Two of Austin's most celebrated barbecue joints have packed up their smokers and set up shop inside a Grade I-listed former London bank. InterStellar BBQ and la Barbecue began a monthlong residency at The Ned London this month, bringing Central Texas post-oak barbecue to the city's Electric Bar & Diner through October 4.
The pairing brings together pitmasters John Bates of InterStellar BBQ and Ali Clem of la Barbecue, both representing restaurants that made history in November 2024 when they became two of only four Texas barbecue joints to earn a Michelin star in the guide's inaugural Texas selection — the first time American-style barbecue anywhere in the world received the recognition, according to CultureMap Austin. Austin led all Texas cities in that first guide with seven one-star restaurants, three of them barbecue spots — InterStellar BBQ, la Barbecue, and LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue — a concentration highlighted by The Davis Agency.
What's on the Menu at The Ned
The residency menu leans into both restaurants' signatures. Diners can order InterStellar's peach tea pork belly burnt ends alongside la Barbecue offerings, plus pulled lamb shoulder, pork ribs, and a chopped cheese sausage, per the same CultureMap Austin report. Brisket is available as an add-on, and the exclusive sharing tray — which requires a minimum of two people per reservation — runs $75 per person, with a two-person reservation totaling $150.
The pitmasters are cooking on Ironbrand smokers custom-made in the United Kingdom rather than shipping their own Texas equipment overseas, a logistical workaround the article notes was necessary to recreate low-and-slow technique abroad. Jack Daniel's designed bespoke drink pairings for the run, including pickleback shots and a Texan Sun Old Fashioned made with corn and honey, alongside a banana pudding dessert drizzled in Jack Daniel's caramel, according to The Caterer. The Ned London adds a 14.5 percent service gratuity to checks, and booking for the residency is going fast.
Two Very Different Roads to a Michelin Star
Bates and Clem arrived at this moment from different directions. Bates opened InterStellar BBQ in northwest Austin in February 2019, converting his previous restaurant, Noble Sandwich Co., into a smokehouse built around low-and-slow post oak barbecue, as Community Impact reported at the time. Texas Monthly ranked the restaurant No. 2 on its quadrennial 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas list in October 2021, a distinction that sent customer lines surging even before the Michelin recognition followed, per KVUE.
Clem's path runs through one of Central Texas barbecue's founding families. La Barbecue started as a food trailer on South First Street in 2012 before moving into its permanent East Austin home at 2401 E. Cesar Chavez St. in May 2021, according to Tribeza. Co-founder LeAnn Mueller, who passed away in June 2023, was the granddaughter of Louie Mueller, who opened Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor in 1949, and the daughter of Bobby Mueller, a 2006 James Beard America's Classics Award recipient — a lineage documented by Visit Austin. Clem took over full management of la Barbecue following Mueller's death and is now the only female Michelin-starred barbecue chef in the world, a status underscored by her semifinalist nod for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef: Texas award in January 2026.
Inside a Former Bank Turned Hotel
The Ned itself carries its own layered history. The hotel occupies the Grade I-listed former headquarters of Midland Bank, a Neoclassical building designed in 1924 by architect Sir Edwin “Ned” Lutyens that sat vacant for over a decade before reopening as a 250-room hotel and dining hub in 2017, according to Dezeen. Soho House founder Nick Jones, investor Ron Burkle, and Sydell Group's Andrew Zobler backed the roughly £200 million redevelopment of the disused financial landmark. The property, which now counts 248 rooms, sits in Poultry, London, near the north side of the River Thames and St. Paul's Cathedral, with Bank station — a hub connecting four rail routes — just outside.
Electric Bar & Diner, described as The Ned's all-day American diner, is hosting the barbecue residency through the restaurant's regular service. For Austin regulars who've followed Ali Clem through a string of hometown appearances — including recent stops at Austoberfest at Scholz Garten and the Austin Food & Wine Festival's live-fire pit showcase — watching her and Bates set up shop inside a former London bank marks a striking new chapter for two restaurants that built their reputations on post oak smoke and patience.
