Iron Works BBQ Still Serves Up the Real Texas McCoy in Downtown Austin
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Editor
Austin, TX (HNN) - The real estate mantra "Location, Location, Location" certainly applies in spades to The Iron Works BBQ at 100 Red River St., just down Red River from the gigantic Austin Convention Center and the Austin Hilton.
It's been operating in the former Weigl Iron Works building since 1978, long before both the convention center and the hotel were built on the eastern edge of downtown, within sight and sound of Interstate 35.
I discovered the restaurant on my first visit to Austin in 1989 and on my latest stay in the Lone Star State capital city I made a point of eating there. It's an informal place where you belly up to the counter and order your ribs or sausage or chicken or brisket -- my favorite -- and sides like coleslaw, potato salad and, of course beans. You are served the food on paper plates on a cafeteria tray and you pick out your beer or soft drink from an old fashioned cooler filled with icy water. My choice was a Shiner's Bock beer for my beef brisket on a large bun, with coleslaw and beans sides.
You take your tray to a table topped with a red and white table cloth where a roll of paper towels awaits you. There's a condiments table and you're experiencing the real Texas BBQ experience.
The restaurant pays tribute to its heritage as home of an ironworks founded by German immigrant Fortunat Weigl Sr. and his family who immigrated to Texas in 1913. Central Texas is home to many German and Czech immigrants. One of the most famous is World War II Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, born in Fredericksburg, TX in 1885, who was commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific fleet. He died in 1966.
