Saturday has become BBQ day for me. For the past month I’ve had BBQ for lunch or dinner every Saturday. Within the past month a new BBQ spot has opened in Austin, Woodpile BBQ. This place works out pretty well for me since they are currently only open on Saturday’s. So far Woodpile has received positive reviews, so this past Saturday I decided to try them out.
Woodpile is owned and operated by a husband and wife team. The husband is the pitmaster and carves the meats while the wife works the register. Didn’t talk to them for long, but they both seemed really friendly. Their trailer is located in Southwest Austin, just off of Highway 290. Their space isn’t huge but they have large picnic tables that also have large umbrellas so you aren’t roasting in the sun. A week before they said they sold out of everything by 1PM, so we made sure to get there at 11AM to make sure to get all the meat we wanted.
Woodpile advertises their meat comes from Ninman Ranch, where cattle and pigs roam free and eat all vegetarian diets. We went with a half pound of fatty brisket and a half pound of pork ribs (St. Louis cut). The meal also came with jalapeño cornbread and samples of pecan pie. I really enjoyed the brisket and the ribs, and I can’t think of anything negative about them. They both had good flavor and texture. The fat on the brisket was well rendered. The ribs came off the bone easily. Both had good smoke flavor and the ribs had a little bit of sweetness that worked well. The sauce is good and definitely unique compared to the other BBQ spots we have visited so far. I haven’t been to Salt Lick yet, but based on what I’ve heard and seen about them, I’d say Woodpile’s sauce was inspired by Salt Lick. I think I prefer white bread with the meal over the cornbread, but that isn’t a huge deal. I didn’t have any, but Woodpile features a special Amy’s molasses ice cream.
Overall I was really impressed by Woodpile and it was worth the trip. I wouldn’t rank them as high as Franklin or JMueller, but their product definitely competes with Stiles Switch for 3rd best in town. Even though their hours work out pretty well with my Saturday BBQ fix, I hope business continues to grow so they can expand their days of business.
Delighted you and your wife made it out! Appreciate the review and look forward to you coming back again as we work hard to get better each week.