Austin BBQ in Wheaton serves up flavors from Texas with love

When Doug and Ellen Pierce fell in love with Texas-style barbecue, they bid arrivederci to their pizza business and opened Austin BBQ a year ago — starting with a 4,200-pound J&R smoker.

“It was custom made for us in Mesquite, Texas; 7 feet tall, 9 feet deep, it’s all wood burning, not gas or electric,” Doug says.

Knowing that brisket takes 12 to 14 hours to cook, and the pork butt used for pulled pork a good 14 to 16 hours, Doug says he anticipated being at the restaurant in the middle of the night to stoke the fire, and picked his home turf of Wheaton to locate Austin BBQ for a quick commute.

What he didn’t realize was that his site was serendipitously close to Wheaton College’s many homesick-for-barbecue students from Texas.

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