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.
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
The fictional ‘Pulp Fiction’ Hawaiian burger joint has taken over the Stallion Grill on Airport Boulevard and there's a whole bunch of film equipment outside.
Arro, a French restaurant in downtown Austin, opened in July with executive chef/partner Drew Curren and pastry chef Mary Catherine Curren, his wife, at the helm. Texas Monthly food editor Patricia Sharpe recently spoke with Drew Curren about why he chose to try this cuisine in
For the first time in its history, the Austin City Limits Music Festival stretched over two weeks, a format that worked out well for some—and not so well for others.
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
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
More minutiae from the University of Texas at Austin's infamously comical police blotter, including memories from longtime author Darrell Halstead and the story of a student who "made" Campus Watch.
Breakfast! A multi-generational history of the breakfast taco, via Austin institution the Tamale House. Excerpted from the new book "Austin Breakfast Tacos."
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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,
The drummer and producer had his name on four April releases, including "Thr!!!ler" by !!! and "Nuestro Camino" by Austin's Dupree, which Eno put out on his own. But Spoon is also hard at work on their eighth record.
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.
The restauranteur nabbed chef Rebecca Meeker--formerly the chef de Cuisine at David Bull's Congress--to be a chef and project manager at the Austin landmark Jeffrey's.
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
In a mere six years, the thirty-year-old has opened a half-dozen fine-dining restaurants, built a $25-million enterprise, and arguably elevated the food scene in Austin to be competitive with Dallas and Houston.
Bryce Gilmore, of Barley Swine, in Austin, and Chris Shepherd, of Underbelly in Houston, were among the eight Texas chefs, writers, and restaurants nominated for a James Beard Award, the highest honor given in the food world. Garden and Gun magazine recently caught up with the two chefs to
Some Texas cities top the list for the fastest growth rate, others top the list for the greatest number of new residents. The reason behind both? Jobs.
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
You can’t go home and tell your friends that you came to Central Texas and never ate any barbecue. It would be like going to SXSW and not listening to any music. But there are so many briskets and so little time! How do you sort it all out? No
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.
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
