House Park Bar-B-Que (6)
900 W. 12th, 472-9621
Monday-Friday, 11am-2:30pm
House Park may be the closest thing within the city limits to an old-time country barbecue joint – it’s small, smoky, utterly without pretension, and plays by its own rules. Open since 1943 and named for the venerable high school football stadium nearby, House Park only serves weekday lunch (or maybe breakfast, depending on the hours you keep), and the weathered picnic tables resolutely face the noisy street rather than picturesque Shoal Creek, which runs just behind the building.
House Park’s slogan, which has graced the marquee for decades, is probably better known than the excellent mesquite-smoked bill of fare. “Need no teef to eat my beef” is attributed to the late C-Boy Parks, longtime Austin pit-master, kitchen boss of the late Night Hawk No. 2 on the Drag, and mentor to many an Austin cook and restaurateur. Several generations of ACC students, courthouse lawyers, and neighborhood residents and businesspeople have depended on House Park for their lunchtime barbecue fix.
The menu, posted on the wall, is short and sweet: plates or sandwiches of mesquite-smoked brisket, sausage, pork loin, and chicken; sides of beans, coleslaw, and potato salad; and Dr Pepper, Big Red, 7UP, RC Cola, and iced tea. That’s it. No booze, no vegetables, no frills. It’s all about the meat. No ribs, however. House Park doesn’t do ribs.
The most expensive item on the menu is the mixed plate at $7.89; the least is the large iced tea for 99 cents. In between, the brisket and pork-loin plates will run you $7.59, the beef-and-pork sausage and quarter-of-a-chicken plates slightly less. The brisket is fork-tender and full of smoky flavor, but I’m particularly partial to the pork loin, especially on a soft-bun sandwich with sour pickles and onions ($3.99), just kissed by a bit of the tomatoey barbecue sauce.
This article appears in March 2 • 2007.
