Episode 4 - Postcard from East Austin, “Bygones and Barbecue”
In a fast-changing city, no neighborhood has undergone a greater transformation than Austin's East Side. Historically African-American, and long neglected, today espresso bars have replaced convenience stores and boutique hotels tower over long vacant lots. But what is left of what had been, and what do those who grew up here feel about all of this? In this episode, we'll take a trip to the other side of I-35 to ask questions like these. Along the way we'll hear some raw, unfiltered answers, get a history lesson at The Carver Museum, and revisit a few memories of Ben's Long Branch. We'll also see what's cooking at Sam's BBQ, and chat with owner Brian Mays who, acting on principle, said no to a five-million-dollar buyout in order to keep his pit running.
Sam’s BBQ - 512-478-0378, facebook
Lozina Stephens - for made to order gumbo, jambalaya and Louisiana cooking call, 512-853-1917
George Washington Carver Museum
TRANSCRIPT
(As this transcript was obtained via a computerized service, please forgive any typos and grammatical errors)
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Evan (00:02):
Um, so I'll take 'em, I'll take a third of a pound of moist brisket-
Worker (00:08):
A third of a pound? Okay. I can do, I can do, uh, I mean-
Evan (00:12):
Today I'm doing something I swore I'd never do. I'm waiting in line to try the brisket at Franklin's barbecue. If you've never heard of Franklin's, back in 2011, Bon Appetit named it the best barbecue in America. Its owner, Aaron Franklin has since won a James Beard award, appeared in the John Favreau film "Chef" and been gushed about by the likes of Gordon Ramsay on Jimmy Kimmel. Since opening he's yet to have a single day where he hasn't sold out a brisket. And for this, his lines have become mythical with people camping out in advance and waiting upwards of four hours. Kanye West once famously attempted to jump the line, but was turned away by management, though for security purposes, they went ahead and loosened the policy for Barack Obama.
Evan (01:01):
And today's weight is appropriately crazy. When did you get here?
Patrons (01:05):
"Uh, abut a half hour ago." "Eight o'clock? Yeah, right around eight o'clock." "We got here at 7:24 precisely." "Like 7:15. Yeah. We slept in." "I got here at six." "Uh, yeah, just on a road trip and got here at five."
Evan (01:24):
Where are you from?
Patrons (01:25):
Detroit. Seattle. Um, Bay area, California. Melbourne, Australia. Uh, originally from LA, but I live in Beijing.
Evan (01:35):
Notice, there aren't a lot of people who actually live here doing this? That's because great barbecue isn't exactly hard to come by in Austin. And if you're from here as I am, all of this hype seems a bit much.
Resident (01:49):
"I'm going, Oh my goodness. I'm not standing in that line. I'm sure it's good. But it's just not something I want to do. Because my friend's husband makes good barbecue at home.
Lee (02:00):
Barbecue used to, okay. Barbecue used to be cheap food. Now, when you get these craft barbecue, where you get people standing in line and you know, I- To me, if you're going to stand in line for four hours, go ahead and fire up the pit. You know, throw some salt on some brisket, salt pepper, throw it on the pit. Get a couple of beers. Sit at your house, relax, enjoy yourself,
Old School 69 (02:26):
Franklin's?!. I look, look, I'm going to tell you. I catch the bus about eight o'clock in the morning and it's a line of people that's on the next street. They're standing in line and they don't even open until eleven. I wouldn't stand in that line. I'm just going to tell you. If they say we going to get you some cash money, get you a pretty girl. and a big bottle of alcohol. I'll stand in line. I'm not going to stand in line no six hours for no barbecue. Barbecue. Can't be that good.
Evan (03:06):
Now, just to clear the air, barbecue is work. I respect anyone willing to put in the labor to get it right. And don't doubt for one second. Mr. Franklin knows his way around a pit. After all, he got to start working alongside John Mueller, whose family is behind Louie Mueller's in Taylor, which might be my favorite barbecue in the entire state. That said, you could sleep in, drive the 35 miles to Taylor, have lunch and be back in less time than it would take to navigate this line. But on top of the inconvenience, my reasons for avoiding this until now, cut a bit deeper.
Ben Wash (03:43):
My name is Ben Wash. I'm the president of Ben's Long Branch Barbecue. Has been for 36 years in 1971. Yes, 1971. When I started it all, you know, I'm still, still, still going. You know, all my life. I love, I love cooking. I remember -
Evan (03:59):
That's Ben Wash speaking in a 2007 interview with the Southern Foodways Alliance. He built the building Franklins occupies today, which housed his restaurant, Ben's Long Branch for nearly 40 years, but he certainly never had a line like this.
Ben Wash (04:14):
My brother was about eight years older than me. And he hung around some guys that was a little older than him, you know? And every weekend, look, these guys would go out and barbecue in the backyard and man, they could barbecue so good, man. I wish I could barbecue as good as they could. I still can't. But to be honest with you, though. I hung around them enough to learn how to barbecue well enough to start my own business. And that's the way I learned how to cook- backyard. Every weekend we'd buy some barbecue, buy some meat and get in the backyard and just kind of play around with it. You know? And I got pretty good at it. They all say, well, you don't have to buy it anymore. We do all the buying and you do the, you do the cooking!
Evan (04:50):
To this day. I remember Ben's ribs and am not alone.
Ricky Williams (04:54):
He was so friendly. Everybody came in and he acted like he knew everybody and he had some famous ribs I liked a lot. I mean, all kinds of politicians, everybody, people used to come in town for different events and make sure they went by there. I really don't understand. Ben never had a problem. And I can't see myself sitting in line that long for some barbecue. That's not really that good- to me. That's my personal opinion. But I'm so used to Ben's, it makes a big difference there-
Lee (05:21):
I'm sure I never saw lines like that at Ben's. I think if Ben's had lines like that, Ben's would still be open, don't you?
Evan (05:33):
I know about Ben's because my uncle kept an office a few blocks away, but memories of his Long Branch are fading fast. And among my old Austin friends and family, I'm the only one who can claim to have gone. That's because it was on the East side.
Emily (05:50):
I always lead with I'm a Texan. And then people are like, "Oh, you're a Texan. Wow. You know, and there's, there's a ton of associations with Texans that are, you know, wide and varied. But uh, then they inevitably ask, you know, where from, and I tell them Austin, and then the fawning begins and I always squash it. I always squash it. I never am like, yeah, it's awesome. Isn't it cool? Like I'm like, "Oh yeah, well it's really segregated and mad racist." So as soon as I can pop that bubble, I try to. Um, now of course, if they were to talk about Austin, I probably would be fighting them. But like, uh, I don't like people to think that that city is that that city is some like special place. In fact, I would argue that there are more cities who are, uh, there are cities in Texas who are, are way more progressive in many ways than Austin is
Evan (06:41):
My friend Emily, a Texpatriate now living in Queens grew up just a few miles from here. She speaks, what I think is an uncomfortable truth. Austin, for all its touted liberal leanings is one of the most segregated cities in Texas and its handling of race has frankly never been great.
Emily (07:02):
You look back at the history of that city in terms of like how they've historically treated groups of color who could have and should have thrived. Um, they've historically denied them access to, um, basic necessities. And have constantly tried to push them to the fringes of the city, and that is what that city is actively doing right now.
Evan (07:24):
In regard to history, she's not wrong. Once upon a time, there were 15 Freedmen's communities in and around Austin places like Wheatville near what's now the University or Clarksville, which was in walking distance of where I grew up. But in 1928, seeking to save money and solve what they called a "Negro problem," the all white, all male city council hired an outside firm to create a new land use blueprint in what came to be known as the master plan. They determined that by refusing services to blacks outside a designated six square mile area on the East Side, a Negro district could be created. Standing before an old map in The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, docent Harrison Eppright told me about its implementation.
Harrison Eppright (08:12):
Well, blacks already were here in East Austin already before the 1928 master plan. But after the 28 master plan, blacks vacated other parts of the city. They vacated other parts of the city because there was not a good infrastructure established for blacks in other parts of the city. And then also too, as a way of, uh, coercing you to move out well, then they would dump garbage. Wheatville for instance was a major area where, where the city would just come and dump their garbage. Uh, they also did that in Clarksville as well. They dumped their garbage in Clarksville and Clarksville itself did not get electricity until 1940.
Evan (09:02):
Yet, while the creation and consequences of the master plan mark, one of the most shameful actions in Austin's history, the new community that emerged on the East side eventually became a strong one.
Ben Wash (09:14):
And man, we had all kinds of food. Okay. I can tell you what all we had here. I can remember. We had-. We had had our own cleaners, two cleaners in East Austin, all owned by all blacks. We had restaurants, tremendous restaurants. I can't remember how many it was. We had our own lumber company. We had our own real estate company. We had a car dealership over here. We could buy a new car in East Austin from a black man. Yeah. And back in the fifties. Yeah. And you know, it's, I'm trying to think of something that we didn't have over here. I don't think it's anything we- I can't think of, you know. It was all done right here in East Austin, Texas. It kind of seemed like we lost our roots when the integration came, because I guess, you know, we wanted to see something different.
Lee (09:56):
Oh yeah. Anybody in the neighborhood could snatch your ass up. That was like, you know, if you're messing up and anybody saw it, they could come take you. And you know, and if you went home and tell your mom and dad that, you know, Hey, Ms. So-and-so disciplined me the question. Wasn't why she did. It was "What did you do?"
Evan (10:15):
That's Lee Wilson. An entertainment lawyer and fifth generation Austinite. He grew up moving around the East side and his family, the Collins, are represented with a permanent exhibit inside the Carver museum. He's also basically extended family. And when he heard about what I was up to, offered to drive me around the old stomping grounds.
Lee (10:38):
I'm going to tell you. The East side was rough. Until, until the nineties, you know, it was rough. And it was, I don't think that I don't think that anyone who grew up and lived in the East side romanticizes it because it was rough.
Evan (10:58):
Things are different here nowadays though and driving by his old home on Navasota, which he shared in the eighties with his wife, Jan and newborn son, Jamie, the sense of change was palpable.
Lee (11:10):
This little park here up on the left. I mean, when Jamie was, Jamie's 30 plus years old now, but when Jamie was a kid, we wouldn't even bring him to this park because there were so many used condoms and hypodermic needles that, you know, it was a risk. It was dangerous to do that, you know. But, Oh, well. I mean, these houses are incredible. I mean this used to be an illegal lot right here. They couldn't even build anything on that. And this is where we lived and, what's he doing? For sale. Hmm. I don't know. What a long, strange trip it's been. It's amazing, man. I haven't been over here in years.
Evan (12:04):
Well, what does it feel like for you driving around here today?
Lee (12:08):
I wish this happened 20 years ago. I mean, that's, that's what I feel like, is like why, why did it take, you know, 30, 40 years for this to be recognized as, you know, a, a jewel? I mean, it is. So, I mean, I that's, my feeling is, you know, I dunno-
Evan (12:38):
Lee's views on all of this are nuanced. Emily though has a hard time with some of the attitudes this jewel digging has inspired.
Emily (12:45):
And so, um, I was looking at the tag and I came across this woman. Um, and her Instagram name I think is like from, from dumps to diamonds. And I could not believe it. I was so offended, um, that this bitch, who's not even from Austin, not even from the community that I grew up where I met incredible people. Um, I credit to making making me the person I am today. Um, like that she was just coming into our community and looking at our homes and calling them dumps. And that she was gonna put a like, you know, turquoise door on some shit- And now it's a, it's a diamond, you know? And it's like, you've done nothing to change this house except added a coat of paint, put in some stainless steel appliances. And now this is like a diamond because you're going to sell it to a white person.
Evan (13:37):
Fact is the East side is hot. And as property values and living expenses have increased. The city's black population has moved in the opposite direction to places like Pflugerville, Manor, Elgin...
Lozina Stephens (13:51):
I cook from the bonds of my heart to return to the bonds of someone else's hear. And I really do love- food is important to the soul. I mean food will make a sick man well, you know, for real though-
Evan (14:06):
Lozina Stephens made one of those moves a few years ago, but she's probably better known to Austinites as Nubian Queen Lola for the Louisiana inspired soul food restaurant that bore her name on Rosewood. You'll also hear from her adorable grandson, Shane.
Lozina (14:22):
So I open up as Queen Lola because God told me he would give me the favor of Esther. From the Bible. And he did. I was passing by riding with a friend of mine in his suburban. And I seen this for rent sign on this window, never dreamed, but I had, I had lost my brother and my sister and my brother, my sister, back to back like that. And I had told God that I needed something to hold on to. And I started having dreams of me and my sister opening up this restaurant. And I couldn't understand how in the world, man, this girl and me gonna open up a restaurant. And I didn't have no money. Not, not even a nickel to open up my restaurant. When Mr. Howard asked me how, when was I able to pay the rent? I told him, "My Mama always said, if you don't have it act like you got it." So I went to acting like I had it. I said, "Oh, give me a week. And I'll have it." Man I didn't have a nickel of that man's money, you know? And I just went to praying and asking people for their change. And my kids busting open their little banks, doing whatever I could. And sure enough to God be the glory, He blessed me with the $500 -
Evan (15:33):
Through the kindness of friends and even a few strangers, she got Nubian Queen Lola's off the ground on a shoe string and remained serving up her mother's recipes for gumbo and etoufee for 14 years, not just for hungry customers, but the homeless whom she never turned away from her backdoor. Business was steady and even claims she got more business from the neighborhood's new arrivals than the old. But persistent plumbing issues compounded by rising costs, and her husband's health led her to close down. And when looking to buy property, Austin prices drove them North to Taylor.
Evan (16:11):
Do you Ms. Austin?
Lozina (16:12):
I miss Austin so much. I can cry. Don't never ask me that again.
Evan (16:26):
I'm sure there are many families building happy lives in these growing suburbs, but this transition hasn't been easy for Ms. Stephens. And I believe that Austin should miss her as much as she misses it. I took a walk by her old spot the other day. It used to be decorated with a colorful purple mural, but has been painted over in brown and now sits vacant. Then walking around the corner, I encountered a man named Leon. Tall, thin with tightly braided cornrows, he showed me the tattoo on his arm and introduced himself to me as Old School 69.
Old School 69 (17:09):
Uh, my name is Leon, I'm just known by Old School, Old School '69. Yeah. 69 is my favorite year. I still say, like I say, Woodstock that's when everybody was having fun. It wasn't no shooting people. Wasn't no guns and stuff. Every, everybody was just having fun, with Janis Joplin and stuff. I'm an old rocker. Yeah. I go back.
Evan (17:35):
Coincidentally. He tells me 1969 was the year he moved to Austin.
Old School 69 (17:39):
Oh man. Yeah, it is. It is completely different. You, you wouldn't know it now. If I hadn't moved here, w w I, I wouldn't even know it now. And I love it here. I love it because I can, I can, I can just walk everywhere I have to. If I want to walk to town, I can walk to, see, I don't have to ride the bus to town. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's like right there behind you. They got condos and stuff. And they trying to buy the barbecue place out on 12th- They gonna eventually get it. Cause, cause they going to have the money. Yeah, they did offer them like about $3 million and he turned it down, but they gonna eventually get it. East Austin is just different.
Evan (18:21):
The barbecue restaurant he's talking about on 12th street is Sam's. It's been there since the 1950s. And it looks exactly the way an old barbecue joint should. A favorite hangout of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan's, fading snapshots litter nearly every inch of the walls. The ceilings have been stained with smoke. And if you fail to notice the catchy slogan painted on the front of the building, owner Brian Mays will be certain to remind you.
Brian (18:50):
You don't need no tetth to eat my beef! You don't need no teeth at all!
Evan (18:54):
Eager to chat, Brian leads me back to show off his pit, revealing today's bounty of meats.
Brian (19:00):
I cook with love, Boss. When you cook with love, you gets it. Because when everybody eats it, they going to say, "Ooh, I love this." See, if you come to Sam's, you ain't got to wait in no long line. Come on in and get your food. Come to the counter, get the food in and sit down and eat. If you want to, take it with you. You gotta know how to cook it. And you don't got\ to use no salt. You got to cook for everybody. Not some people. You don't use no spice and stuff. We don't do none of that. Because everybody don't eat spice and stuff. And everybody don't eat sugar and stuff. So, you've got to cook for everybody.
Evan (19:33):
Today, Brian runs the business with his brothers. All thanks to a twist of fate. As Brian tells it, his father won this place from Sam in a gambling wager back in the 1970s. You could say this bet's returns have grown a little over the year.
Brian (19:51):
And my daddy, he won- My Daddy won it in a gambling game. Now it's worth a whole lot of money. Now, now everybody want to move over here. They offered me 5 million. I turned it down.
Evan (20:01):
You heard that, right! An Oregon based developer offered him $5 million for his land. And he said, "No." Now just to give a little perspective back in the nineties, when I was going to school at Kealing, you probably could have bought something like this around here for 72 grand. I got to ask- how hard was this decision?
Brian (20:25):
It was hard. I cried. But I worked on through it. I got to do it. Cause I got people here. See, when you start with unity. you've got to mean it. So I can't get everybody together and leave everybody. It's a whole lot, see I'm the only black man still standing out here. It means a whole lot. This is old school, barbecue Boss. It's old school. When you eat here, you're getting real barbecue. We ain't broke. So we going to be here. Everybody keep on supporting me. I'm going to be here. And I appreciate it. Everybody who's supported me. Still supporting me. I appreciate, Y'all. I am not going to leave you. I'm gonna stay here. I ain't going nowhere. We're all gonna be here together.
Evan (21:06):
Before I leave, I ask him what his hope is for the neighborhood's future. And he references the words and portrait of Martin Luther King painted on the side of his building.
Brian (21:16):
On the side of my building it says, "we all came on different ships, but now we're in the same boat." I mean, we all got to help each other now. We all got to come together as a team and we got to remember one thing. One thing. The bigger, the dream, the bigger the team. The bigger the team, the bigger the dream.
Evan (21:35):
As our drive came to a close, Lee offered this.
Lee (21:39):
Yeah, I know it's not going to go back. So I can't hope for that. I can't wish for that. That's unrealistic. You know, the, the color of the day is green. It's not black, white, brown, yellow, purple, orange, blue. It's green. If you got the green, you can live anywhere you want.
Evan (21:58):
He's definitely right on the first count and probably right on the second. By that measure, some might call Brian. Mays crazy. Others might call him Shrewd. Perhaps Old School 69 is right and developers will come back with an offer that's too great to refuse. For now, though, and for whatever reasons, I'm grateful he's still there with his brothers, tending their pit and swimming against the tide.
Worker (22:28):
Do you have any questions for me?
Evan (22:29):
I think I'm good, man. Thank you so much. Back at Franklin's, after a few hours, I place my order and sit down to dig in. The verdict? Delicious. Now I do think Kreuz's has better sausage, but the ribs fall off the bone. And while the bark is a bit salty for my taste, will admit the brisket might be the best I've tried. But I don't need to do this again. I hate lines almost as much as I hate early mornings. I also still lament that Ben didn't receive a fraction of this attention. So I won't judge you if you decide to do this. But while you're here on the East side, swing by the Carver museum, see what art is on display, check out their cultural offerings and walk through the permanent collection to learn a bit more about our history. Also, so you know, it's no frills, but over at Roland's on Chestnut, you can get a smothered pork chop with rice, greens and black-eyed peas for $11. If you're in Austin and throwing a party, Lola still cooks up a mean jambalaya. And if you pitch in for gas, she'll deliver it to you. Hoover's on Manor still has the best chicken fried steak in town. And of course, do yourself a favor and stop by Sam's. They serve mutton. I don't know of any other place in town that does that. And if Brian's there, he's good for conversation. And just might take you back for a behind the scenes tour. He'll also remind you of his slogan
Speaker 4 (24:09):
You don't need no teeth to eat m beef! You don't need no teeth at all!
