Artz Rib House - Mecca of Texas Barbecue - Now, Sadly, Dead

Kiddy corner from Maria's Tacos used to be a run down used car dealer the the greatest Texas barbecue joint ever. As I wrote this I had blanked on the name and felt a rush of shame like not remembering the name of an old girlfriend. It was called Artz Rib House. I lived about a half mile from it for about five years and it was like living a half mile from heaven. Artz's was a little rundown but the barbecue was as good as you can get. Every weekend I went their for years. When I first started teaching it was tough and most Friday's I came home and walked down to Artz's. They often had live music that was perfect for a small restaurant. Acoustic folk and country that you could listen to and still have a conversation. I don't know how it worked so well but it did cuz people knew how to play and how to converse. There were often lines out the from door on weekend nights. I didn't usually have to wait cuz I usually sat by myself in a bar stool. Or I came by earlier on Saturday afternoon and maybe got an awesome cup of coffee with real cream and had the chocolate moose pie for desert. Its experiences like this that make Austinites think their city is so cool. But its not. I bought a house in 2006 and moved out of the local neighborhood. I went back a few times but not like when I lived there. I remember coming in one time after swimming in Barton Springs Pool which is right down the street and the waitress who had seen me a ton of times asked "Where have you been?" I told her I'd been swimming. And she said "No, like where have you been?" as if I hadnt been there nearly like I used to and I'm sure she was right. By 2012 Artz's wife, who was around and involved in the business as much as Artz, had passed. You could see she had a debilitating disorder but I didn't know it was a lethal one. When I just looked online to find out what ARtz is doing now, cuz for a while he was a barbecue chef in a suburban restaurant, I found out he had passed in 2016. The old and really cool Austin is dying, literally. Sad.