Texas
New Texas/Southeast Asian/Mexican Barbecue Truck Opens With Peppercorn Brisket and Roti-Wrapped Sausages
Modern Chinese restaurant Zoé Tong opened its new barbecue truck this past weekend. Si Baby-Q debuted at 1530 Barton Springs Road in the Zilker neighborhood on Saturday, May 4.
Si Baby-Q’s menu is Texas barbecue with Mexican and Southeast Asian takes. The food is informed by the backgrounds of co-owner Simone Tong and pitmaster Jonathan Lagos, who are respectively Mexican American and Singaporean.
That means smoked meats available by weight, such as brisket made with Indonesian long peppercorns and pulled lamb shoulders with mala spices. Then there’s Esquites Chinos, Mexican street corn with queso fresco, sesame seeds, and mala spices; Queso y Pepe, where egg noodles are served with queso and long peppercorns; and the SXSE Smoked Chicken where the curried chicken leg is served with roti.
Other items include sandwiches like the brisket on a toasted pretzel bun or the Hog Duvet, a sausage on roti. There’s also a take on Frito pie with a spicy dan dan sauce. Desserts include cinnamon rolls made out of croissant dough and a cream cheese glaze. For drinks, the truck will serve a variety of beers, canned wines, and sodas. Scope out the menu below.
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Zoé Tong co-owners Tong and Matthew Hyland wanted to offer smoked meats at the restaurant since they already had an on-site smoker courtesy of one of the address’s predecessors, Uncle Billy’s. They were connected to Lagos, who was the pitmaster of Terry Black’s Barbecue. While working together, Lagos mentioned he wanted to open his own food truck, hence Si Baby-Q.
Zoé Tong opened in November 2023. Before Austin, the couple were working in New York, where Tong ran Chinese American wine restaurant Silver Apricot and Hyland was part of the team behind pizzeria Emily and Emmy Squared.
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The Texas Longhorns entered the 2025 season with more expectations than any team has had to deal with in recent memory.
Many among the media were ready to crown the team and quarterback Arch Manning before they even played one game. Of course, those unrealistic expectations were never met, even though the team finished with a 10-3 record and a Citrus Bowl win over the Michigan Wolverines.
2026 is heading in the same direction for the Longhorns. Many believe head coach Steve Sarkisian has the most talented team in the country. But in order to fix the issues from this past season, the Longhorns needed to fix one issue that has cost them in the past.
Changing The Narrative
One of the biggest issues the Longhorns had last season was the play of the offensive line. It was apparent in the first game of the season against the Ohio State Buckeyes that Manning didn’t have the pocket time needed to make big plays.
This offseason, Coach Sarkisian went out and found two massive transfer portal additions that should completely change the narrative on this offensive line.
It starts with potential starting right tackle Melvin Siani. Siani has spent time with the Temple Owls and last season with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
The Longhorns are set at left tackle with Trevor Goosby, who could play himself into being a top 10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. If the team can get competent play from Siani, the offense will be able to open up the playbook, and the world may finally see Manning at his college peak.
The Longhorns also went out and found a potential fix at left guard for the 2026 season. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers transfer Laurence Seymore could be another strong patch for the holes in the offensive line.
After spending the first two seasons of his college career with the Miami Hurricanes, Seymore made stops with the Akron Zips and the Hilltoppers.
Of course, the one concern with Seymore is wondering if he can compete at the SEC level coming from the C-USA.
This season for the Longhorns starts and stops with the play of Manning. Coach Sarkisian and the rest of this coaching staff understood that protecting their quarterback was the most important goal when building the 2026 roster.
The Longhorns are going to be leaning on veteran talent to protect their quarterback, and it may very well be the best decision they made this offseason.
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