Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

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Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

Postby eltex » Wed Oct 31, 2012 5:20 pm

Well, for those out of the loop, know that a couple weeks ago, John Mueller BBQ hired a former pitmaster(john lewis) away from Franklins. This seemed somewhat normal, as the pitmaster in question was looking to 'intern' at JM's before heading off to sunny CA to perhaps open his own joint.

This morning, some news broke that John Mueller has been 'fired' from John Mueller BBQ. From what we see, his family actually owns the joint here in Austin. They have posted some nasty tweets saying John was ripping people off and stuff like that. For those that were around back in the day, they can remember the way John burnt brightly at his east-side location, only to burn out way too soon. Well, it has happened again.

They say they will reopen on Saturday, with John Lewis handling the cooking, and sis running the joint. Ahh, love and bbq...
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Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

Postby jumbo » Wed Oct 31, 2012 5:35 pm

Sad deal
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Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

Postby atcNick » Wed Oct 31, 2012 7:24 pm

Lol BBQ drama


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Re: Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

Postby DJ » Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:38 pm

Is the sister named Ali? I'm a JM FaceBook fan and someone named Ali does the posting.
dj

Just looked on FB and all seems pretty normal...
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Re: Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

Postby Swamp Donkeyz BBQ » Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:54 pm

I believe her name is LeAnn. I think she is the actual owner. Pretty nasty family fued from what I hear. Hate to see that kind of stuff happen.
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Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

Postby jumbo » Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:55 pm

Ali worked for John. LeAnn is his sister. Bad juju here...bad. I suspect this is heading to the courts. LeAnn filed charges against John for embezzlement yesterday. John is stunned by what just went down.
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Re: Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

Postby eltex » Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:54 pm

Yeah, I think Ali is the guy who ran the cash register most days. They have changed the name to "LA BBQ". Not sure how that will work, even though it is her initials. All I know is John can freaking cook BBQ as good or better than anyone in Texas. He was never what you call a sociable kind of guy, but when it comes to brisket, beef ribs, prime rib and sausage, he was legendary. He was also a legend for his booze and fighting and being just plane rude to an occasional customer.

I will miss him, and I hope it works out for both him and the new LA BBQ joint. There are enough fans here in Austin to fill lots of bbq establishments, as evidenced by 2-3 hour lines at Franklins, and often 1+ hour lines at John Muellers.

The facebook page had a post saying that John was out and they would reopen on Saturday, but it was then deleted. I guess once they got the police involved, those type of public comments were frowned upon.
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Re: Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

Postby dub' » Sat Nov 03, 2012 7:50 am

2 hour lines? You can dang near cook yer own in that amount o time.

dub(can't be that good)
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Re: Major shakeup in Austin BBQ

Postby eltex » Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:39 am

dub' wrote:2 hour lines? You can dang near cook yer own in that amount o time.

dub(can't be that good)


Very simply, it can be that good, though not always. Franklin's IS that much better than Lockhart, Snows, or Luling. Each of those places normally have something they do very well, but at Franklin's, he hits both the ribs and brisket at superior quality. If you are in Austin, it was Franklin's and John Muellers, and then everyone else.

But on that note, nothing lasts forever. Franklin's is trying to expand his capacity to help alleviate those lines, but will the quality still be there? You had a feeling that John Muellers wouldn't last forever, but it died much faster than we hoped. The sister re-opened this weekend, and initial reports say the food was good. I will give it a few days or weeks to work out the kinks, and give it a try. I'll report back.

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