Here is an important piece of Dallas History right here and I have the key to the front door. Austins Barbecue. The page is up I just need to fix the header on the webpage but the pix and captians are in perfect shape. This building went up in 1949 and was demoed in 2000. Such a sad loss for Dallas.
here is the link. for future pages PLEASE COPY THIS ADDDRESS TO YOUR FAVORITE FOLDER IN CASE I FORGET TO POST IT AT ANY GIVEN TIME!!!
ENJOY Austin Barbecue reborn courtesy of Scott Dorn and Randy Carlisle
Your time machine to Dallas History and the the two men who preserve Dallas One Building at a time
I want to see lots of good threads on this one.
Hey Teresa If you are reading this would be other version of an apology. Let me know how you all like this
FEEDBACK FEEDBACK FEEDBACK PLEASE!!!!!!!!
Scott Dorn

[web.mac.com]
There the link I forgot it In the last post plug it in your favorites page.
Scott Dorn

well ,what can i say...where to begin..might have had my first car date there..and then on to the hampton road drive in..1949 4 door chevy delux..our family car..the last time i ever had a big meal and went to the drive in..

Scott -
It is good to see your photos again and Randy's for the first time.
I lived two blocks from Austin's from about 1957-59 and ate there often. It was a regular Friday family night stop before the drive-in movie. That was just a bit before my licensed driving days so I don't have any stories like Gene's to tell, or tease.
The BBQ was okay, but I prefered hamburgers and milkshakes in those days.
One of my school buddies was Billy Austin and he had me convinced he was the owner's son. It was only recently I learned that Austin was the first name of the owner.
Several years ago Fred (I think) posted a link with some material written by Austin's owner/founder. I don't think I saved it or can find it again. I know there is some on The Herd website, but it is not the same.
As best I recall the Illinois and Hampton location was not his first and he also had been in the grocery business, but both prior ventures were unsuccessful.
In addition to the Tippit / JFK connection I seem to recall another Austin employee was part of the assassination investigation.
Anybody have any more info?
M C

MC...You've got a great memory!!! It was me that posted on the history of the BBQ place.
Gene...If you were there in 1949, it was the Bull Pen, not Austin's. During the Summers on Friday or Saturday nights, in the 1949-1953 timeframe my family would stop at the Bull Pen and get sandwiches and drinks to-go, then drive the short way down Hampton to the Drive-In for our evening meal and entertainment.
Here's the posting I made earlier, on a thread about the burgers in Dallas. It contains the url about Austin's and the Bull Pen and indicates that the place didn't become Austin's until 1958.
[www.dallashistory.org]
I feel quite sure that I posted another url on this board that gave more of a history of the place and the owner, but my searching at this time hasn't turned it up. That may be what you are remembering, MC. I recall that it was a fairly long article, so will keep lookin'.
Fred

Fred,
I tried to find the thread also without success. As I remember Austin was in partnership and took over and renamed the Bull Pen Austin,s. I also believe this happened when Oak Cliff voted dry. The Bull Pen served beer.
John

Fred -
Here's the thread: (July 2002)
[www.dallashistory.org]
I can't get the link to work and Wayback doesn't help either. I'll try something else.
M C

Here it is:
[www.geocities.com]
This time I'll save the whole article.
M C

Remember those huge cups of ice tea that only cost a dime?
The first and only time I was ever thrown out of a restaurant happened at Austin's BBQ. I was told to leave by Officer J.D. Tippit for blowing one of those paper straw sleeves at a girl I knew. She pleaded my case but it didn't help. I was outta there.
The first time I had food poisoning was from something I ate at Austin's. Didn't keep me for going back over and over however.
And we used to think Austin's had the sexiest carhops around. They seemed older and so much more worldly than we or were we just imagining it so?

M C, As you know I also lived near Austin's BBQ (Elmwood & Hollywood) and I spent many, many hours at the Restaurant from about 1955 to the mid 60s or so. They did sometimes have pretty nice car hops but I also use to go inside quite a bit. After I went to work for Central Freight on Inwood Rd. I would sometimes (I worked 2nd shift) go by Austin's for a Midnight snack (they were open all night if I remembrer right). I happen to remember I was the first person to pay a sales tax at the place, I paid my ticket at approx 12:01 AM on the first day the new sales tax took effect (probably early 60s). I also knew Billy Austin back then (I called him Wild Child) (can tell quite a few stories about him). I stopped by his old house on Berkley 8 or 9 years ago and his Mother was still living there, his Father Jack died many years ago. Last I heard Billy was living in Plano.......Bill Strouse

MC,
As far as I know the only other link to the JFK stuff was a waitress that was a good friend of Tippit. Is that what you are thinking of?
Respectfully,
Jerry Dealey

Jerry -
I think what I recall was Austin Cook's 1964 FBI interview and the 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations interviews of Cook, his former wife, and the wife of his former Bull Pen partner Bert Bowman.
It was one of those chains of someone who knew someone who knew Ruby.
Bowman was the son of the woman from whom Austin Cook purchased his first busines in 1946, the grocery store at Ninth and Jefferson, and Bowman stayed on to work for Cook for several months. They became good friends and in 1949 parnters in the original Bull Pen on Illinois.
When that parntership dissolved in 1958 Bowman moved the name to a new location in Arlington and Cook renamed the Illinos site Austin's.
About 1970 Bowman sold the Arlington Bull Pen to Ralph Paul. Paul was living in the Bowman home at the time of the assassination and was reportedly well acquainted with Ruby.
J D Tippit was employed as a part time security guard at Austin's since about 1960.
M C

I seem to recall that employees referred to the owner as Big Daddy Austin.
I can't remember what he looked like.
Was that a real nickname or was it meant to be pejorative?

Yes he was known as Big Daddy. He even used it in one of his slogans
"Bar-B-Q as tender as Ole Big Daddy's Heart"

you are so right mr. fred...thats the reason i said it MIGHT have been my first car date..i couldnt remember what it was called..the bull pen was /is correct..of course our family car was a '49..but i would have been to the bull pen in about '51 ..thats when i started driving..without a license..got them in '55..at fair park at the alamo..

You found it, MC!! I just re-read the entire article, as it has been several years since I first read it. It is a really neat journal by Austin and contains so much relative to his days in Oak Cliff. Some good nostalgia there.
"Come in and Shoot The Bull with Austin and Bert. We used that name [The Bull Pen] until they voted beer out of Oak Cliff." That line was also printed on their matchbooks and menus.
Appreciate you finding it, as it saved me the searching time. I knew it was in the archives, but did not remember it being in the thread about Trinity Heights.
Fred