#19 - LOUIE MUELLER BARBECUE - City 'Cue, Country 'Cue

Texas Monthly says that we're in the "Golden Age of Barbecue."  I guess that's true, especially if you live in the city and have had to suffer through Dickey's and Spring Creek Barbecue.

Personally, I think this is a case of "City 'Cue, Country 'Cue."  Sure, some might consider the years before Franklin's and Pecan Lodge opened the Dark Ages of Barbecue. But outside the major metropolitan areas, the locals are looking up from their grease-covered butcher paper and shaking their heads.  They know that places like Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, TX have been in the Golden Age for decades.

A visit to Louie Mueller is like a trip back to the good old days of Texas BBQ.  When Lone Star really was the National Beer of Texas, country music was about country livin', and pickup trucks were used to pick up stuff.

Mueller first opened its doors in 1949 on the downtown streets of Taylor. Three generations of Muellers have run the place, but it doesn't feel like much has changed in the past 70 years.

Louie Mueller Barbecue is a manly barbecue joint.  No fuss.  Smoked meat, a few sides, butcher paper on trays, bottled sodas and beer in coolers.  It's dark inside...so dark, the smoke-soaked wooden walls are the same hue as the bark on the brisket.  Smoke permeates every inch of wood...the walls, the floors, the tables.

Stand under this vent and you will leave
the best-smelling person in Texas

There's a vent hovering over the center of the restaurant, a great place to stand if you want to soak yourself in smoke.  It's the spot I want to be standing in when the Rapture comes, that way I can be lifted up through a cloud of smokey goodness.  (I guess that's why they call this place a "Cathedral of Smoke.")  When we visited in October, the Christmas decorations were still up, because brisket is a bigger priority than acknowledging what season it is.  Or perhaps it's because their BBQ is a gift from old Santa himself.

The fine China at Louie Mueller

Louie Mueller serves honest to goodness, no frills barbecue.  You want a plate?  The good folks at Mueller will give you one...butcher paper on a tray.  You want macaroni and cheese with slivers of brisket? Sorry son, go get your own blue box at the local store.  You want bread and pickles and onions?  Damn straight, over there next to the sweet and unsweet tea.  Next in line!  Louie Mueller is the honey badger of BBQ.

"Ready for my close-up," said the brisket

I ordered the brisket, jalapeno sausage and potato salad, with a handful of onions and pickles on the side.  The brisket at Louie Mueller is fatty, moist and flavorful.  The type of brisket that you pick up and watch as it takes a bow, folding in half.  It's brisket that John Wayne would have tipped his hat for.  And it was so juicy, you could almost see your reflection in it.  The jalapeno sausage was fantastic, a perfect combination of heat and meat. I am drooling just thinking about it.

Louie Mueller Barbecue says they have "THE BEST BARBECUE IN TEXAS (WHICH MEANS BEST IN THE WORLD)."  There is no questioning its greatness. From the location to the outstanding BBQ to the dinner ware (aka butcher paper), it is easily one of the Top 50 BBQ Joints in the state.