Billy Ray’s Bar-be-que King

Really bad food, dry, looked like food from the day before, bit expensive $ 11 for plate of chicken sausage and brisket. I wouldn’t recommend, for this I woukd

This is the place to go when you are craving some good smokey bar b q in Texas ya’ll! This is trailer is no joke! Bar b q so good, it’ll make you slap yo momma!

I think Solomon covered everything I wanted to say. I liked their chicken the best and the buttered toast was a nice touch. Extra star for great conversation with the King himself and for hooking us up with a rib. That rib had a spicy kick to it, but it was too pink for me. Next time we’re in the area we might visit Mr. Barbe-​Que King again for some S’s and G’s.

In terms of straight up Texas smoked meats, Billy Ray’s could use a little tweaking. I do like the staff, atmosphere, and care that they put into their product. Austin is a hard market to tap now, with trailers and ‘cue alike, so I can assume putting both entities together is no joke.
All this to say that I found the animal product here to be unsatisfactory. The brisket was dry and certainly underseasoned, while the pork had more in the way of flavor, I found the swine organ-​encasing structures to be among the least tender that I have laid teeth on in recent time.
Let’s unpack this a little more. I found the hunks of brisket to be a little on the mealy side, while the large pieces of rib wouldn’t budge. They erred on the rubbery end, unfortunately. I found the sticky sauce to be a smidgen too sweet for me, though the heat did provide just enough punch.
The potato salad is adequate to satisfy, though not fully amazing. The beans undoubtedly have a home-​cooked taste, but it wasn’t the best of complexity. I tasted a little beer or something, but other than that, I think the recipe (Grandma’s? or something of the like?) could be modified. Back to the food science lab, friends!
This bright red trailer on the corner of I-​35 and Braker certainly has much to offer in terms of character, but the grub itself, though meat-​centric, is not particularly of the highest quality. Give it a shot, and tell me what you think. Everyone deserves a chance to be eaten at, no? Especially a humble mobile eatery cranking out slow-​smoked critters such as this bright red joint.

I can tell you that you won’t get what you see in the picture. I ordered the brisket plate. The brisket is cut into pieces and there were so many burnt pieces. Other than the BBQ sauce that was added to it, the brisket had no flavor whatsoever. That goes the same with the beans that tasted like they came out of a can. The toast was soggy. Now, I can say the potato salad was pretty good. I wanted some of the 7-​up cake but they were out, so I had to settle for banana pudding. I wouldn’t go back, but I guess for people who don’t want to much flavor, this is the place for you.

HOLY SHIT!!! Remember when in Austin you could get some BBQ that was good? It’s been a while.
For a long time, if I wanted to show anyone what Texas BBQ was about, we’d have to drive way out of town, or make it ourselves. Austin BBQ has gone way down over the years. And just by accident, I hit up Billy Ray’s inside the Braker Lane Food Mart (they also have a truck at the corner of Braker & I35).
We have the brisket with beans. Their brisket is serious BBQ, smokey and flavorful, without being dry. Their sauce is a serious Texas sauce, tangy, sweet, spicy, and HOMEMADE!!! The beans are regular serious BBQ beans, seasoned perfectly, without adding too many weird, non-​BBQ related spices. I couldn’t believe it!!!
We went back the very next night and got the same, but have branched out to add the sausage and along with the beans a side of coleslaw.
They are going to be my hands down favorite place for BBQ. Staff friendly and know their stuff. Reasonably priced for the portions.
All I can say is HOLY SHIT BBQ IS BACK IN TOWN!!! Damn they are good!!!
Got to go, brisket is calling.

Don’t judge a trailer by it’s wheels or location. Billy Ray’s is worth the stop. Hands down the best BBQ in the area. The chicken was so tender and the portion was enough for lunch and dinner. Number one reason I will go back is Mr. Billy Ray himself. Such a delight. Old school service in a fast paced world. When you can’t slow down to smell the roses pull over to Billy Ray’s to smell the brisket.

Not sure what I love about Austin more, the opportunity to eat outside for lunch under the sun in the Middle of Jan, or finding new food trailers popping up all the time. I’ll take both please!
I was headed back to my office hungry and saw this red food trailer pulling a smoker trailer in the Northern Tools /​Austin Ducati parking lot off I-​35. I knew I had to try this place.
I ordered the 2 meat plate of ribs and brisket.
Got very friendly service from the owners, was told they make their own sauce (more on that later) and they’ve been smokoing BBQ for some 35+ odd years and have been more in the catering than retail side until about 3 months ago.
Got my plate of food with slaw and beans. It came presauced which is always a concern.
Brisket — Got both fatty and lean cuts, it had a great smokey flavor and was moist. The fatty part had quite a bit of fat but the excess quickly pulled apart from the meat and was also very good. There wasn’t a lot of crust but it may have been hidden from the sauce, the smoke ring was present however and it was lightly but well seasoned.
Ribs — I liked their ribs, the appeared to be baby backs based on the size. They pulled off the bone without being too mushy, had a good smoke flavor and were tender and not over cooked which I was concerned about being 2:30 when I tried this place.
Sauce — I found that I really liked their sauce. It’s similar to Salt Lick’s — a brown sugar mustard based sauce but not too watery, just the right texture and worked with both meats.
Beans — Were very good also, had more of a refried beans flavor with some brisket thrown in which was tasty.
Overall I wasn’t expecting to be impressed and found that I liked this place and would definitely stop in again to try their chicken. My only concern is I’ve seen a few of these BBQ trailers and when I went back again for a 2^nd sample they were gone for good, hope this place has some staying power.