Muck & Daves - New BBQ Trailer on South Congress

Vegas has stolen my wife for a few days and to make things a little more interesting, we've put our condo on the market so we're having random strangers walk through our place during the week.  To avoid our potential buyers being scared off by our intimidating dog, I've been coming home just before a showing to grab Mads and get her out of the house.  Having to do this the past 3 days I've decided to take advantage and hit up a few of the local trailers I've yet to enjoy.

Last week driving into work, I noticed a new smell as I passed the South Congress trailer park.  The sweet sweet smell of bbq...at 8am.  Could it be a new Franklins expansion trailer within coronary distance?  Alas, it was not....instead, its a place called Muck & Daves.

The menu is pretty standard bbq fare: brisket, sausage, ribs and chopped beef sammiches.  I went with the two meat plate of brisket and sausage (my standard measuring stick for bbq) with a side of slaw and potato chips.  The woman working was on her 2nd day but was extremely nice and warned that they were still working out the kinks.  

To be fair, they've only been open less than a week so there were kinks to work out.  This is especially difficult with meat you have to smoke overnight and then maintain the quality throughout the day.  The brisket was really dried out but there was a pretty good rub used so there was potential for something flavorful.  The sausage was extremely good, but it was Elgin sausage and not a homemade product.  Hard to knock too many points there, but they have the unfortunate position of being compared to Franklins.

BBQ purists will say that sauce is an afterthought and the meat should stand on its own merit.  While I typically agree, a good sauce can make average cue slightly above average.  Their sauce is a second cousin of The Salt Lick.  Very different than most with a definite sweetness to it.  If you took their sauce and put it on the table at Franklins......sorry.....my stomach is doing a happy dance.

I do award them +10 internet points for the sign on their fridge:

Franklins BBQ - Everything's better in a trailer (Oklahomans excluded)

For Austinite bbq lovers, the few options in town meant treks to Luling, Lockhart, Taylor or Driftwood.  There are a few in town I like (Rudy's, Ruby's), but none that just flat out impress across the board.  Until now.  It may not look like much, but Franklin's is quickly gaining a reputation among BBQ aficionados.  I gathered up the Royal We (Fall 09 Bowling Champs) Thursday to try it out and walked away extremely impressed (and overweight).

My litmus test for good bbq is the standard 2 meat test: brisket and sausage.  Between the 4 of us we ordered 1.5 lbs brisket, 1 lb sausage and 1lb pork ribs.  The owner, Aaron, provided us with some charred caps to munch on while he cut everything up.  Amazing.  The guy should somehow market just the ends (muffintop ala Seinfeld). It was all amazing.  The brisket was one of the best I've tried, 10 out of 10.  The sausage and ribs were both 8 out of 10.  My only knock was there just wasn't a sauce there that I really liked.  The expresso sauce is good and a very different idea.  The sweet sauce was ok and I'll have to try the pork sauce next round with some pulled pork. 

We all walked away very happy with this nearby lunch option soon to make it into the rotation.  On one hand, I liked the fact that we walked right up with just a few folks in line and had our run of the place.  On the other hand, its criminal to keep a place like this secret and Aaron seems like genuine good people.  So, next chance you get, give it a go.  Its just north of Dreamers (on 35 frontage road).  If you pass Chicas Bonitas, you've gone too far.  (35 and Concordia).

And now, food porn:

The establishment

 

The Order

El Brisket

Los Ribs

BBQ Lunch, Serious Business