![]() We offer a selection of meats smoked with oak wood along with all the classic sides you expect with BBQ. The food we serve on our menu is inspired by the classic BBQ joints we grew up with in Texas. We keep it simple, making traditional Texas style BBQ, dry rub and nothing too fancy. We all just work together really well and it’s all been great, so we were able to learn quickly and make it work. We were fortunate to find such a perfect spot, because Wade knew someone involved in the revitalization of the Grand Central Market and we were lucky to get to be one of the first new restaurants to be a part of it. Coming the from the corporate world where everything was organized, and we had meeting to do meetings, we found ourselves responsible for every aspect of the business from ordering and hiring to unclogging toilets. We had to learn every aspect of running the restaurant, from food costs to hiring to trying to make a product that people would like. ![]() Our biggest challenge in the beginning was just our inexperience. It’s totally possible though – it just requires a lot of time and effort. It’s also expensive, so finding investors can be challenging. I think the hardest thing is building one from scratch, navigating all the building codes, tax laws, alcohol licensing, and everything else. Ha! Nothing is easy in the restaurant business. ![]() What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced over the years? Then in 2013, I opened Horse Thief BBQ with my college friend Russell Malixi. and in 2006, I opened Thunderbird Coffee in Austin, TX with my brother Ryan. I started working a number of jobs in the restaurant industry, from barback, barista, bartender, etc. I studied business in college, but when it came time to go work in corporate America I found myself drawn to the restaurant business. I partially grew up in the restaurant business: my dad owned a couple cafes in Austin and my mother was an artist. Wade McElroy, Partner at Esprit de Corps, restaurant group responsible for Horse Thief BBQ, Cafe Birdie, Good Housekeeping, and Bar Angeles: Ultimately, leaving Universal to run Horse Thief BBQ full time has been a really rewarding experience, because I get to see a direct result of our efforts and we get to work with a great family at Grand Central Market. I would be sleeping in my car at Grand Central Market waiting for my alarm to go off and then I would run in and check on the smoker. In the beginning, Russell and I would even take turns manning the smoker, setting timers when we would have to check the temperature. When Horse Thief first opened, I was still working at Universal, which meant my girlfriend at the time hated me because I was always working, five days at Universal and the rest of the time was spent at Horse Thief. So when I finished culinary school, my hobby became more serious. I had gone to culinary school on the side, thinking it would broaden my experience and just be a hobby, but my work in the music business often took me to SXSW which is where I fell in love with BBQ. Russell introduced me to his college friend Wade and when the space became available at Grand Central Market, we decided to open Horse Thief BBQ. ![]() We had always had the idea to try to open a restaurant. I actually started in the IT field, in the music business, which is where I met Russell. ![]() Horse Thief BBQ, 317 S Broadway Downtown.So let’s start at the beginning – how’d you get into the restaurant business? A website for the restaurant says it will be “grilling soon.” So please, just hold your horses. Johnny Lee, the Spirits House chef that helped to open Sticky Rice at Grand Central Market last week, came by for brisket yesterday at what the restaurant calls its “Sunday pop-up,” with no fixed details on whether the stall is up and running just yet. So far, it all looks fairly legit, with great big hunks of black-crusted brisket, blushing pork ribs, pork belly, turkey, cornbread, and chicken legs offered on the Facebook page of this new stall, which appears to be under the direction of chef Russell Malixi. Given the date on our calendars and the controversy still raging on about the world’s current (dis)taste for horse meat, we’re treating this news with healthy suspicion, lest it turn out to be some sort of a fake. Horse Thief BBQ, a new restaurant dedicated to Texas-style meats, announces its newly signed lease at Downtown’s Grand Central Market, the second new vendor to be confirmed on the food court’s changing countenance. ![]()
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