Doug Pierce is serious about Texas barbecuing. He has spent five years perfecting his skills: from choosing the tastiest meats to creating the best rubs to installing the right pit.

“I began barbecuing at my house about five years ago,” Pierce said. “It took about two years for me to understand the process. Using a couple of different rubs, I tried finding one I liked. I made pulled pork and brisket. I got all of my meat from Wheaton Meats.”

Once he refined his spices to satisfy his taste buds, he invited his personal team of taste-testers to sample his food.

“I would have 70, 80 people over to try out my food,” he said. “I used my family and friends as my guinea pigs and I solicited feedback from them. After the party was over, I just ate and ate and ate.”

It took him 13 months to find the right location—226 W. Front St.—and install a huge barbecue pit, which he purchased deep in the heart of Texas. On Jan. 8, Austin BBQ opened.

“I started by scoping out places to run this business right away,” he said, after ending his 10-year partnership with a Rosati's restaurant in Rolling Meadows.

Pierce was not interested in the commercial areas of Wheaton, he said, preferring a place downtown where people could smell the food cooking and be drawn inside.

"We specialize in Texas-style beef brisket, smoked until rendered and tendered," Pierce said. "In keeping with the Texas market traditions, we serve it with white bread or saltine crackers, with pickles, onions, and cheese on the side. We also serve pulled pork, babyback ribs, St. Louis ribs, beef ribs, California-style Tri-Tip, chicken with a white barbecue sauce, smoked burgers and brats and hot links.

"Even several desserts are made in the pit, for a nice smoky flavor.

“The neatest thing about this place is the all-wood burning pit,” he said. “It uses no gas and no electric. The stove weighs 4,200 pound, and it took a crane to lift it off the truck when it was delivered."

His strategy appears to be working. Pierce said he has had days when there is a line winding out the door. He said he is most honored by the Texas natives who come into the restaurant in search of authentic food.

“I am a Chicago boy who considers himself an honorary Texan,” said Pierce, a Wheaton resident. “There is a Texas flag in the window. I didn’t hang that right away. I had to have people come through here from Texas and tell me that my food was of Texas caliber."

 “This is the best brisket I’ve had outside of Texas,” San Antonio native Oscar Rodriguez said. “I’ve tried a lot of places locally that just were not up to par.

 “There is really nothing else like that,” said Max Williams of the Downtown Wheaton Association. “Before Austin BBQ, there was no real true barbecue, and they are definitely a true barbecue. There are no gas stoves. It’s fast and casual to go in and get something delicious quickly. It is family-owned and -operated, which is also nice. They have been welcomed to the downtown Wheaton area with open arms.”