Bringing Aggie ingenuity to the Austin barbecue scene

Growing up in Taylor, Texas, a town renowned for barbecue, Stiles’ career trajectory seemed predetermined. So, it’s no surprise that after graduating from Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School with a degree in finance, he set his sights on creating his own craft barbecue restaurant.

In 2011, Stiles opened Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew in Austin, named after the historic 1800s I. & G. N. railroad stop near Taylor, Texas. Stiles describes craft barbecue as “men, metal, wood and fire.” It’s barbecue done by hand, with no automation. “There is a true skill involved in a true artist who knows how to manage his fire. He knows how to keep that temperature consistent across a 20-foot-long pit. I always say, if you don’t taste the difference, then we’re doing an awful lot of work for nothing.”

But people do taste the difference, and they stand in line to get inside his restaurant to see what the fuss is all about. He has made Texas Monthly’s “Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas” list, which is published every four years, three out of the last four times. In 2024, Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew was voted “Best BBQ in Austin” by Austin Monthly.

When he opened his first location, he had just 10 employees. He now has three locations across the Texas Hill Country in Austin, Cedar Park and Dripping Springs, and has 146 employees, including a director of sausage operations and a culinary director.

But before he founded his own restaurant, he was just a kid from a long line of Aggies who loved good barbecue.

Family Ties and a Love of Barbecue

Stiles’ father and grandfather are Aggies (John Randall ’74 and John Vernon ’39), his wife, Catherine ’00, is an Aggie, and he was at Texas A&M the same time as five of his first cousins.

“My very best friends are the people I met in college,” he says. He even first saw his wife in College Station when they both worked at The Tap, though they never met at the time. “I didn’t meet her until later at a party in Austin, but I remembered her as that pretty girl I saw at The Tap.

“I waited tables the whole time I was in College Station, from Cafe Excel to Cheddars, and worked at The Tap.” After graduating, he moved to Austin to take a sales position with a company known for its training programs, which served as a great segue to starting his own business venture.

Barbecue Black Hole

Taylor, along with Central Texas neighbors Elgin and Lockhart, is famous for its barbecue. And barbecue fans.

“I was fortunate enough to grow up around amazing barbecue and had no clue growing up just how good it was,” Stiles recalls. “My dad was either cooking barbecue on the weekends or we were going to one of the places to eat barbecue. And you know, it really wasn’t until I went to A&M and then afterwards, I traveled a little bit, and tried other barbecue joints to realize how good the barbecue I grew up on was.”

Stiles found that the Austin food scene at the time was missing one crucial and very Texan element: a good barbecue joint.

“At the time, the barbecue scene in Austin was lacking. It was a black hole of barbecue options,” he said. Stiles saw an opportunity to bring a craft barbecue restaurant — and one that stayed open for the dinner rush — to the city. But he needed an exceptional pitmaster.

His business partner was a fellow Aggie, Brian Dusek ‘99, and he found a pitmaster in Lance Kirkpatrick, who learned under one of the best in the state, Bobby Mueller of Louis Mueller Barbecue in Taylor.

The stars aligned: Stiles had a trusted pitmaster and a landlord who agreed to rent him space at a low price. “I was very lucky to find an independent landlord who thought barbecue sounded amazing, and he gave me a chance on a handshake deal,” he said.

“We started in December of 2011, and we were really lucky with our timing in Austin. This was at the beginning stages of the redefining of the Austin barbecue scene.”

Aggie Entrepreneurship

“When you start a new business, there’s not a bank in town that’s going to give you a loan,” Stiles said of the challenges of starting a new business. “Now, once you have an established business, and you’re looking to grow, every bank on Earth would love to meet with you.”

He was also able to hire one of his best friends from childhood to come on board, Duane Jackson. “Finding people that you can trust is key in starting a business. And then from there, it’s just so much luck.”

In addition to luck, Stiles knew it was important to treat his staff right. “Let’s pay them better than anywhere else, because obviously that’s important too, and we don’t have the constant turnover.” That plan has paid off, as he still has four of the original 10 employees from his first location.

Rounding out the restaurant family is Stiles’ wife, Catherine, who runs their marketing and social media. “My wife is a single-handed, one-woman, butt-kicking marketing machine. We have more followers on our social media than companies that have 50 locations,” he says proudly. Catherine, who has a marketing degree from Texas A&M, uses her skills to run the marketing and PR efforts for their company.

Just don’t watch her Instagram reels of the food on an empty stomach unless you’re planning to make an impromptu trip to Austin. 

Aggie Barbecue in Austin

Stiles still makes it back to College Station for almost every home game. He’s also taken part several times in the annual Troubadour Festival, dedicated to music and barbecue. And he’s even become good friends with the famous Three Briskateers at Texas A&M: Dr. Davey Griffin, Dr. Jeffrey W. Savell and Ray Riley. The three Texas A&M meat science experts have over 120 years of experience among them. “The Texas A&M meat science department has been such a supportive program to not just Stiles Switch BBQ, but to the entire Texas barbecue industry,” Stiles said. “We are honored to be a part of that network through the continued education and resources they provide.

“We’ve always been so proud to be Aggies in Austin,” Stiles said. “And from day one, we’ve had a deal where if you have an A&M shirt, hat or Aggie Ring on, we give you a free koozie. It’s nothing major, but it’s just a little something where you’re in Austin and you get to fist bump another Aggie. We also host so many different Aggie events.”

Reflecting on his journey as a business owner, Stiles has some advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.  “Bet on yourself. Make your own luck. If you have the passion for it, take the chance — you’re not going to regret it. You’re only going to regret the chances you didn’t take.”

Texas Monthly suggests trying Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew’s serrano glaze, which comes on their pork ribs and Brussels sprouts, and the chimichurri sausage. Stiles says he hasn’t tried the sprouts himself, but hears they are great. He can vouch for the glaze.