LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue

Verdict

If you are planning a barbecue meal in Austin, LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue earns a firm recommendation — with one practical warning attached: seats here are genuinely hard to secure. Two consecutive Michelin Stars (2024 and 2025) have pushed this South Austin spot into a tier where showing up and hoping for the leading is a losing strategy. Book ahead, go at lunch rather than dinner if your schedule allows, and treat it as the destination meal it has become. At a $$ price point for Michelin-recognised barbecue, it also delivers stronger value than almost anything else in its award class across the country.

Portrait

LeRoy and Lewis sits at 5621 Emerald Forest Drive in South Austin — not a flashy address, not a high-traffic tourist corridor, which makes the Michelin recognition feel more earned than marketed. The format is barbecue, the price tier is accessible, and the combination of those two facts alongside back-to-back Michelin Stars is what makes this venue genuinely interesting to evaluate rather than simply praise. You are not paying fine-dining prices for an award-chasing experience. You are paying barbecue prices for food that a credible external body has assessed as Michelin-standard twice in a row. That is the core reason to book.

Visually, this is not a room designed to signal occasion. Expect the practical, unadorned setting common to serious Texas barbecue operations , which is part of the point. The contrast between the setting and the level of craft on the plate is something visitors consistently note in reviews (Google rating: 4.5 across 1,637 reviews), and it works in the venue's favour for certain types of diners. If you want tablecloths and candlelight for a special occasion, this is not the right call. If you want a meal that will be remembered for what was actually served, and you are comfortable with a casual physical environment, book here with confidence.

Lunch vs. Dinner: Which Matters More Here

This is the most practically useful question to answer before you commit. LeRoy and Lewis operates Tuesday through Sunday, with lunch service beginning at 11 AM each open day. Friday and Saturday run until 10 PM; other days close at 9 PM. The distinction between lunch and dinner at a Texas barbecue operation like this one is more meaningful than at a conventional restaurant, because the product is made in finite quantities each day. Barbecue at this level does not have a kitchen brigade refilling mise en place at 6 PM , when the leading cuts are gone, they are gone.

That makes an early arrival at lunch the strategically stronger choice. Coming at 11 AM or shortly after on a Wednesday or Thursday gives you first access to the full menu, shorter wait times, and lower crowd pressure than a Friday or Saturday evening. If a special occasion is the driver, a Friday or Saturday lunch still captures the celebratory energy of a weekend without the compounding difficulty of peak-evening demand. Dinner works , particularly for those whose schedules do not allow a midday meal , but the calculus is clear: lunch is the better version of this experience, practically speaking, for almost every diner type.

For a date or celebration, the early evening window (arriving at 5 PM on a Friday or Saturday) is a reasonable compromise: you get the weekend atmosphere without being at the tail end of what the kitchen has available. For a business meal, a weekday lunch is the practical call , quieter, quicker to navigate, and no less impressive on the food side.

Ratings and Trust Signals

• Michelin Star: 2024 and 2025 , two consecutive years of recognition in the Michelin Texas guide, which launched in 2024 as Michelin's entry into the state
• Google Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (1,637 reviews) , a meaningful signal of consistency at volume
• Price Tier: $$ , accessible for the award category; strong value relative to Michelin-starred peers nationally

To calibrate what back-to-back Michelin Stars mean in context: Michelin entered Texas in 2024, selecting a relatively small number of venues across the state. Retaining a Star in year two is the harder achievement , it confirms the first result was not novelty recognition. Nationally, Michelin-starred barbecue is extremely rare. Venues like Le Bernardin in New York City, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, and The French Laundry in Napa sit in the Michelin firmament at price points five to ten times higher per head. LeRoy and Lewis occupies a genuinely unusual position in that it holds the same credential at a fraction of the cost. That asymmetry is the strongest argument for booking.

Booking and Practical Details

Booking at LeRoy and Lewis is hard , treat it as such. The combination of Michelin recognition, a finite daily product, and no published phone number on record means your leading approach is to check the venue's website directly for any reservation system in use, or to arrive early on a weekday when walk-in prospects are highest. Friday and Saturday evenings carry the most competition for entry. If your visit is time-sensitive or tied to a celebration, do not leave this to chance within a week of your trip.

Hours: Monday and Wednesday–Thursday 11 AM–9 PM; Friday–Saturday 11 AM–10 PM; Sunday 11 AM–9 PM; Tuesday closed. Reservations: Check the venue website for current booking options; walk-ins are possible but risky on weekends. Budget: $$ , expect accessible per-head spend for the category. Dress: Casual; no dress code applies , this is a barbecue venue, arrive comfortably. Address: 5621 Emerald Forest Drive, Austin, TX 78745.

How It Compares

See the comparison section below for how LeRoy and Lewis stacks up against Austin's peer set , including la Barbecue, InterStellar BBQ, and Franklin BBQ. For a broader view of where barbecue fits in Austin's dining picture alongside venues like Distant Relatives and Briscuits, see our full Austin restaurants guide. If you are planning a wider Austin trip, our Austin hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide are useful companions. For context on Michelin-starred barbecue and smoke-driven cooking beyond Texas, Smyth in Chicago and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg represent different expressions of the same award tier. Outside the US, CorkScrew BBQ in Spring and Oretachi No Nikuya in Taichung offer points of comparison for serious barbecue in other markets. Emeril's in New Orleans is a useful calibration point for what Michelin-adjacent Southern American cooking looks like at a higher price tier.