Former La Barbecue Pitmaster Wants to Open His Own Smokehouse

Barbecue phenom Dylan Taylor, who has worked at Terry Black’s Barbecue, 2M Smokehouse, Truth Barbeque, and took over the pits at La Barbecue at the tender age of 21, is now looking to open his own place. To get his feet wet, he’ll start out with catering through Taylor BBQ.

Taylor is an Arlington native who came to Austin with dreams of joining the music scene. However, he found his calling while working at Terry Black’s, and eventually moved to La Barbecue where he was trained by founding pitmaster John Lewis himself. Taylor apparently does not sleep much, as he did a stage at Uchi while working the pits of Terry Black’s, and helped out at Kyoten Sushiko while at La Barbecue. He eventually left La Barbecue to work with friends at Truth Barbeque in Brenham, which is currently ranked number ten on Texas Monthly’s list of best barbecue joints of the state.

Bryce Gilbertson

On the menu of Taylor BBQ, expect classic Central Texas barbecue with German and Czech influences. Taylor actually did a lot of welding on his 500-gallon “travel smoker” made with John Lewis Sr., John Lewis Jr., and Jimbo Glass at Austin Smoke Works (which also built for La Barbecue). Taylor told Eater Austin he plans to serve brisket, ribs, turkey, pulled pork, and housemade sausages (including jalapeno cheese and more adventurous flavors like merguez and venison). For sides, he plans on offering classics like potato salad, creamed corn, pinto beans, and coleslaw, recipes he perfected from his time doing vegetable prep at Uchi and Kyoten.

Taylor told Eater Austin that he is “not in any hurry” to open a brick and mortar, but it is “time to start moving in that direction.” He sees the catering company as a way to get experience in the business world and raise money for a restaurant. He’s currently in the process of getting an LLC in order to accept more catering orders, but is accepting inquiries now.

Update, March 23: Taylor has decided to open his restaurant near Fort Worth. Now named Goldee’s Barbecue after a truck Taylor used to haul his pits, it will be located at 4645 Dick Price Road. He’s working with high school friends Lane Milne (Micklethwait and Freedmens) and Jonny White (Franklin and Valentina’s). He’s also working with Nupohn Inthanousay, who managed Thai Kun, and Jalen Heard, who worked at Freedmens and Banger’s.

Goldee’s is doing pop-ups prior to its expected opening in May, which will be announced via the Goldee’s Instagram.

• Taylor BBQ [Official]