Top Texas Barbecue

Overall Rating and is it worth a visit: 9/10. Yes, absolutely worth the drive. Sitting on Main Street of Taylor, right from the start it gives off a small town Texas vibe. As soon as you step inside, you’re hit with the strong smell of smoke and your eyes swallow in the impossibly blackened walls that have been naturally created after decades of barbecue having flowed through it. As you roll up to the counter to order, you can see Wayne in the back working diligently and moving around like a man 20 years his junior, still perfecting his art of barbecue and maintaining quality control all the way down to slicing the brisket. It was a true pleasure to see a 4th generation pit master continuing on with his family’s traditions and legacy, and after sampling the beef rib, I have a feeling they would be proud of the way he is carrying the torch. Do yourself a favor and make your way over here to find one of the best beef ribs in Texas and one of the few Texas barbecue institutions still being served up by the owners

Date Visited: 1/29/2021

Address: 206 W 2nd St, Taylor, TX 76574

Day of the Week: Friday

Time of Day: 1:15PM. Open at 11:00 AM

Owner: Wayne Mueller (4th generation, still working the pits himself)

Website: https://www.louiemuellerbarbecue.com/

Number of Years in Business: Opened in 1949 (72 years)

Number of People in Line: 6 people ahead of us

Regional Style of BBQ: Central Texas

Total Cost: $62 with tip for one large beef rib and two drinks

Type of Wood: Post Oak

Type of Smoker: Indirect-heat pit

Type of Seasoning: Salt & pepper

Best Dish: Beef Rib

Best Sauce: Original

Best Side: Didn’t order any, need review

Interior Description: Main area has what appear to be original wood floor boards that are slightly uneven, giving off the vibe that this place has been around as long as the town itself, with no major upgrades needed. In addition to the interior seating section, there is plenty of great outdoor seating on the patio as well

Pro Tip: Famous for their beef ribs for a reason

Beef Ribs

0/10 Ranking: 9/10

Seasoning: Salt & pepper

Description: Melt in your mouth and fall off the bone tenderness. 1 rib was about 3lbs and was enough for 3 of us to eat. Had a solid seasoning and smoke flavor running throughout the rib, letting you know it’s there, without being to over the top. Adding a little bit of the original sauce makes for an interesting and tasty flavor combo, but I would say this rib is best eaten on it’s own, unadulterated by sauce

Sauces

0/10 Ranking: 8/10

Description: Soupy consistency with some onions in there as well. Had a strong tomato taste with a nice acidity to it, with good flavor overall. Not your typical barbecue sauce with how thin it is, but worth a try for its uniqueness

Interior & Menu Photos

Overall Rating and is it worth a visit: 6.5 to 7/10. A hesitant yes, but only for the history connection as they began back in 1900 and for their unique coffin smokers. This was easily the largest barbecue restaurant I’ve ever been to in terms of square footage and seating options, as the place was absolutely massive with multiple seating areas inside. Similar to Black’s Barbecue down the street, they seem to have gotten complacent on their previous successes of the past for far too long and are no longer dishing out the best of the best in smoked meats. While the coffin smokers are a really cool sight to see and the place smells fantastic with a pleasant smoke smell being emitted throughout the entire building, it fails to deliver much of anything other than a low price and traditional aesthetics. Beyond coming in to check out the pits for a quick picture, there really isn’t a need to come here as the food falls far short of others in Texas

Date Visited: 1/28/2021

Address: 619 N Colorado St, Lockhart, TX 78644

Day of the Week: Thursday

Time of Day: 10:30 AM. Open at 10:30 AM

Owner: Keith Schmidt, 5th generation owner (Grandson of Edgar” Smitty” Schmidt and son of Rick Schmidt)

Website: https://www.kreuzmarket.com/

Number of Years in Business: Opened in 1900 (121 years)

Number of People in Line: 2 people in front of me and 4 came in behind me after about 10 minutes

Regional Style of BBQ: Central Texas

Total Cost: $22. Brisket, burnt ends, spare ribs, sausage, coleslaw, & Shiner Bock

Type of Wood: Post Oak

Type of Smoker: Coffin Smoker. Indirect-heat brick pit

Type of Seasoning: Salt & pepper

Best Dish: Burnt ends

Best Sauce: Didn’t have any, need further review

Best Side: Sauerkraut

Interior Description: Massive country store. Room for hundreds of people with two different eating areas. Really cool experience to see due to the sheer size, with vaulted ceilings and great smoke smell running through the whole place

Pro Tip: Bring silverware as they only serve the food on butcher paper with no utensils offered. Might be a good place for a family with the large space and cheap food options

Brisket

0/10 Ranking: 7.5/10

Seasoning: Salt & pepper

Description: Served as fatty or shoulder clod. Both were good, but nothing special as they have minimum seasoning and opt to lean more on the smoke flavoring as the main taste, similar to Black’s Barbecue

Burnt Ends

0/10 Ranking: 8.5/10

Seasoning: Salt & pepper

Description: Melt in your mouth tenderness, with strong smoke and minimal seasoning flavors coming through each bite. They were very fatty burnt ends and I found I could only eat maybe two of the pieces due to its richness and them being slightly too salty

Pork Spare Ribs

0/10 Ranking: 5.5/10

Description: The rib was chewy and had minimal meat on the bone with a not great flavor overall. Would not order this again

Sausage

0/10 Ranking: 6/10

Description: Casing had a nice snap to it. This sausage was nowhere near as greasy as Smitty’s was. That said, I could handle one bite as this was the fattiest blended and most over-seasoned sausages I’ve ever had. The internal meat blend also had a very loose hold to it, which led it to crumble apart rather easily compared to other sausages. Wouldn’t recommend this one

Sides – Sauerkraut

0/10 Ranking: 6/10

Description: This one reminded me of my Grandma Jill’s version of kraut, which had a 50/50 rate of actually being good. This one had an okay flavor, but I couldn’t fully decide on if I actually liked it or not

Interior & Menu Photos