Taylor Cafe & Vencil Mares on Chevy commercial

You've probably seen the Chevy "A man. A man and his truck. A man, his truck, and..." commercials. Well, Chevy has a new one (Romance) for that Super Bowl in which Vencil Mares and his Taylor Cafe make an appearance. He's sitting in his chair, all still and quiet, as usual. Hat tip to @naizer, who sent me the video via Twitter last night.

National love for Texas BBQ

"On the reg," as my students would say, Texas BBQ is featured in national food publications.  Some recent mentions worth, well, mentioning:

1. In their annual BBQ issue, which came out a couple of weeks ago, Taste of the South magazine listed its 16 best Southern BBQ joints. Three Texas spots made the list: City Market (Luling), Franklin (Austin), & Louie Mueller (Taylor).
2. In their February issue, Spirit, the in-flight magazine of Southwest Airlines, had a feature entitled, "Your Adventure in Austin." The piece highlighted places to go and things to do when visiting Austin. Three restaurants were mentioned, one of them BBQ: Franklin.
3. On May 1, Bon Appetit published Matt Duckor's piece recapping his 9-BBQ-joint trip to Central Texas. While in town, he tried (listed in order listed in his piece): Franklin, Black's (Lockhart), City Market, Louie Mueller, Luling BBQ (Luling), Smitty's (Luling), Lamberts (Austin), Taylor Cafe (Taylor).

Readers' Choice Award: Best Atmosphere of 2012

Winners (tie): Louie Mueller (Taylor), Opie's (Spicewood), Salt Lick (Driftwood), Smitty's (Lockhart) - pictured in this order from top to bottom

Others receiving votes: Cooper's, Franklin, Freedmen's, JMueller, Snow's, Stanley's, Taylor Cafe

The pit at Taylor Cafe (Taylor, TX)

Outside Taylor Cafe (Taylor, TX)

Pork ribs at Taylor Cafe (Taylor, TX)