July 29, 2010

Old School BBQ


Location: Waller Trailer Park Eatery - 1112 E. 6th Street - @Waller
- Hours: Monday & Tuesday: 11 AM - 3 PM
             Wednesday: 5 - 10 PM
             Thursday & Friday: 5 PM - 12 AM
              Saturday: 12 PM - 3 AM 
- Hours: 512-947-6830
- Cuisine: BBQ


“Old school quality of service without the rip off pricing”


Having gone to the Cordon Bleu school under a master chef in France, his corporate experience with Hard Rock Café and TGI Fridays as well as having opened 56 restaurants in 2 continents and 3 countries, Dan Parrott brings over 35 years of experience to the table at Old School BBQ & Grill.  As a single Dad he brought his son Danny with him to build restaurant concepts from the ground up.  They would hire and train the staff and move on to another project.  So the restaurant business was in Danny’s blood early on.   Their third business partner Trey is responsible for the trio’s move from L.A. to Austin and it was driving around with realtors that they noticed the boom in the trailer food scene.  Thus, the Old School BBQ concept was born.

Dan says, “Old school going back to when it was your pride and your pleasure to serve others because they were giving you their most precious commodity – their time.  We aren’t trying to make all the money we can – I was making ridiculous money and left it all behind to come back on this hot bus just to look at someone when they take a bite and I can see their face.”

Their brisket is their best-selling item and although their namesake highlights their BBQ, the grill side of this trailer is pretty strong too.  For their hamburger, they start the day with two choice cuts of angus steak that they grind every morning themselves.  On top of the burger, they add caramelized onions and Vermont aged sharp cheddar cheese that is melted on the patty.  If you want tomatoes on it, they will slice it right in front of your eyes.  There is a limited amount of this product, so when it’s gone for the day, that’s it. 

Dan offers his perspective on how the food industry has changed and why he feels it is important to serve his guest good quality food at a reasonable price:  “I love what I do but I don’t respect the industry I’m in anymore – after 35 years, the industry has defaulted into one more us corporate structure.  People in offices are making decisions about people in food – I don’t think that’s right.  Back in the day when you went out for food it was a special event, a really big deal you looked forward to – and the people feeding you knew it was a special event – they knew they had to capture your grace that one time.  When you went to eat and someone else did it, you would get dressed up, service and quality were incredibly important.  After all, if you are going against ‘mom’ you better be good.  Then there’s the aspect of value –the money the patrons raised in their livelihoods had to be used to buy farm parts.  The food culture back then, you knew you were working with a group of hard working people that deserved the best.  And that is what we are doing at Old School.  The main thing for us, I really hope people understand that if nothing else, we do what we do with great passion.  We are going to give it our all.  We just love making people smile when they have a really good meal.”