LeRoy & Lewis’s Mega-Anticipated Austin Barbecue Restaurant Is Opening Oh So Soon

It’s here: new-school barbecue truck LeRoy & Lewis is finally opening its very anticipated barbecue restaurant this month. The new LeRoy & Lewis restaurant is opening in the Garrison Park neighborhood at 5621 Emerald Forest Drive starting on Wednesday, February 28.

LeRoy & Lewis’s new iteration includes the restaurant portion, with counter-service smoked meats by the quarter-pound or as part of plates and sandwiches. The larger space allows the kitchen to make fuller use of whole animals and butchering within its new-school dishes. Behind the restaurant are co-owners and partners pitmaster Evan LeRoy, Lindsey LeRoy, director of operations Sawyer Lewis, and Nathan Lewis.

Think sliced or chopped beef, pulled whole hog, pulled lamb, smoked chicken, and so many sausages such as pork hop, beef chorizo, and lamb kofta. There will be weekend and specific-day-only specials, such as beef cheeks on Fridays, Akaushi brisket and bacon ribs on Saturdays, and pork chops on Sundays.

Then there are other meaty dishes like burgers; the Loncito taco made with pulled hog, cracklins, salsa macha, and pickled onions; and the Frito Rico taco, which is essentially a Frito pie in a tortilla. There’s also pork hash with rice; potato chips made with beef fat; hog-fat refried beans; chorizo with potatoes, dips and spreads like the pinto-jalapeno hummus, bacon-onion dip, and smoked mackerel; hog-fat cornbread; and the standalone Frito pie made with Texas red chili.

LeRoy also offers a lot of high-quality non-meat dishes. Vegetables such as the truck’s iconic cauliflower burnt ends will be available, alongside vegan miso-glazed carrots. There are also kimchi, horseradish potato salads, and salads. Sweets include a banana pudding tiramisu, German chocolate cobbler a la mode, and that also-iconic cheddar cheesecake.

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Jessica Attie

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Jessica Attie

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Jessica Attie

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For drinks, there are beers in draft, can, and bottle forms with plenty of Austin breweries such as St. Elmo Brewing and Austin Beerworks, and other beer staples like Lone Star and Modelo. The tapped bears include rotating light and dark brews. (Originally, there were plans to open the restaurant with a brewery, but that’s been paused for now.)

Then there are glasses of wines, canned wines, and wine bottles. And then there are cocktails like the South Austin sangria made with Azul y Garanza white wine, passionfruit, lime, and a chile-lime rim; the Meat-chelada, a michelada with Modelo and the same chile-lime rim; and a frozen Big Red sangria. And finally, there are nonalcoholic beverages. Nathan Lewis developed the menu with Nicole Cruz, who had been the bar manager of Contigo and the bar assistant manager of Holy Roller.

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The physical space within far south Austin includes, yes the expected barbecue counter-service, as well as other areas like the bar, the dining room, a lounge/event space, and big outdoor patio. There’s also a takeout room and retail shop. It was designed by Austin firm OPA Design Studio with commercial construction company Solutions General Contracting, branding and design agency Helms Workshop, and interior design studio McCray & Co.

The team opened the original food truck in 2017 with the goal of eventually opening a physical space. It won Eater Austin’s Eater Award for the best new food truck of that same year.

Before LeRoy & Lewis, Evan LeRoy had been the original pitmaster for now-closed barbecue restaurant Freedman’s and Sawyer Lewis was the general manager of Contigo. The team had also run a fry truck, Mama Fried, at far South Austin bar Armadillo Den from 2021 to 2023.

LeRoy & Lewis’s restaurant hours will be from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. There are plans to expand those hours eventually. The food truck at Cosmic is temporarily closed as of February 26, and plans on opening in two weeks.

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Jessica Attie