Operation Meat Locker busts Austin BBQ joints.

2 Austin BBQ joints (Sam's and Willie's) have been shut down, after being busted by Austin police for buying meat stolen from HEB grocery stores. Full story here.

*Friday update: The thieves have joined Twitter!!!

Google BBQ Bus: Recap and pics from a partygoer

Check out Eli Castro's great writeup (with pics) of this past Saturday's Google Austin BBQ Adventure, which we had the pleasure of announcing. Our pics to come later. Great job, Eli. So happy you enjoyed it, and I hope the others on the bus did, too.

The rest of the pics from Sam's

In the back

Early action at Sam's

Thursday, July 9, 2009: Sam's Bar-B-Cue (Austin, Texas)

We’d been hearing for quite some time that we needed to hit up Sam’s BBQ in East Austin. It’s close to downtown, we’d heard nothing but glowing reviews, and it got good marks from Fearless Critic; so, on a sweltering Thursday night, 12 of us made the short trip down East 12th Street to Sam’s, a decades-old Austin institution.

A friendly mother-and-son-run joint in an old white house, Sam’s definitely has character. Brian, who single handedly manned all of the food cutting and serving, was kind enough to show us the kitchen/pit and answer all of our questions. The pictures on the walls walk you through years of Sam’s history and can keep you intrigued and entertained for as long as it takes your meal to be ready, by which time you should be sweating from the lack of air conditioning in cramped quarters. Based on our experience, however, the walls of the restaurant might be the highlight of your visit.

The food was a consensus disappointment. The brisket was decent enough, but the pork ribs were very tough, and the beans were downright dreadful. The best I could do was basically gnaw on the ribs; and, as three of us pointed out independently of one another, the beans actually had negative taste. They were out of chicken, my first choice. I didn’t care for the house special: mutton.

Granted, BBQ joints can have a great day one day and be terrible the next. And on the same visit, one person might leave wowed and another might leave nauseated. Tastes vary. It’s quite subjective. But, for the life of me, I cannot figure out how Sam’s food was rated a 9 by Fearless Critic (out of 29 restaurants rated, one of only 8 whose food got a 9 or above).

Maybe we just hit them on an off night. Maybe rave reviewers have just bought into the hype. Or maybe we just don’t know what we’re talking about. Regardless, I think it’s safe to say Man Up won’t be making the short drive down East 12th anytime soon.

Russell has some thoughts: “Best thing I can say: Sam’s was a unique, Stevie Ray Vaughn-esque experience….and it sure made the Amy’s Ice Cream afterward taste mighty fine! However, the aftertaste of the mutton and tater salad made my cigar and scotch later at Brad’s taste a bit funky. Atmosphere: Nice people; I really appreciated the proprietor Brian and his mom for their friendliness and helpful nature. But no air conditioning to speak of was not cool on a 100+ degree day, and I was definitely not a fan of the whole Obamanation theme they had going on in this run down little cottage of place. That said, I was glad we went to check out something different. Mutton: This is his best seller; but I was surprised to hear Brian say he doesn’t prefer the ‘gamey’ flavor! I thought it was very moist, tender and good at first, but the aftertaste is where I lost belief in this item. Brisket: The moist brisket was tender and tasty. This would be my recommended item here. Pork ribs: So bone dry they made me cough and not much flavor. Sausage: Decent but pretty nondescript. It’s hard to mess up sausage anyway. Sides: Beans were extraordinarily notable for their blandness. Tater salad was pedestrian at best. Sauce was ok. Overall: All said, I suffered through the heat and the meat to get to the ice cream and the scotch later in the evening! But I leave this experience feeling really blessed to have such a great group of friends with whom to man up that even when the BBQ is subpar, the evening is still a lot of fun and one to remember. PS: We may need a trip to Opie’s next weekend in order to get back on the wagon in a big way!”

And, with the first haiku review in our history, Bo weighs in:

SAMs BBQ place
Olan mills photography
Brisket was ok

I spy Hillary Clinton
Air conditioning no where
The beans had no taste

Old BBQ pit
Barack Obama star wars
Mutton was the best

Deep east side and down
The pork ribs were kind of tough
Dallas cowboys rule

The food not the best
Hospitality awesome
Overall score 6

Russell’s scores – Brisket: 8.35; Mutton: 6.95; Pork ribs: 2.83; Sausage: 7.75; Sides & Sauce: 4.15; Atmosphere: 5; Overall experience: 5.33

Bo’s score – Overall experience: 6

Leticia’s score – Overall experience: 3

Dana’s score – Overall experience: 3.15

Drew’s scores – Brisket: 8; Pork ribs: 4; Beans: 0; Atmosphere: 6.5; Service: 9; Overall experience: 6

Brad’s scores – Brisket: 4.5; Pork ribs: 2; Mutton: 3; Sauce: 2; Beans: -3; Atmosphere: 6; Service: 9; Overall experience: 5

Overall Man-Up Score: 4.7467