Austin – It’s hard to find the words to describe Mo Pittle. We first met Mo a few years back and awarded his Austin eatery, JewBoy Burgers, the Bite of the Season. “My philosophy is always, if it tastes good, let’s do it,” said Mo. “This one guy’s like, ‘I know who you are.’ I said, ‘Are you sure?’ And he’s like, ‘No, no, no. I saw you on the Texas Bucket List. You’re the JewBoy.’ And I was like, ‘Well, yes I am.’”
His combinations of Jewish, Texan, and Mexican comida are so good that it was a no brainer to hightail it to the capital city after he opened his sub shop. “This is by far my most creative outlet and making sandwiches is a lot of fun,” said Mo.
Like his picadillo burrito with a latke in it, you never know what Mo has in store. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Why would I never have eaten it this way before?’” said Mo.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this isn’t a regular sub shop. While you can find some classics, trying the incredible combination of culinary creations is what you want to order up here. “This is my tribute to those bodegas of sandwich counters where you go in and they’re making kind of randomness,” said Mo. “They may do a Philly, they may do, Cubans are always something you’ll find in the strangest places, but they’re so good.”
“It’s really great to see the innovation that comes at the local level with local folks answering to our local community,” said customer Nell Newton.
“It’s not that expensive, but the quality of the sandwiches, the size of the sandwiches, the taste, everything is just beyond,” said customer Josh Little.
Having crazy ideas is one part of the equation, but you also gotta have some serious skill to pull off some of these sandwiches. “So we smoke our own turkey here, brine it, smoke it,” said Mo. “We’re making our own beef here. We smoke it and then roast it to finish. Pastrami is a big one. Pastrami is a labor of love. Pastrami is traditionally smoked and steamed here. Because we are in Texas, we lean into the smoking a little bit more. The steaming effectively comes during the preparation, so it’s a long process. Takes about a two and a half to three-week brine, and then you want to smoke it and steam it for anywhere between 10 and 13 hours.”
The only dilemma here is picking which sandwiches to snack on, so Mo did the honors and we started with the Carne Asada Philly, Border Style. “Carne asada just sounds good, right?” said Mo.
Josh Sanchez got things started by grilling up the carne asada mixed with beef tallow, salt, onions and some kickers. “Hatch green chilies and peppered red cheese,” said Josh. “Yes, sir.”
Then it’s time to throw on some pepper jack cheese and get to melting. “Oh yeah, all the steaming,” said Josh. “It’s good.”
All this goodness goes onto one particular roll. “If you’re a purist, using one roll and one roll only, Amoroso,” said Mo.
Top it with schmutz and we’re moving on to the OG, which starts with a tri tip mixed again with beef tallow, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. This one gets topped with provolone and steamed up again. Throw that on a bun and move on to Puff’s Pastrami for a chance to try this beef that’s been brined for nearly two weeks and smoked on a pit. It gets warmed up on the grill with onions and sauerkraut on the side. “I’ll be fixing my hat mid-shift with all this steam,” said Josh. “I’ll just be like, ‘Man, think my bill’s a little too flat right now.’ Exfoliate the pores a little. Just kind of stand over, you know?”
Top it with Swiss cheese, add the kraut, and finally some thousand island dressing. With that, you have three incredible subs from JewBoys ,and we’re going to start off with the OG Philly. It’s cheesy, it’s full of onions, full of mushrooms, full of red peppers, and it looks like it’s full of flavor. One bite in and it’s like you can hear the horns of Rocky blaring in your head. The tri-tip is bold and full of flavor. The cheese melting within the tri-tip is so incredibly gooey, and then those mushrooms, onions, and peppers are really taking this Philly to a whole new place. “Everything about it, everything, all their meats are just superb and you can’t go wrong,” said customer Josh.
Onto the carne Asada Philly, which has got the carne asada on it, of course, some schmutz, and those hatch peppers. Just a different take on the Philly because if you know Mo, you know he likes different takes on things. This combines the Rocky theme with mariachi music and in a good way. “Every bite is full of love and flavor,” said Nell. “It’s good.”
There’s a lot going on here and it’s definitely worth it because you got that schmutz, which has got that garlicky bold flavor, but then the carne asada is incredible, and those hatch peppers just add of level of spice along with the pepper jack cheese that just take this one through the roof. It’s like a Philly for Texans. “You’re not going to get a better sandwich somewhere else,” Said customer Matt Roland.
Finally, I found my way to Puff’s Pastrami. Right off the bat, the smoky pastrami is unreal. Such a wonderful, bold flavor coming off that pastrami. Then you mix into the sauerkraut cheese and that Thousand Island, and it is just sinful. “Well, it’s poetry sliced on a bun,” said Nell.
Once again, Mo and his crew at JewBoy did not disappoint, this time with a sub shop. Another sensational stop on The Texas Bucket List. “These sandwiches are by far the best in Austin,” said customer Josh. “I declare it, I’ve had every one. By far, best in Austin, so come check it out.”