2013

Blue Ox Barbecue

The rise of Austin’s barbecue culture has been led by food trailers. The mighty trio of John Mueller Meat Co., la Barbecue, and Franklin Barbecue (which began as a food trailer) lead the local scene and have made patrons all too familiar with the “Sold Out” sign. These joints all

BBQ Joint Reviews|
July 23, 2013

Freedmen’s

Evan LeRoy has come a long way from New York. He worked for a while at Hill Country Barbecue in Manhattan before making his way to Austin. That’s a long way to come so you can cook in the back of a bar, but it’s not any

The Wanderer|
July 19, 2013

Ask the Wanderer: South Congress And Beyond

  Jordan, Hey. I’m heading to Austin at the end of July and—having worked at Philadelphia magazine for a few years—I figured reaching out to you would be the best way to figure out what to do. A few college friends and I will be visiting a buddy

BBQ|
July 15, 2013

Smoked in Texas: Easy Tiger Pastrami

Easy Tiger in Austin is many things. A bakery and coffee shop, a beer garden, and table tennis tournament grounds. They also have a great food menu with homemade sausages and sandwiches. The most impressive might be the pastrami sandwich. The slices of cured smoked meat

BBQ|
May 29, 2013

Interview: Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue

Aaron FranklinOwner/Pitmaster: Franklin Barbecue in Austin; opened in 2009Age: 35Smoker: Five steel offset smokers made from 1000 gallon propane tanks that are 5/16” thick.Wood: Post oak. Some seasoned, some green.Last week, I sat down with Aaron Franklin over a tray of ribs and brisket at the Blue Ox

BBQ|
May 23, 2013

VIDEO: John Mueller is on Fire

John Mueller is on fire. His barbecue is better than it’s ever been, he just made it into our list of the fifty best barbecue joints in the state, and now Zagat has featured him in a slick video about the Austin barbecue scene. Where does Mueller fit

BBQ Joint Reviews|
May 21, 2013

Franklin Barbecue

The best barbecue joint in Texas is only four years old. This is an unusual development, but one that will surprise no one familiar with Franklin Barbecue, which, since opening in 2009, in a trailer off Interstate 35, has built a cult following for its meats. Has any other restaurant

BBQ Joint Reviews|
May 14, 2013

Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew

This place comes with rock-solid credentials: The pitmaster, Lance Kirkpatrick, worked under Bobby Mueller at Taylor’s Louie Mueller Barbecue for nine years. Following that, he briefly succumbed to the lure of a fine-dining kitchen, but last year Austin entrepreneur Shane Stiles beckoned Kirkpatrick to the pits once again. We’re grateful

BBQ Joint Reviews|
May 14, 2013

Lamberts Downtown Barbecue

Some people may be turned off by the description at the bottom of the Lamberts menu: “Fancy Barbecue?” But there are so many outstanding dishes at this establishment, we urge you to put preconceived notions out of your mind. Plus, the restaurant (we can’t bring ourselves to call it a

BBQ Joint Reviews|
May 14, 2013

La Barbecue

In this case, “La” is not a definite article referring to the “Cuisine Texicana” this relatively new joint says it serves; it’s an abbreviation referring to the first name of the co-owner LeAnn Mueller, granddaughter of the founder of Taylor’s famous Louie Mueller Barbecue (disclosure: LeAnn is a contributing photographer

BBQ Joint Reviews|
May 14, 2013

John Mueller Meat Co.

If there’s a dark prince of Texas barbecue, it’s probably John Mueller, the famously irascible, hugely talented, at times erratic master of meat who left his family’s legendary joint—Louie Mueller Barbecue, in Taylor—and set out on his own in 2001 with John Mueller’s B-B-Q, on Austin’s East Side. By 2003,

Music|
May 9, 2013

Live Music’s New Normal

What's better for a band: gigs at big, sponsored festivals or the old, thirty-shows-in-thirty-days touring model? Divine Fits, the supergroup fronted by Spoon's Britt Daniel, debates.

Eat My Words|
April 10, 2013

Austin Is One of “Top Tastiest Towns”

More than half a million votes have been tallied, and Austin has been named one of the top ten Tastiest Towns in the South by Southern Living magazine. (Funny enough, the Huffington Post recently snubbed Austin, calling it one of the ten most overrated travel destinations in the country.)In early January, Southern

Music|
March 14, 2013

13 Rules For Having Fun At SXSW

It's already two days into SXSW Music. It's crowded. The schedule app is overwhelming. But the festival is what you make of it. 13 personal rules from Texas Monthly Senior Editor Jason Cohen, whose first SXSW was in 1991

Sports|
March 4, 2013

QBs and Pass Catchers Report

The University of Texas, which started its spring practice even earlier than baseball played spring training games, let fans get a look at next year's team over the weekend.

Sports|
February 12, 2013

F1, Take One

Learning to love the foreign, overcharged, crowded, obsessive, and actually pretty exciting world of Texas’s newest major sport.

BBQ Joint Reviews|
February 5, 2013

John Mueller Meat Co.

You may remember last October when John Mueller was shut out of his well-regarded JMueller BBQ trailer on South First Street in Austin. He wasn’t happy about it, to say the least, but stayed quiet, plotting his return. That

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