Settle in and let barbecue blogger Matt "Brisket Man" Gross serenade you with a tale as old as time: the story of smoked meat. "The Tale Of Franklin, Mueller and Lewis" chugs through a brief history of who's cooking with, for and in spite of who in the Austin barbecue scene, starring Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue, John Mueller of John Mueller Meat Co. and John Lewis of la Barbecue.

Like so:

In a little over three minutes, Gross tackles the last several years of barbecue happenings in town, from Mueller packing up shop on Manor Road, to the rise of Franklin, to "" Lewis' mastery at

Audio: The Tale of Franklin, Mueller & Lewis



The lyrics:

Well next we got John Mueller, that ole' surly sonuvabitch

Transformed a simple beef rib into a gourmet dish

Black pepper, oak and patience were the secrets of his trade

You'll find him in East Austin, slingin' smoked meat to this day

Our third man is John Lewis, a barbecue prodigy

He truly is the wunderkind of Texas gastronomy

Give him any cut of pork or beef and see what he can do

He'll cook it better'n you can dream, I guarantee that's true

Now here's where the story gets interesting

Few years ago, ole' Mueller was cookin' on Manor Road

When insanity and drinkin', forced his shop to close

His pit went to his assistant, which was Aaron if y'all don't know

And Aaron opened up on 51st with Mueller's pit in tow

Now Aaron wanted Lewis to come in and run the pit

So Lewis came and brought his magic, Franklin was a hit

In the meantime ole' John Mueller opened back up in the south

Crankin' out them beef ribs to feed the hungry mouths

Son, nothin' lasts forever, Aaron and Lewis had to part

See, Mueller recognized the talent, hired Lewis at his cart

For a short time all was well in the world of barbecue

Yeah, nothin' lasts forever son, like I just told you

Then one day, a fight broke out between Mueller and his boss

Accusations flew like arrows, cheap shots and chaos

Mueller packed up, opened shop on the other side of town

That left Lewis as the man in charge to hold that legacy down

Out of chaos and confusion, a miracle was found

The best three cooks in America are in the same damn town

Aaron, Lewis and Mueller, three Texas barbecue greats

I don't know what their futures hold, but I can't wait to taste their fate