A flicker of normalcy returns to Texas barbecue
After two months of sheltering in place and a diet of mostly homemade pasta dishes, the tray of beef-laden barbecue in front of me brought tears to my eyes. Though I’m not sure if they were tears of joy or just my eyes watering from the waves of fragrant cracked pepper emanating from the classic Central Texas-style brisket and beef ribs. Either way, it was a welcome sense of familiarity.
The tray featured exemplary smoked meats from Ronnie Killen of Killen’s Barbecue and Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor. These two prominent pitmasters organized a Memorial Day pop-up at Killen’s flagship location in Pearland to bring a taste of barbecue back to local diners as well as to fire up their smokers, which had been mostly dormant for the past few months.
The two pitmasters last collaborated four years ago at an event in Austin. In the intervening years, they crossed paths at various barbecue festivals and watched as each other’s stars continued to rise. Mueller became an in-demand speaker and traveled the world preaching and teaching the gospel of Texas barbecue while continuing to oversee his base of operation in Taylor.
Killen went on a rapid expansion spree locally, opening a burger joint in Pearland, a barbecue-steakhouse fusion concept at Killen’s STQ, a Tex-Mex restaurant and a second Killen’s Steakhouse location in The Woodlands. He recently announced a new comfort-food outlet in Houston called Killen’s and a second Killen’s Barbecue location in The Woodlands.
With the statewide stay-at-home order that originally closed dining rooms, both pitmasters had to make radical adjustments in their business models.
For Killen, if his fans couldn’t come to him, he took his barbecue and fried chicken to his fans through weekly pop-ups at his various locations throughout Houston.
Featuring curbside and drive-thru to-go service, these pop-ups gained notoriety for a long line of cars reminiscent of the lines of people that queued at his barbecue joint in Pearland.
Mueller’s situation in Taylor was completely different. As one of Texas’ most famous destination-worthy barbecue joints, a significant amount of his dine-in business was tourism-related.
For most Texas barbecue joints with primarily local clientele, the pivot to a to-go model was relatively simple. But for Mueller, even if his nationwide customer base could travel, they certainly weren’t going to make a pilgrimage during a pandemic just for barbecue takeout (well, most of them, anyway).
So Mueller made the tough decision to close his flagship in Taylor to both dine-in and to-go service. Fortunately, over the past few years, he has established a robust mail-order barbecue business — think refrigerated and vacuum-sealed brisket — and concentrated on that as he weathered the pandemic storm.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, the two pitmasters talked by phone, and Mueller mentioned how he missed talking to and serving customers. The idea of a collaboration was born.
For the Memorial Day pop-up, Mueller and Killen originally envisioned a curbside service similar to Killen’s events in The Woodlands, but as the weather turned cool and sunny, the idea pivoted to a walk-up, to-go service with an option to dine on Killen’s outdoor patio (tables were sanitized and spaced apart).
Even with extra space between tables, there was a sense of camaraderie that Texas barbecue fans and pitmasters alike have been missing. The smell of burning post oak and the flavor of cracked-pepper-coated brisket conveyed a brief snapshot of normalcy that all barbecue fans can look forward to in the future.