LeRoy and Lewis BBQ,#2 in Texas Monthly best BBQ. I had beef cheeks, German sausage, pork hash on rice, Texas red chili (no beans) frito pie and a St Arnold Root Beer. We met a group in line who shared their Old Fitzgerald 100 proof bourbon while we waited.
We also shared smoked cauliflower, grilled carrot, onion rings and a cheddar cheese cake for desert. Now nap time.
We ate at Leroy and Lewis in Austin below is the Flat Iron top. Top left was the beef barbacoa. Bottom left was the cauliflower burnt ends And the bottom right was the miso carrots. All was different and wonderful but, I really liked the cauliflower burnt ends. I want to figure out how to duplicate it.
We had Burnt Bean for lunch today. Eight of us split all the regular meats and all the sides. It was a great way to try some of everything. The beef cheek pastrami was outstanding and everything else was good to very good. I was really impressed by the fact that they could do that many things that well.
We got there around 9:30 and were about 15 people back from the front of the line. By the time they opened the line was a good couple hundred feet long.
I had high hopes for this place, especially after they were recently ranked the #2 bbq joint in Texas by Texas Monthly. Luckily there were a few bright spots for me, but also a few duds. I’ll start out with “The Ugly”. The service was excruciatingly slow and inefficient. Once we got in the door at 11, our group was maybe 7th or 8th in line, it was a full 40 minutes before we sat down to eat! Without going into detail, several of us commented on how if they “did this or that” their service could definitely be improved. We’re not in the restaurant business but damn, they have a lot of room for improvement. Their service and efficiency was the total opposite of Terry Black’s in Lockhart!
The menu was definitely a little different than most places. For starters they do not serve pork ribs, at all! 😵💫 Most of us were pretty surprised by that. Having a few different menu items is not a bad thing, not a knock on that, but to not serve pork ribs left me a little puzzled. I’ll post a couple of pics of their menu. The first item on their sides menu was ….Kale Caesar Slaw….. 😳 uh, no thanks. Anyway, here’s what I ordered. 2 slices of brisket, one lean and one fatty. 2 links of sausage, 1 of their jalapeño and cheese and 1 of their German sausage. My sides were pork hash and a rice and chori-papas dish. Both of them sounded really good in the description on the menu. Drink was Dr. Pepper. With an 18% tip my total bill was a whopping $72.44!!! I’ve never spent this much $ in any BBQ place in my life.
Their mustardy BBQ sauce was excellent! [bottom left] Pork hash and rice, chori papas, brisket, jalapeño cheddar sausage and German sausage….
The pork hash and rice sounded good in the menu description but was a major disappointment for me. It was 90% white rice and 10% some type of gravy-ish sauce on top. I had 3 bites and left the rest on my plate. I give it a Grade C- The chorizo-papas was very good! It was red potatoes mixed with chorizo sausage and some type of cheese. Grade A-. A few others really liked it also. I didn’t really care for their German sausage, it was a little bland and dry. Grade C Their jalapeño and cheese was pretty decent. Grade B+. Their brisket was pretty good but was a little too peppery for me, and I love pepper! A few others said the same thing. Grade B.
While I might be in the minority here, I was kind of disappointed in the place. Let’s just say that IMO The Burnt Bean’s #1 ranking is safe.
Last edited by Panhead John; April 17, 2026, 04:52 PM.
22” Blue Weber Kettle with SnS insert
Kamado Joe Jr with Kick Ash Basket
Char-Broil Smartchef Tru Infrared Gasser
Anovo Hot Tub Time Machine with Custom Hot Tub
Here’s my day! I was on Team Burnt Bean. While in line, ducked into the art studio. One: to browse. Two to enjoy a little AC. Sun was on our side of the street that early. But I digress…..
Le Menu
Ribs and brisket.
Sausages and Chicken Legs
My personal favorite… beef cheek pastrami! Shown with pickled onions, pickled okra (loved!) and jalapeño slices.
I haven't seen anyone who said they chose the Chinese sticky ribs, those sound interesting. I do one recipe with typical Asian spices with orange marmalade as part of the braise that's very yummy. Just curious what the BB version was like.
Well, no nap since 58limited convinced me, MoscaSid P and later joined by klflowers to go to Roughhouse Brewery. Great beer and atmosphere in the hill country. Here is my flight of 1/2 pours. Our tables before Kevin joined us. Great local place to unwind from the hectic day of eating great BBQ.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
They're big on controlling that line! Fortunately for us we were early. By the time the doors opened the line was over 100 people.
Once inside, the line does move slowly. I think they may have been covering up a problem; maybe someone called in, someone forgot something? Because the nice woman taking my order thanked me for my patience, and it seemed like she was a little embarrassed. What the hell, I got nowhere I gotta be.
Some shots of the production line.
Everyone was very enthusiastic, and very knowledgable about the food. My order taker upsold me a dessert; more on that in a second. Some plates:
I ordered a two-meat of barbacoa and chicken, with sides of chori papas and Texas chili Frito pie. The barbacoa was excellent, the sides were both excellent. The chicken was a disappointment; I was expecting shredded chicken with some sort of bird seasoning, and what I got was a plain chicken thigh, bone in skin on. It was a basic plain grilled thigh.
Other plates, with bbq stuff on them:
My favorite by far was the beef cheeks; they tasted like beef with beef flavoring added.
The cheesecake was OUTSTANDING.
It was cheddar cheesecake, and the cheese wasn’t just there to give texture, it tasted like cheese, too! Memorable.
And the blue corn meal cornbread:
Except the salt was too over the top; the corn bread itself was pretty sublime.
Purc I thought they were fried in duck fat? Idk. They tasted like really good home made kettle chips, but there’s also a limit to how good such a thing could possibly be.
More Burnt Bean pics. Today, I would say that this place didn’t live up to its #1 ranking.
The brisket was good, not the best I’ve ever had. Pork spareribs were untrimmed and overcooked, just fell apart if you grabbed the bone. Sausage was ordinary, again I’ve had much better at other places. For me, the meat highlight was the beef cheek pastrami. Never had beef cheek and wouldn’t have ordered it myself. The chicken drumsticks was something I haven’t seen any places before. Both the chicken and turkey were good.
All of the sides were excellent, could have made a meal of just the sides!
Banana pudding was better than most places, but so far I haven’t found exceptional banana pudding anywhere.
Last edited by jayjordan; April 17, 2026, 05:29 PM.
My plates from Leroy and Lewis. I bought a sampler plate to share with the table and I got the burger and onion rings for my main meal.
Sampler plate: clockwise from lower left: hog fat cornbread (made with Hopi blue cornmeal), Chori-papas (red potatoes with chorizo and cheese), beef cheeks (smoked then confit), jalapeno cheddar sausage, German garlic sausage.
I really liked the beef cheeks and the Chori-papas. The cornbread was good too. The sausages were fine but not standouts.
L&L Burger - 1/2 lb smoked brisket patty served with onion rings. This was a very good burger. Maybe not the best I've had but really good, as were the onion rings.
Leroy and Lewis also does steak nights and they dry age their own. As I understand it, you have to make a reservation, reservations are filled months in advance.
Later on I swung by the San Marcos HEB. Ever see a nearly 27lb prime brisket before?
I am finally getting with the program. Here is my plate from 2M. As others have mentioned, the brisket in the tacos was a little dry, the sausages were pretty good, but the pork belly was outstanding. Had a side of Mexican street corn that was good.
Next up, Leroy and Lewis (I passed on Burnt Bean, but I'll get by there before I leave). I was impressed. Very different menu. The beef cheeks are their best seller for a reason. They were excellent. My order included whole hog pulled pork, barbacoa, the German sausage of the day, sides of miso glazed carrots and smoked cauliflower, and beef fat potato chips. It was outstanding. The pork was tasty but a little dry but the barbacoa was pretty good. I really liked the sausage. Just the right amount of spice. The carrot was very good and I thought the chips were above average. The star of the meal was the cauliflower IMO.
Finally, I joined the guys at the Roughhouse Brewery. My flight included a beer named for me, good looks. I got to talking to one of the employees, and she agreed that the Burnt Bean is the best around. She told me that before the Texas Monthly brouhaha, she went for the Sunday brunch weekly. Now though, she said the locals don't go because of the lines. I forgot to ask her where she does go. Anyway, my brewskis
Just left Micklethwait Craft Meats. I ordered the fatty brisket (good but a little dry), Tex Czech sausage (good solid central Texas sausage), pork ribs (excellent, perfect pull and great flavor), pastrami ( good, a little tough), and duck gumbo that came with spiced crackers (excellent), and a mesquite bean pecan cookie. The two sides are Chili Beans and Greenchile Cheese Grits - I liked both.
Last edited by 58limited; April 18, 2026, 02:06 PM.
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