Austin Barbecue Pop-Up With Cajun Texan Meats Is Growing Into a New Food Truck

An Austin barbecue pop-up is growing into a new food truck come next year. Parish Barbecue will be opening its new food truck at bakery/brewery/beer garden Batch Craft Beer & Kolaches in the MLK neighborhood at 3220 Manor Road starting sometime in January 2025.

Owner and pitmaster Holden Fulco — who is currently also the general manager of Anderson Mill barbecue restaurant Interstellar BBQ — has been focusing on Louisianan Texan smoked meats and dishes through his pop-ups. The food truck will double down on the Cajun Texas approach, offering daily smoked meats the Texas trinity (brisket, pork ribs, sausages), as well as house-cured smoked ham, and pulled duck with crispy skin.

The food truck will also serve sandwiches like the smoked brisket debris po’ boys and smoked vegetable muffulettas; and sides like cane syrup pit beans, Acadiana potato salad (Cajun-style), remoulade vinegar slaw, baked pimento mac and cheese, crawfish cornbread dressing, and broccoli beet salad. Likewise, there will be weekly sausage and smoked boudin specials, as well as smoked fried cracklins that will be served only on Saturdays. The plan is to source locally as much as possible, from produce to meats.

Parish Barbecue

Parish’s first pop-up happened at Batch back in March. And since then, there have been others. Fulco had planned on eventually turning his pop-up into a food truck, and — at the same time — Batch owners and brothers Josh Lit and Noah Lit have been looking for a new food business to take over its vacant food truck (which was previously torta truck Lote in 2023). Currently, Batch is also home to food truck Bummer Burrito.

Fulco had potential prospects, but Batch made the most sense. “This one felt right because not only are the people involved the kind of folks I want to work with, but the chance to lease a turn-key trailer (outside of cosmetic modifications) without having to purchase one was huge for me,” he writes over email.

Fulco is getting a new smoker built by pit manufacturer Bison Smokers. He’s also working on revamping the truck with Parish branding. He’s looking into potentially having Batch use his brisket for the bakery’s klobásníky and use its on-site kitchen for baking items such as pistolette (fried stuffed rolls) and eventually make all of the truck’s bread.

In the meantime, Parish is still running pop-up events through the end of the year. Fulco will also have his last day at Interstellar on December 15 as he wraps up work and trains his replacement.

After the truck opens in January 2025, Fulco wants to host a grand opening party in early March 2025 timed around Mardi Gras. The truck’s full hours will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. or until everything is sold out.