Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor: Hours, What to Order and How to Make a Day of It

Step through the door at Louie Mueller Barbecue and the first thing that hits you is the color of the walls. Decades of post oak smoke have turned the old interior a deep, soot-stained shade that no designer could fake. This Taylor institution has been serving barbecue since 1949, and it remains one of the most respected names in Texas smoked meat.

It’s an easy half-day trip from Austin, and with a little planning it can anchor a full day exploring one of Williamson County’s most interesting small downtowns.

Know the schedule before you go

This is the most important tip in the whole article: Louie Mueller does not keep long, every-day hours. As of this writing, its online ordering page lists the restaurant open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and closed Sunday through Tuesday. Like most Central Texas pits, it cooks a set amount each day, so popular cuts can run out before closing. Showing up toward the start of service on a weekday is your best bet for the full lineup and a shorter line.

Because hours at smaller barbecue joints can shift with the seasons, double-check the official website or call ahead before making the drive.

A building with a story

Louie Mueller opened his barbecue business in Taylor in 1949 and moved it to its current spot on West Second Street in 1959. The building had a past life before the smoke rolled in. According to Texas Monthly, it once held a women’s basketball court and later a grocery market, which helps explain the high ceilings and roomy, barn-like feel.

The restaurant’s own site says the interior has barely changed in roughly 70 years, and that’s exactly the appeal. Business cards are tacked to the walls, the pit room isn’t air-conditioned, and the whole place feels like a time capsule of how Texas barbecue used to be served.

Three generations at the pit

The business has stayed in the Mueller family across three generations. Louie’s son Bobby Mueller ran the pits for decades, and in 2006 he accepted a James Beard Foundation America’s Classics Award on the restaurant’s behalf, one of the highest honors a long-running family restaurant can get. Wayne Mueller, the third generation, took over in 2007 and is the owner and pitmaster today.

Louie Mueller’s influence reaches well beyond Taylor. Texas Monthly has noted that several of the state’s best-known modern barbecue spots trace part of their roots back to this smoke-filled room.

What to order

The restaurant itself points visitors to three things, and they’re a good place to start:

• Beef ribs: the big, peppery showpiece that a lot of folks make the trip for
• Brisket: ask for fatty (moist) if you like it rich
• House-made sausage: including a jalapeño beef link that reviewers have long singled out

Meat is sold by the pound, so it’s easy to order a little of everything and share family style. Grab sides, a bottle of sauce from the table if you want it, and settle in.

Spend the afternoon in Taylor

Taylor sits about 30 miles northeast of downtown Austin, roughly 40 to 45 minutes by car, and about two and a half to three hours south of Dallas. Once you’re fed, the historic downtown is right there and worth a walk. Many of its buildings date to the late 1880s, and a self-guided architectural walking tour covers about 25 historic landmarks, including the old railroad depot. A bronze statue of rodeo legend Bill Pickett, the Taylor native credited with inventing bulldogging, stands at Second and Main.

History buffs should stop by the Moody Museum, the boyhood home of Dan Moody, who became Texas’ youngest governor and made a name for himself standing up to the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. You’ll also find a growing number of locally owned boutiques, antique shops and vintage stores downtown.

The city’s community events calendar has a few dates worth knowing this fall: a Main Street Car Show downtown on October 31, a downtown Christmas Parade on December 5, and a sesquicentennial celebration planned for the second weekend in November as Taylor marks 150 years (details still to come).

Build a barbecue trail

Taylor pairs naturally with other Central Texas barbecue towns. You can loop south to Lockhart on another day, or plan a Saturday that starts early at Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, about 40 minutes east, and finishes with lunch in Taylor. Just remember both places close in the afternoon, so pace yourself, y’all.

Hours, dates and prices can change. Check the official website before you head out.

Some barbecue joints feel like restaurants. Louie Mueller feels more like a landmark that happens to sell brisket. Go hungry, go early and give yourself time to wander Taylor’s old brick downtown afterward.

Featured photo: Steven Walling via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.