- [Leann] Barbecue to me means family.
It's a lot of struggle, it's a lot of heartache,
but in the end, it's something that everybody can connect to.
And when you think about it, I mean you spend
20 hours a day on a meat, to have somebody eat it,
it's just, it's love, at the end of the day.
Texas-style barbecue is definitely something
that Texas holds near and dear.
- I think people's identity defines barbecue,
and that's why people are so passionate about it.
I've been in barbecue like since I was a child.
My dad had a restaurant, and that's all I've ever known.
It's a totally different world in a way I grew up with.
We have a team at La Barbecue
and we call ourselves La Barbecrew.
Not one person does everything back here.
Not even just for one meat.
Like we have somebody who trims it,
then we have somebody who seasons it,
and then we have somebody who cooks it;
there's definitely a whole lot of hands
that are in that one product.
Frankie gets here about 2:30 in the morning,
he starts his fires, and the rib pit,
and then he puts the pork ribs on.
He is a machine back there.
We went through a couple of processes.
Back in the day, we would mop the ribs,
and he came up with a process where
he puts it in a bottle and just sprays the ribs, you know,
and it's like a in a perfect little motion,
and it just covers them like just so nicely,
where it's not so much so it doesn't overpower
the flavor of the meat, and they're really good.
- He cooks those pork ribs so perfectly
that they're tender and they come off the bone.
These you can actually pick up, take a bite out of it,
but still twist that bone and take it straight out.
- I think they feel very Asian,
and that's what I think's really cool about it,
they're not so much Central Texas barbecue.
They have a very Asian flair to them.
- They really do, without Asian seasoning.
I've cut so many briskets that, honestly,
I can tell if I like it or not
even if it's wrapped in butcher paper.
- Definitely cooked to touch.
- I mean, I can literally open up that Alto-Shaam
where we hold our briskets and I'll be like,
"OK, I like that one."
You definitely want like a nice crust
and the marbling throughout.
You want the fatty end of it to be tender,
but not overcooked, 'cause you want some integrity to it.
And then the lean end, you want it firm
but also tender, with a lot of integrity as well.
You don't want it undercooked, 'cause it's so, be so firm,
and if it's overcooked it can feather.
When we started La Barbecue, Leann was adamant
like, "We have to have our own sausage," you know.
Not everybody in Austin does that.
Might be their own recipe, but we wanted to make it by hand.
- It's something that my dad and I bonded on.
And we didn't go on vacations, we didn't, you know,
have a lot of me time, but when at work,
I really pushed him on like exploring recipes,
and so it's one of the things that
I had to have made in-house to honor my father.
- We went with a sausage her dad called Hot Guts.
They've got a pretty good kick to them,
they're coarse ground, we use our pork and beef trimmings
to make our sausage.
- I think it's important to have the classics,
because that's what everybody's coming
to the restaurant to eat,
but putting a new spin on things are also
is allowing you to evolve the restaurant to where
it doesn't become boring.
La Frito Loco is basically
what happens if you put a Frito pie on a bun.
A Frito pie is basically a bag of Fritos,
you put a sort of chili or some kind of beef,
and you top it with cheese
and you put jalapeños and onion on it,
and so we wanted to just like take it to that next level
and throw like pretty much everything in there
and stick it on a bun.
- People love that sandwich, it's so crazy.
It is delicious, 'cause you have that crunch and the salt
from the Fritos and then of course, you know,
the pork and the beef.
It's really, really good.
And it's like a kitchen sink sandwich,
on a bun, and we like stack it nice and tall.
It's pretty great.
- I think the meat should always stay classic,
but I think where you can have fun is like,
OK, let's add another sausage,
let's add an empanada, let's mess with our sides,
let's expand on how the meat can turn into a side.
I think that's where you start to have fun.
I cook for how I want to eat.
- Exactly.
- And I cook for how we travel and what our palate is,
and so, you know, keep it classic,
but then have fun at the end.
- Yeah, definitely.
So we can have people come, our regulars come in
and they're like, "Oh well, I'm gonna get my usual,
and then let's try this," and so they can come here
for not just their usual.
- It's like little basic things.
Like we used to buy our pickles,
and I'm like, my grandma used to make
a really great homemade pickle,
and so now we have homemade pickles
and they're like one of our biggest sellers.
- Oh my gosh, people rant and rave, they're so good.
- But it's sort of like putting
your soul back into the food.
It's barbecue soul food.
- It is.