Trying out Louie Mueller's on Saturday

[erbeman]

Heading to Round Rock to pick up a new to us pickup from the in-laws. I feel I would be doing a disservice to myself if I didn't hit up at least one of the central texas bbq joints. This one is the closest and one of the oldest. My eleven year old daughter might be more excited than I am, as she gets to go with me as a reward for having an excellent progress report from school.

Pics and review will be coming


http://www.louiemuellerbarbecue.com/

[eltex]

Take a business card with you, and put it on the board. Expect a line on the weekends, but its a good comfortable wait. Beef ribs and brisket are the specialty. I think they have 2-3 types of sausage. I like the regular, but I suspect all are pretty good. I don't remember much about the pork ribs, but I like the beef too much to order the pork anymore. Like most Central Texas BBQ, expect to pay a pretty penny. And since those beef ribs can tip the scales at over a pound, a single beef rib might run you close to $20.

Just 2 blocks from there is Taylor City Cafe. You might swing by and grab some brisket just for comparison sake. Plus, Vencil Mare might be around, and he is an absolute hoot of a guy to chat with.

[erbeman]

Thanks for the tips brother.

[cowboydon]

I always go for 1 beef rib weighing 1 and a quarter to 1 and a half pounds - small side and a couple drinks - 25.00 to 30.00 USD - and worth every cent. Enjoy downtown Taylor and head ove to Taylor Cafe if you get a chance - Its right there you can walk over and its worth it, then you can cross Taylor off your bucket list.

[erbeman]

I always go for 1 beef rib weighing 1 and a quarter to 1 and a half pounds - small side and a couple drinks - 25.00 to 30.00 USD - and worth every cent. Enjoy downtown Taylor and head ove to Taylor Cafe if you get a chance - Its right there you can walk over and its worth it, then you can cross Taylor off your bucket list.

Thanks for the advise young man

[Boots]

You might try that east side toll road too. Traffic on 35 in Round Rock is aggravated murder now, as it is anywhere around Austin. Hordes of pilgrims moving in, starting to look like Calyfohnia.

[erbeman]

Ok, so my trip to Mueller's was a good one. I met my friends there at 12:30 and we all sat down to eat just before 2:00. So there was a bit of a wait. Thankfully, the weather was cooperative and it wasn't bad at all.



This place is huge, unfortunately they only have one guy carving meat and all meats other than brisket are wrapped and put back in a heated pit after each customer. It sure seems like they could improve upon this by adding a 2nd carver and a heat lamp, so they are spending so much time wrapping and unwrapping different meats. Oh well, they have been in business almost twice as long as I've been alive, so I guess it works for them. I had my 11 year old daughter with me who is a huge fan of good BBQ. So, I ordered 1 beef rib, 1 jalapeno sausage, and 1/3 pound brisket and two drinks and it came up to $33. I was pleased with that price, as I was expecting $50-60 from what I've heard of the pricing in Central Texas. Here is a pic of our tray.




Now onto the meats. The jalapeno sausage was very good! Definitely homemade and has a good bit of heat to it. It was too hot for my daughter, which really broke my heart, because I was then forced to eat it all . The brisket was really good. It was a little light on the smoke flavor compared to what I like, but I'm a smoke junkie. I would probably give it 8.75 out of 10 score. Its got a pretty good crust, but it seemed to be a little light on seasoning for my taste. Again, I like a bit more bold flavor than most, so they are playing to the masses taste which is totally the smart thing to do. Now on to the Beef rib, this thing weighed in at 1 and 1/4 pound and cost $19, but let me tell ya, I'll get one of these every single time I can! It was my first dino rib and it was freakin amazing! It had a huge smoke ring, good crust and rendered fat to perfection. Oh man I can't wait to have another one. I would stand in line for another 1.5 hours for that rib alone. I saw Wayne, but he was working in the pits in the back. So you don't get to really interact with him which is a bummer, but understandable. I didn't have time to go to the Taylor Cafe unfortunately. Next time we go to the in-laws, I'll hit it up though.

[Rambo]

Thank you for that report

[cowboydon]

Nice review, glad you able to get to Taylor and enjoy the rib and other food, but really I think its about the rib.

[eltex]

No doubt the ribs are the selling point there. If you try Austin, you can hit John Mueller and get a rib, that is as good as, or sometimes better than LM, though the lines can be long there too. That is a big problem we have nowadays, long lines and high prices. I like the briskets better at JM too, but I still think Franklin's is the king of briskets.

Glad you made it to Taylor. It's a fun stop, and LM is full of history, and old smoke. It's like going to Smitty's in Lockhart. So much history is burnt onto the walls, you don't even need to eat to enjoy the scene.

[spacetrucker]

nice report.
We went there over two years ago, and it was real bad, I kept the receipt for months, just so I would remember how bad it was afterward, the brisket was like dehydrated jerky, and they gave us a "free sample" which I should have eaten before ordering, if I had we would not have ordered, stupid me just gave it to my little bride, I later asked why she didn't say something, she said the taste was so bad she couldn't speak, glad to see they recovered and made good changes. A line and a crowd of customers is usually an excellent indicator.