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Legendary Texas BBQ pitmaster John Mueller dies at age 52 in Frisco

Austin Photo Set: News_Adam Sparks_John Mueller BBQ_jan 2012_john2

Pitmaster John Mueller was well-known throughout Texas for his mastery of meats.

Photo by Adam Sparks

The Texas barbecue community has lost a legend. Barbecue pitmaster John Mueller, a member of the Mueller barbecue dynasty, died at his home in Frisco at age 52.

Daniel Vaughn, barbecue editor at Texas Monthly, broke the news December 16 on Twitter. Vaughn reports that Mueller died after a long illness.

“Mueller bounced between fame and infamy; mercurial, infuriating, hilarious, and generous would all accurately describe him. Through it all, he remained memorable,” Vaughn writes.

Mueller got his start in the barbecue business working for his father, the late Bobby Mueller, at Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor. He opened his first barbecue restaurant, John Mueller’s BBQ, on Manor Road in 2001 after leaving the family business.

Back in 2012, Mueller told CultureMap he chose Austin to grow his barbecue biz, in part, because it was in a different locale than the famed Taylor joint.

“I wasn’t going to barbecue in the same county where my parents were,” he said. “We agreed that they couldn’t barbecue in Travis County and I wouldn’t barbecue in Williamson County.”

Mueller left Austin for several years after shutting down his Manor Road restaurant in 2006, later opening the JMueller BBQ trailer. However, Mueller’s stint at the barbecue trailer, owned by sister LeAnn Mueller, lasted just one year, with the famously cantankerous pitmaster getting the boot from his sister, who eventually turned the business into the lauded and popular La Barbecue, which now resides on the east side.

Aside from his natural talent for creating succulent meats, Mueller has another claim to fame in the Austin barbecue scene, having spawned from his business one of the city’s most renowned pitmasters. Aaron Franklin, who owns East Austin’s Franklin Barbecue, worked for Mueller in 2006. The latter was gracious in accepting the former’s success.

“I was happy for him,” Mueller told CultureMap in 2012 of the success of Franklin Barbecue. “I’m glad that him having that pit and working for me worked out well for him. And it wasn’t long. He didn’t need that at all. He’s just flat out good at what he does.”

Mueller then moved on to start John Mueller Meat Co. in East Austin and subsequently held down jobs at Black Box Barbecue in Georgetown, Granger City Brewing in Granger, and the Granary in Jarrell.

“Along the way he burned bridges with former business partners, food vendors, and the Texas comptroller’s office. Every time one of his joints closed, I thought it would be the end of the barbecue life for John Mueller,” Vaughn writes. “But he knew no other life. Mueller always found another audience to wow with his smoked beef.”

His final stint in barbecue came in Dallas-Fort Worth, where he worked for six months at Hutchins BBQ, which has locations in McKinney and Frisco.

A recent Facebook post on the La Barbecue page — which was followed by an outpouring of nearly 500 comments — noted a sentiment most Texas barbecue lovers can relate to: “Rest in peace, John Mueller. We miss you so much already!!”

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Coffee News

French cafe from New York to open at buzzy Dallas center near Lakewood

Maman

Lemon meringue tarts from Maman.

A French cafe chain from New York is bringing its ritzy fare to a buzzy intersection in East Dallas: Maman, a celebrated spot with coffee and brand-name pastries, will open a location in Hillside Village, at 6465 Mockingbird Ln. #316, at the address previously occupied by Palmer's Hot Chicken.

Signage is already up in the space. According to a spokesperson, renovations are underway, with a targeted opening date of early fall.

Famous for its pale blue-and-white toile decor and Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies, Maman was founded in Soho in 2014 by partners Elisa Marshall and Benjamin Sormonte, and has expanded across the U.S, with locations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and Canada.

They made their Texas debut in November 2025 when they opened a location in the Plaza at Preston Center. There are also plans for another location in Frisco at the new Fields West mixed-use center, as well as a location in Casa Linda Plaza. Still more locations are said to be in the works.

At the favorably situated Hillside Village, they'll be joining tenants such as Sprouts, SusieCakes, and Sephora. The center has undergone an overhaul in the past decade with the addition of new tenants, starting when Sprouts took over the former Stein Mart.

Palmer's was there for five years; they opened in 2020, part of a then-wave of hot chicken places, before exiting the premises in January 2026. A permitting notice for Maman was posted the same week.

Maman will update the space, installing their signature interior touches to create a cozy, European garden atmosphere. They boast a French provincial aesthetic with vintage furniture, wood floors, imported tiles, and signature blue toile that extends to the custom espresso machine.

The cafe will be open during daylight hours with coffee, breakfast and lunch: espresso drinks, tea, and pastries such as croissants, kouign maman, Bundt cakes, tea cakes, and cookies. Heartier breakfast and lunch items include quiche, a breakfast bowl (with potatoes, arugula, bacon, caramelized onions, avocado, and egg), chicken Caesar wrap, and Mediterranean steak sandwich.

Their drinks can be elaborate with rarefied ingredients; for example, a vanilla honey butter latte with sweet corn foam & cornbread crumbs, or a salted tahini honeycomb latte. They also partner up on brand collaborations with food & beverage names such as Martha Stewart.

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