Barbecue bus and Brazilian café join city's food scene
Barbecue bus and Brazilian café join city's food scene
By Mary Tuma Friday, 08 January 2010
AUSTIN — Old School BBQ & Grill
No need to alert the fire department: The school bus driving down MLK Jr. Boulevard is supposed to be smoking. In fact, it probably means lunch for a handful of hungry Austinites.
Old School BBQ & Grill, the most recent addition to the competitive Texas barbecue scene, is a yellow bus turned traveling kitchen and eatery that's typically parked at The East Side Lumberyard, 3001 East Cesar Chavez St. And from Tuesday to Saturday it makes its way to an empty field on MLK Jr. Boulevard and Clifford Avenue.
Brainchild of European-trained chef Dan Parrott, the wholly self-sustainable converted bus, dubbed "Big Mama" is equipped with its own artistically designed smoker: discarded stars from the Capitol and a Texas Ranger horseshoe. Parrott brings 35 years of restaurant experience to the plate and a healthy dose of disillusionment from the industry.
"Food service isn't what it used to be," he said. "I've worked for major restaurants all my life and the quality has gone down considerably. I wanted to bring back the old-school quality without the ripoff price."
From carefully selected sausage to aged cheddar, the restaurant connoisseur smokes top-grade Angus-choice sirloin cut meats and makes his own barbecue sauce mix from scratch.
His son Danny and co-owner Albert Cook (aka Trey) help run the rolling food service and hope to expand to a building front soon. In the meantime, they plan to start showing free movies, music and add a dessert and coffee vehicle. Call 909-472-9952.
Rios Brazilian
Another eatery will soon pop up four blocks away from Old School BBQ & Grill.
Ben Googins and Elias Martins, owners of Rios Brazilian food company plan to start offering their natural, local and hand-made food products at a cafe that bears the same name in late January. The duo has distributed their traditional frozen cheese bread, prepackaged salads, cooking sauces and pastries to local stores including Whole Foods Market, Royal Blue Grocery, Spec's Liquor and the Austin Farmers Market for the past three years.
Googins said they look forward to showcasing different products to customers and sharing their hospitality on a daily basis in their new neighborhood home base.
408 N. Pleasant Valley, 636.8534, www.howdoyourio.com
