Austin

Blue Ox Barbecue – Austin, TX

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Name: Blue Ox Barbecue
Date: 11/1/13
Address: 1505 Town Creek Dr., Austin, TX 78741
Order: ½ pound of pulled pork (link to menu)
Price: $7.65

Rudy: I’ve been putting off writing this review for a while, because I didn’t think it would be fair, but after my last review of Live Oak, I think I am ready. Blue Ox Barbecue is a new food truck that is located in the enclosed back yard of Buzz Mill Coffee off East Riverside in Austin. There have been lots of these barbecue food trucks popping up that are opening to great reviews. I’ve been trying to get to more of them, but the cold weather hasn’t made visiting a food truck a high priority (not sure the 100 degree summer will be any more appealing).  

The enclosed yard that Blue Ox is located in has a small stage where live music can be played as well as plenty of picnic benches for seating and even what looked like a homemade skeeball game. Lots of personality, a fun atmosphere, and pet friendly.  

Unfortunately when I went to order, they had already sold out of everything but the pulled pork. This seems to be a recent theme that I have run into lately, where I’m arriving after most everything is gone. I’ll freely admit that I have purposely avoided ordering pulled pork in Texas because I’m afraid it is not going to be NC barbecue. But since I was already there, and I had no other options, I figured I would give it a go. And in a word, it was…fantastic!  

Monk: Pulled pork? In Texas? Oh, this should be good…

Rudy: Well, they never tried to make it NC pulled pork. No, this was pulled pork Texas-style. The main staple of Texas barbecue is black pepper, and heavy doses of it. The outside of the meat has a bark that is built up and provides a tremendous amount of flavor in each bite. So, think NC pulled pork with a brisket bark, that’s what we were dealing with. They served it with a thicker tomato-based sauce which complimented it well, but wasn’t really needed because of the flavor of the seasoning.

I’m not quite ready to say it, mainly because it could be blasphemy, but this pulled pork could be the best I’ve had…  

Monk: Alright, alright, alright…I’ve let this go on long enough. While the idea of pulled pork with a brisket-y bark sounds intriguing, let’s not get carried away here. It may be good, but it can’t compare to Lexington Barbecue (aka the gold standard) can it?

Rudy: I have hesitancy with saying it, so I know you don’t want to hear it. Maybe being away from NC for a while has made me forget some of the gloriousness that is Lexington Barbecue. I definitely need to have it again before I could think of saying that, which leads me to my ratings. I have to give Blue Ox an incomplete, because I only had the pulled pork and wasn’t able to try everything (or at least as much as I wanted). But it was a very fortunate occurrence, because if they hadn’t been sold out of everything else, I never would have tried the pulled pork. Unlike Live Oak, where I felt confident giving it a rating, because I was also confident that I didn’t want to go back, I am giving Blue Ox an incomplete until I can return, which I hope to do shortly.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 Hogs
Pulled Pork – 4.5 Hogs
Overall – Incomplete (for now)

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Blue Ox Barbecue on Urbanspoon

Linkdown: 2/12/14

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– Ed Mitchell disciple Tyson Ho is opening a “whole hog and beer hall” in East Williamsburg this summer that will specialize in “communal pig picking-style dining with swine they’ll smoke on-site”

– Ho will be using whole hogs from Chesire Pork Heritage Farms in Goldsboro, NC

– After Rodney Scott’s successful tour of the southeast, he headed out to San Francisco this past Sunday

– Jimmy Kimmel and Guillermo went on an Austin barbecue tour this past weekend

– A Washington Post writer’s “imperfect romance” with a barbecue smoker

My smoker keeps me up at night, which, frankly, is the least of my concerns about the rickety old Brinkmann that lives in our back yard, rain, shine or Snowmageddon.

– The three brothers behind Mighty Quinn’s BBQ

– Speaking of bros, we were fortunate enough to get a shoutout from Big Wayner’s latest Five for Friday. Thanks Wayne!

– True ‘Cue delivered certifications to a few Piedmont joints this past weekend


Live Oak Barbecue – Austin, TX

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Name: Live Oak Barbecue
Date: 1/20/14
Address: 2713 East 2nd St, Austin TX 78702
Order: ¾ pound of moist brisket, tea (link to menu)
Price: $11.50

Rudy: “I hope you want brisket”

Monk: Wait, wait, wait a minute…is that really Rudy? The prodigal Barbecue Bro has returned!?!?

Rudy: …yes Monk, I’m still here. Just been a little busy. Anyways…

That was how I was greeted when I entered Live Oak, and as a matter of fact, that was exactly what I was in the mood for. Which was a good thing, because they had sold out of everything else by the time I had arrived. This was the 2nd time I had attempted to eat at Live Oak. The first time, they were sold out of everything.

Walking into Live Oak, you feel like you are in an old hole-in-the-wall barbecue joint. Picnic tables with rolls of paper towels on them, chalkboard menu, and tea and lemonade in a plastic ‘serve yourself’ stand. It feels like barbecue and it smells like barbecue, so I had high hopes for the brisket. I was sorely mistaken. The cut that I got was from the end of the brisket, which is normally the best part because of all the flavor that you get from the bark. But there was no flavor. It just tasted like burnt meat. There seemed to be no seasoning whatsoever added to the meat. Add to the blandness, much of the meat tasted dry. This was not the experience that I was expecting, especially with how often and how fast they tend to sell out.

Monk: Interesting. Normally, selling out of meat is a good sign for a joint…clearly that didn’t seem to be the case here.

Rudy: I did not get any sides, because the only one they had was baked beans, and I am not a baked bean fan. So, I’d like to say that this review is only a partial review and that I would need to go back to give a full opinion. However, with all of the great places nearby to get great barbecue, I can’t see justifying going back again after the brisket that I had.

Monk: We received a reader question a few months back asking if we go to a place three times before reviewing, and the long and short of Speedy’s answer was: “Hell naw, I ain’t got time to waste with bad barbecue.” Seems like that applies here.

Rudy: I agree. I think it depends on how much promise (if any) you see in your first visit. Do you need to put your hand on the hot stove 3 times before you realize it’s a bad idea? The best thing going for Live Oak is their atmosphere. Not just inside, but they also have plenty of outside seating on 2 patios. It would be a great place to go on a warm day with friends to enjoy barbecue. But you might want to get there early, otherwise you might get stuck with some disappointing brisket.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 Hogs
Brisket – 1 Hog
Overall – 2 Hogs

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Live Oak Barbecue on Urbanspoon

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“BBQ with Franklin: The Brisket”

Speedy and I are smoking a brisket for the first time for the Super Bowl this weekend, so you better believe we will be using this video (along with the second part below) as a reference. And in case you missed it, Aaron Franklin is getting his own tv show in 2015.

-Monk

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)