What Texan doesn’t love bar-b-que? The smell is alluring and makes many of you salivate when it hits your nose. And I am no exception. Growing up in Texas meant bar-b-que and lots of it. Brisket has always been my favorite, stemming from my dad making it when I was younger, and when I saw Louie Mueller’s in Taylor on Food Network I had to go.
So last Saturday my boyfriend, my friend and I headed out to Taylor. Now the best time to get bar-b-que is early because it will be the freshest and won’t have sat in the pit all day. So there we were around 11:30, reading the butcher paper menu- turkey, chicken, ribs, pork butt, and brisket. Since there were three of us, we ordered three different things- ribs, brisket, and pork butt.
My first bite into ribs and it was dry and lacked flavor. There was no smoky taste, no hint of salt and pepper. The meat was clinging to the bone and wasn’t tender or juicy. It wasn’t bar-b-que.
With the ribs being disappointing, I tried the brisket. Again, I found it the same as the ribs. It was dry, hard to cut into, and lacked flavor, which was odd because Louie Mueller’s is famous for their brisket. Could it have been an off day? Yeah, but it was a Saturday, you don’t want to produce bad bar-b-que on a Saturday.
The only redeeming menu item was the pork butt, which had nice flavors of pepper and salt. I was very pleased with it. It was what the brisket should have been. Tender and juicy. It still had a little pinkness to it that add to the flavor.
So has Louie Mueller’s become over hyped? Is their quality slipping? It would take more than one visit to come to this conclusion, one that I’m willing to try. But if you have a better bar-b-que joint, I’d love to hear about it. Cheers!