(FORTUNE Magazine) – The wall calendars say 2000 at Louie Mueller's Barbecue, 45 minutes northeast of Austin, Texas, but it might as well be 1959, when Louie Mueller moved his meat market and barbecue pit into the "new" building. Men in gimme caps and cowboy hats eat ribs, sausage, and brisket, by the pound, off butcher paper. The Shiner Bock beer is served in old jars. Billy Mueller--pronounced "miller," just so you know--took over from his father in 1974. Last year he and his son, John, added a screened-in porch; they haven't changed much else. The brisket's as good as ever, with a thick black crust and a ruby smoke ring. That's the secret: salt, pepper, and smoke. And the slapping of the screen door, and the train whistle in the distance.

--PETER H. LEWIS